Monkey business the norm at Sangeh

Monkey business the norm at Sangeh

Jagadhita, Contributor, Denpasar

Sangeh, a nutmeg forest located 30 kilometers north of Denpasar, is a unique tourist attraction in Bali thanks to the hundreds of monkeys that roam around the 14-hectare forest.

The apes are tame and they are not afraid of people. Instead, they will come up to you if you bring them food such as bananas or peanuts. But don't ever bother them; otherwise, something terrible might happen to you -- or so the locals believe.

Sangeh was the first monkey forest in Bali to become a tourist attraction. The word Sangeh is derived from the word Sang, which means "people", and Ngeh, meaning "see."

What did the people see?

It is said that the nutmeg trees (Diptero carpustrinervis) came from Mount Agung in Karangasem. They were marching magically on their way to the Taman Ayun park in Mengwi, Badung, as the King of Mengwi wanted them to beautify the park. However, on the way they suddenly stopped when some people saw them. The place where they stopped was called Sangeh.

The nutmeg trees grew well in the area and people did not dare to uproot or fell them. Later on, a troupe of monkeys with gray hair (Macaca facisulais) took up residence in the area, which by this stage had become a forest. Locals believe that they are not ordinary apes and they even built a temple, Pura Puncak Bukit Sari, in the forest.

It is said that the temple was built by Anak Agung Anglurah Made Karangasem Sakti, a foster son of the King of Mengwi, Tjokorda Sakti Blambangan. When Anak Agung, who had practiced meditation since he was a child, grew up, he was divinely inspired to build a palinggih, a place of worship in the Sangeh nutmeg forest. It was a symbol of the devotion of the king's foster son to Ida Bhatara (God) on Mount Agung.

The oldest nutmeg tree, which is estimated to be 350 years old, still stands strong and tall not far from the temple.

"This temple, which was built in the 17th century, is a holy place that was bequeathed to Sangeh village by the Mengwi Kingdom," said Ida Bagus Nyoman Purna, a temple priest.

Monkeys roam about inside the temple, and they often approach tourists who bring them food, even though they are fed three times a day -- bananas in the morning, cassava at noon, and rice in the evening.

Tourist don't need to worry about being attacked by the animals as they are not wild. They have all been vaccinated and their health is monitored by the Primate Research Center, which is located near the forest.

"This center functions as a place of quarantine for the monkeys if they are ill. Besides, an experienced monkey minder is assigned to keep an eye on the apes," Purna said.

There are also some tourist guides in traditional Balinese outfits who are willing to show you around the forest. If the monkeys are sequestered among the trees, the guides call them out so that you can get a good look at them.

The monkeys are very like human beings. If one of them dies, the others will wait near the body until an officer (from the Primate Research Center) comes to bury it.

"What's strange is that if the person who takes the body of a dead monkey is not the authorized person, the monkeys will attack him. When the body is picked up by an authorized person, the monkeys will follow him to a special graveyard where it will be buried," he said, adding that the monkeys would leave after he finished burying the body.

The graveyard does not look like a normal one as the body is just placed in a hole and then covered with soil. There are no gravestones here.

The locals believe that if a motorist hits a monkey who happens to be crossing the road in front of the forest, the person concerned should return to the place within five days and make an apology by presenting some offerings.

"Otherwise, the person will be haunted by the images of monkeys or monkey-like creatures," Purna said.

He said that once a driver killed a monkey but did not stop.

"The driver returned a few hours later because he saw the image of a huge ape scratching the front window of his car when the vehicle entered Gilimanuk, Jembrana," he said.

In order to stop being haunted by the soul of the dead monkey, the driver should provide offerings called Banten Pejati and Salaran, according to Purna.

He told of another strange incident that happened to a student from Badung who was foolish enough to hit a monkey.

"A few minutes later, the student started acting crazy and running around wildly. He looked scared as if he was being chased by someone ... or something!" he said.

After some friends apologized on behalf of the student, he made a miraculous recovery. The student said he had thought that he was being chased by a big monkey that wanted to kill him.

Purna said that the monkeys in Sangeh forest were holy animals that belonged to Ida Bhatara, the ruler of the area, who had ordered them to protect the sacredness of the temple. Therefore, Purna called upon visitors not to bother or interfere with the monkeys.