Gianyar regency stepping out in style

Dewi Anggraeni, Contributor, Canberra

Friends visiting eastern Bali have often asked me if Klungkung is really the cultural and historical center of the island. This curiosity apparently has been ignited, and then further fueled, by the many Balinese these friends meet who voice this opinion.

It is a fact that if you hear something often enough, especially from different people, you will begin to believe it. Maybe this is one reason why so many good things slip past relatively unnoticed when not enough fuss has been made about them.

While visitors to Bali know Gianyar township because it is often on the way to Ubud from the south or the east, they do not necessarily notice that it is bigger than Ubud -- Ubud being well-known as a center of art and culture on the island. And many are unaware that the township is only the administrative center of Gianyar Regency. The regency itself encompasses places equally well-known to visitors, such as Tampak Siring, Payangan, Celuk, Mas and Batubulan and of course, Ubud.

In Bali guidebooks, Gianyar is hardly ever mentioned as a regency, and is given mostly a couple of paragraphs or a column at most.

In this era of regional autonomy, it becomes the responsibility of each regency to promote itself. And Gianyar, a area endowed with physical beauty and rich in potential, is now stepping out and introducing itself to the rest of the world. Collaborating with Yayasan Dharma Bhakti Astra, the regency is organizing the Gianyar Festival at the Astra Gallery in Kemang, South Jakarta from April 26 to April 30, to coincide with its 234th anniversary.

Why however, have many visitors not come across good stories of Gianyar like they have of neighboring Klungkung?

A Balinese acquaintance offered me an interesting, and unusual historical explanation.

It seems, from what he said, that the Balinese are a little ashamed of Gianyar, because, in their eyes it is a particularly unheroic place, a black spot on a map glorious with the history of war.

Most Balinese are proud of their culture of puputan, a code of chivalry that required nobles to fight to the death and commit suicide if they were defeated or their reputation tarnished.

The first modern puputan arguably took place in Mataram in 1894, when the then Lombok king, Agung Gede Ngurah Karangasem, surrendered to the Dutch. His nephew, Anak Agung Nengah, full of grief over his family's subjugation to a foreign power, died a hero by bravely charging into enemy fire.

Other acts of puputan documented and later copiously dramatized, are the defiant suicides of the kings of Buleleng, Badung and Klungkung. In Klungkung this puputan is immortalized by what is left from the conflict of 1908: a door, a water pavilion and the Hall of Justice -- after the rest of the royal palace was destroyed by the Dutch. These ruins further remind the Balinese their of their bravery.

In contrast to this bravery, the two regencies flanking Klungkung; Gianyar and Karangasem; chose to surrender to the Dutch, and each of these kingdoms had earlier sought assistance from the Dutch after having been considerably weakened by a series of wars with the kingdoms of Badung, Bangli and Klungkung.

In a book commemorating the 233rd anniversary of Gianyar, it is recorded that in 1900, after years of hardships brought on by continuous wars, Ida I Dewa Gde Raka, then king of Gianyar, requested that the kingdom be incorporated into the Dutch administration, following the example of Karangasem, where life had returned to its original peace and prosperity.

But while one reason the Balinese do not promote Gianyar may be pride, more than a century after its surrender to the Dutch the area has developed into a vibrant and prosperous regency. Perhaps, many Balinese think it is so well-known it is not worth mentioning. The region is burgeoning with art and crafts; Ubud holds art festivals and literary seminars almost non-stop, while Celuk and Mas have always been known as centers for gold and silver jewelry. Other cottage industries dot the regency, often now exporting successfuly to Europe and North America.

With more sophisticated and focused promotion, the regency's products will be more accessible to a wider public.

During the five-day festival, sponsored by Femina and Dewi magazines, along with Astra Gallery, many of these qualities will be put on display for the public to see and savor. There will be exhibitions displaying a range of styles of paintings from classical to modern Balinese art, a vast array of crafts covering houseware, glass-work, garments and lacework. Visitors and guests will be entertained by dance performances from Skaa Smara Ratih of Ubud. On the fourth day, an exhibition of silver jewelry by Suarti will be a special feature.

The festival is expected to sell Gianyar as the heart of Bali, which it hopes to be some day.