Tabanan Regency
Tabanan regency covers the hill and lake area of Bedugul and the southern slopes of Mount Batukaru, second highest mountain in Bali, and Western Bali’s axis mundi, defining the mountain-sea (”kaja-kelod”) orientation of the architecture and rites. Open to cultivation relatively late, in the 18th century, Tabanan is Bali’s rice bowl.
The kingdom of Tabanan is the successor, and former vassal of the kingdom of Mengwi (12km eastward), which sprung in the 18th century after the collapse of Balinese munity to seize control over much of Western Bali. In 1891, a few years before the Dutch takeover, Tabanan defeated Mengwi with the help of Badung, Bangli and Klungkung. It has now become a regency and is a thriving city on the main road to Java, and is about 30 km from Denpasar.
Tabanan comprises of two main regions, the hills and the lower plain. It is in the latter that lies Bali’s most famous site, the Tanah Lot temple. Tabanan itself is a modem city of 40.000 homes to a Chinese community. It is the birth place of Mario, the dancer who revolutionized Balinese dance in the 30s with his kebyar and kebyar trompong dances, the Mario Theater commemorates his name. On the outskirts of the city there is also the Subak Museum, although dirty and ill-managed, it gives a good introduction to the irrigation system of Bali, the Subak.
Southwest of Tabanan is Kerambitan. Its charm lies in the fact that it hasn’t really grown and still looks like the principality it was in the 19th century, with two large palaces and many mansions belonging to the nobility. Kerambitan has retained its own style of Legong dance, and the Puri Anyar palace holds “Palace Nights” tektekan bamboo orchestra performances with the Barong dance.
Thirty five kilo metres to the West of Tabanan is the white beach of Soka, which is being developed into another luxury resort. From nearby Antosari, there is a main, albeit little traveled, to Northern Bali with the most stunning view of rice fields in the island, in particular in the Blimbing and Pupuan areas.
After entering the regency of Buleleng, it is possible to come back to Tabanan through the mountain road of Mayung, Munduk Paneasari, which takes you to the hill resort of Bedugul.
The Tabanan highlands comprise most of the volcanic area of Western-Central Bali, with Mount Batukaru (2275m), Mount Sanghyang (2093m), and Lake Bratan, one of the three caldera lakes which make up the Bedugul resort area. The area holds the last remaining tropical forest of the island. The quiet botanical garden of Kebun Raya Eka Karya of Bedugul has 650 species of trees and a unique collection of ferns and orchids.
Golf fans should give a try at the beautiful Bali Handara Country’ Club, wonderfully set at the bottom of the caldera next to the lush slopes of Mount Catur. There tire also many pleasant bush walks to make in the area, especially between the lakes and the surrounding mountains. Ask for a guide.
The lake Bratan offers water ski and boating facilities, but it is better known for its temple, Pura Ulun Danu, almost as famed as Tanah Lot. It is also a small islet temple, built just offshore over a hardened part of the marsh. Its eleven-tiered meru-shaped roof offers a spectacular view when the mist is rising from the lake at 8 a.m.-IO a.m.
The Bedugul area also offers a wide range of accommodations and restaurants, often geared to the needs of the Indonesian tourists, their best customers.
The road leading downward to the South, offers a wide panorama over Kintamani and Mount Agung to the East and down to the sea southward. Try to see it in the morning, while the air is still clear and cloud-free. At the foot of Mount Batukaru, to the Southwest of Bedugul is another marvel of the Balinese sense of balance, the Batukaru temple, the mother temple of the Tabanan area.
It is grandly ensconced amongst the lofty trees of the rain forest in a unique encounter of man and nature. The road to the temple branches out in Pacung, which has a restaurant overlooking rice fields. But still more rice terraces are waiting, ahead in Jatiluih, on the mountain road leading to Batukaru. From this village, on the very upper end of the rice-cultivated area, the view spans miles of glittering or yellow terraces down to the sea. If it were not for a few electrical post, this would be the most beautiful panorama in Bali. The area is rich in hot springs and on the road from Tabanan northward to Batukaru islocated the spa resort of Yeh Panes.
Midway down the plain, on a Western side-road running from Pacung parallel to the Bedugul-Denpasar highway is the small principality of Blayu, with houses and gates in the majestic Tabanan style. Blayu is also one of the few areas actively producing “endek” weaving just to the North of Blayu, took place in 1946 the “Puputan Margarana”, in which 94 Balinese independence fighters, surrounded by the Dutch, fought to the deaths in a repeat of the 1906 “Puputan” of Denpasar. The fight led by I Gusti Ngurah Rai, is commemmorated by a monument. To the south of Marga is the Alas Kedaton monkey forest, another favorite of the tourist crowds.