Tirtagangga Water Palace lovingly refurbished
Tirtagangga (literally meaning the blessed water of Gangga, the most important river in Hindu belief) Water Palace is located at Ababi village, some seven kilometers north of Amlapura, the capital of Karangasem regency, or around two hours' drive from the island's capital, Denpasar.
The 2.5-hectare complex was built in 1946 by the last King of Karangasem, Ida Anak Agoeng Angeloerah Ktoet Karangasem, as a royal bathing and leisure compound.
Situated amid vast paddy fields and surrounded by scenic hills, Tirtangga has been a favorite spot for both the members of the royal family and ordinary people.
Tirtagangga consists of three levels. A small temple, a spring under a banyan tree, the upper swimming pool and two decorative ponds are situated on the highest, northern level.
The complex's center and main attraction, the towering eleven- tiered fountain, which rises from a beautiful pond, is located on the middle level. This is also graced by two inviting large ponds.
The lowest level, which is separated from the middle by a straight footpath running from the complex's entrance in the east to the Wantilan open pavilion at the complex's westernmost area, includes a large fishpond with a long island in the middle of it.
In 1963, Bali's largest and holiest mountain, Agung, located only 25 kilometers away, erupted, triggering a series of powerful earthquakes that severely damaged the complex.
Around that time, the Indonesian government introduced the Land Reform Bill, which stripped the country's royal families of most of their territorial possessions, thus sharply cutting their income. The royal family of Karangasem experienced a similar fate. Consequently, any effort to restore the water palace was hampered by this lack of financial resources.
In 1979, Anak Agung Made Djelantik, the son of Ida Anak Agoeng Angeloerah Ktoet Karangasem, managed to carry out limited restoration to several facilities at the complex, with the help of the local administration.
Currently, a comprehensive restoration program, aimed at reviving the initial beauty of the water palace, is being carried out by the grandsons and granddaughters of the last King of Karangasem.
The program is being led by accomplished civil engineer Anak Agung Gede Dharma Widoere Djelantik. At his very informative Internet site (tirtagangga.nl), Widoere describes in great detail the restoration program, due for completion in 2006 and divided into three stages.
Several new buildings will be added to the complex to provide additional space for exhibitions, conferences and a handicraft center. Numerous new plants and statues will be placed in strategic spots to enhance the palace's beauty. A waste treatment and disposal facility will also be constructed to ensure the complex's cleanliness. The pools will be refurbished, using the original Karangasem-style tiles and the currently rusty iron fence will be torn down and replaced by an artistic new one.
The estimated total cost of the restoration program will be around US$254,500. Widoere, through the Donors of Tirtagangga foundation he set up in Gouda, the Netherlands, has so far managed to raise donations of around 43,000 euros from concerned individuals and private institutions.
Thus far, the restoration committee has achieved many things. There are now several garbage containers at various locations in the complex. The pools are cleaner, the water supply is more stable. More importantly, the eleven-tiered water fountain -- the complex's most important structure -- is now working perfectly. And the nearby pond, which is now decorated with rows of new statues of characters from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, is surely more beautiful that it used to be.
In future, the Tirtagangga Water Palace is hoped to serve not only as an important architectural statement or recreational spot, but also as a center for the performing arts, a meditation center, a small-scale drinking water plant and a conduit for the local's handicraft products, from which, hopefully, will flow a stream of prosperity for the local surrounding population.
-- I Wayan Juniartha