The Realm of Royal
Architects
The rulers of Mengwi were famous for the temples they built. The
oldest of these is Pura Sada, a few hundred meters south of the
main road in Kapal, about 15 km to the northwest of Denpasar.
The name sada may derive from the Old Javanese and Sanskrit term
prasada, meaning a tower temple. There is indeed a huge shrine
in the shape of a tiered tower in the inner court. The local inhabitants
call this temple a candi, meaning a funerary monument for a deceased
king.
According to the chronicles of the rulers of Mengwi, the son of
the first Cokorda or Lord of Mengwi, I Gusti Agung Panji, received
a shrine in this temple after his death around 1710. The divinity
of the temple is Bhatara Jayengrat, the Divine World Conqueror.
At present the complex is venerated and maintained by the people
of Kapal, irrespective of their caste or kin group. It was severely
damaged during the earthquake of 1917 and was restored by the
Archaeological Survey in 1948-49. The leader of the team, Balinese
craftsmen was I Made Nama, and it is said that the construction
of the tall was quite a challenge for him and his men.
The forecourt of the temple is large and spacious. A big tree
grows at the center. The temple complex is surrounded by a wall
of red brick constructed in the traditional way, without mortar.
By rubbing one stone against the other, a fine powder crumbles
from surface layers. When water is added to it the stones can
be simply stuck together.
A split gateway on the west side leads to the central courtyard.
A second, closed gate way with a three-tiered roof on the west
give way to the inner court, in which 16 shrines are to be seen.
Right in front of the gateway is the prasada and behind it a square
pedestal with 54 little stone seats. These are shrine for the
satya, the servants, and facing them one shrine together in the
south are the three mekel satya, their leaders.
The following story is connected with them: A long time ago, when
a king Majapahit in East Java died, he was cremated and his ashes
were carried by 54 men towards the sea in a bamboo tower (bukur)
with a tiered roof. The tower was placed on a little boat (kapal),
on which were seated 54 followers (patih) of the deceased three
leaders (mekel). The boat however was stranded at sea.
This episode has been transposed to the temple and is symbolized
in the stone tower at the center and in the pedestals with the
45 and 3 stone seats. The tower is, in fact a replica of the bamboo
cremation structure. Close to it, to the south, is a shrine with
11-tiered roof, called "little garden with pond" (taman).
During the temple festival Tumpek Kuningan, its "water"
is used to bathe the god of the tower. This is in fact very convenient,
because then a long tour outside the temple to a bathing place
is not necessary.
Replicas of mountains which are important for south Bali (Agung,
Batur and Batukaru) are found in north shrines in the no and the
east of the inner court. They are always provided with tiered
roofs, Called meru. The number of tiers should be odd, the highest
being able for the most important peak. In this case it represents
Mt Agung.
The main purpose of placing a replica of a mountain or lake in
a temple is to save the time and effort needed to actually visit
them. This is necessary if one needs holy water for a ritual.
There are more shrines in the north and the east devoted to various
divine kings, including a padmasana seat in which the god Siwa
in his manifestation as Surya is venerated, and a little building
in which a barong mask is kept.
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