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.
|
