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Sangeh
Rawana,
the villainous giant of the Ramayana epic,
could die neither on earth nor inair.Tokill
him,themonkeygeneral Hanuman devised a plan
to suffocate the giant by pressing him between
two halves of the holy mountain Mahameru-a
destruction between the earth and air. When
Hanuman took Mahameru, part of the mountain
feli to the earth in Sangeh, along with
a group of his monkey armies. And so they
stayed to this very day.
Such
is the legendary origin of Bukit Sari, or
The Monkey Forest, a cluster of towering
trees and home of hundreds of sprite monkeys.
The forest is sacred and for many years
no one has been permitted to chop wood there.
A moss-covered temple lies in the heart
of the
woods and is a familiar hideout for the
nimble inhabitants. You make many friends
b buying a bag of peanuts, and for such
a east the monkeys often bring their families
along.
Fulmar
tells of a king of the monkeys who invariably
has the first choice in selecting peanut
handouts. He oversees one camp, while a
rival king and his followers control another
area of the forest. A beautiful restive
place, Sangeh has long been an inspiration
for painters and monkey-watchers.
The
temple, Pura Bukit Sari, was originally
built around the 17th century as an agricultural
temple and has been restored several times,
most recently in 1973. In the central courtyard,
a large statue of Garuda, an old carving
of uncertain date, symbolizes freedom from
suffering and the attainment of amerta,
the elixir of life. The forest of nutmeg
trees in which it lies was presumably planted
deliberately a long time ago, for it is
unique in Bali.
There
is a separate route linking Sangeh directly
with Denpasar that begins at Jalan Kartini,
making it a short trip. A side - road joins
Blahkiuh, just south of Sangeh, with Mengwi
which can also be reached by returning to
Denpasar and taking the trip to the west.
A sub-standard road links Sangeh with Ubud. |
