Central
Bali:
Gianyar
Regency
Gianyar
is the very heart of Bali - a modern and prosperous center
of the arts with a history dating back a thousand years.
Most of the cultural activities relating to tourism on the
island - from painting and woodcarving to dance and music
- are focused here, as is a broad range of agricultural
activities.
Gianyar
is the second most densely populated district of Bali (after
Badung), with the majority of its 340,000 people relying
upon tourism for their income. Nevertheless, the region
is quite diverse, economically as well as geographically.
The old harbors of Ketewel and Kramas down on the coast
are still fishing villages, while up in the mountainous
plateau above Ubud, vanilla, coffee and cloves are grown.
The rich volcanic soils in between are fed by two of Bali's
major rivers - the Ayung and the Petanu - and from these
soils grows some of Bali's best rice.
The major
tourist area of Gianyar consists of a string of villages
along the main road up from Batubulan to Ubud, with each
village being famous for a different artistic form. Bali's
most famous dancers and best-known painters come from this
region. Bali's most famous antiquities have also been found
in this area, including the 2,000-year-old "Moon of
Pejeng" bronze drum, the Goa Gajah hermitage at Bedulu
with its elaborate relief's, and many other remains dating
from before the 11th century. These all testify to the strength
and continuity of the traditions upon which Bali's modern
arts are founded.
Lying
at the center of the area in which most Balinese antiquities
have been found, the village of Bedulu was the site of an
ancient capital of Bali before the Javanese Majapahit kingdom
conquered the island in 1343. After the decline of Bedulu,
other parts of Gianyar have been important court centers.
When
Majapahit established a line of kings in Bali in the 14th
century, their first capital was at Samprangan - now a sleepy
village just outside of present-day Gianyar
Town.
Later, in the 18th century, the village of Sukawati established
itself as a separate court center and members of the Sukawati
royal family settled between the Ayung and Petanu rivers,
with branches in Peliatan and Tegallalang up in the mountains.
At the
end of the 18th century, the Sukawati dynasty was forced
to surrender its control of the area to a new family based
in Gianyar to the east. As a result, most of the important
districts and villages of Gianyar have members of both the
old Sukawati line of Cokordas and the new Gianyar line of
Dewas or Anak Agungs, and the history of the 19th century
revolved around competition between the two lineages.
In 1884
the royal family of Negara, from the Sukawati line, overthrew
the kings of Gianyar and plunged the region into turmoil.
The conflict was finally resolved only ten years later,
when a prince from Ubud, also of the Sukawati line, took
the side of the Gianyar family and suppressed the rebels.
There are still other important aristocratic families in
Gianyar, however - foremost of which are the Gustis of Blahbatuh,
whose palace was a major 19th-century power.
In more
recent times, Ubud and Gianyar have been the twin centers
of the region. Ubud now has the reputation of being Bali's
cultural center, thanks especially to a group of expatriate
western artists who made their homes here in the 1930s,
but Gianyar has provided most of the political and administrative
leadership. Bali's most important politician on the national
stage, Anak Agung Gede Agung, diplomat and former foreign
minister of Indonesia, is from the Gianyar royal family,
and has retired to the palace of Gianyar to serve in the
now-ceremonial role of king.
