Pura Taman Saraswati, officially Pura Taman Kemuda Saraswati, also known as the Ubud Water Palace, is a Balinese Hindu temple in

Ubud Ubud () is a town in the Gianyar Regency of Bali, Indonesia. Ubud has no status, that is part of the eponymous Ubud District of Gianyar. Promoted as an arts and culture centre, Ubud has developed a large tourism industry. It forms a northern p ...

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The pura is dedicated to the goddess

Sarasvati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...

. Pura Taman Saraswati is notable for its lotus pond.

History

Pura Taman Saraswati was designed by

I Gusti Nyoman Lempad I Gusti Nyoman Lempad (1862?–1978) was a Balinese stone sculptor, architect (''undagi'' in Balinese) and painter who built palaces and temples in Ubud and its neighboring villages. Biography Lempad's exact birth date, as is the case fo ...

following a commission by the Prince of Ubud Cokorda Gede Agung Sukawati. I Gusti Nyoman Lempad was a well known Balinese sculptor and ''undagi'' (Balinese architect for ritual paraphernalia e.g. cremation towers and wooden sarcophagi). I Gusti Nyoman Lempad arrived in Ubud after moving away from the royal court of Blahbatuh, following a serious disagreement which provokes the wrath of the King of Blahbatuh. In Ubud, he was employed by the Sukawati royal family and built several palaces and temples in Ubud and the neighboring villages. Construction of Pura Taman Saraswati started in 1951 and was completed in 1952. The pura is dedicated to

, the Hindu deity of learning, literature and art.

Temple compound

Pura Taman Saraswati
is one of the most popular landmarks of

. The most notable feature of the pura is its lotus pond and water garden, marking the outer area of the actual temple.

Plumeria ''Plumeria'' (), also known as frangipani, is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Rauvolfioideae, of the family Apocynaceae. Most species are deciduous shrubs or small trees. The species are native to the Neotropical realm (in Mexico, ...

(frangipani) trees decorate the edges of the pond, while the straight bridge-like access is decorated with ''paras'' (volcanic tuff) sculptures of Hindu mythological figures. Many of these statues are the works of Lempad. Access to the inner sanctum is provided by three red-bricked

kori agung Kori may refer to: Culture and language * Koli people, an Indian ethnic group * Kori caste, a weaving caste of India * Kori rotti, Spicy dish from India * Kori or kouri, the Hausa language term for a wadi * Kori, a Maori language term for mov ...

gates. The central kori agung is the largest of these gates and is flanked with two tall plumeria trees. The straight route into the inner courtyard is blocked by an unusual aling-aling, a wall device which is used to disorient evil spirits in the architecture of Bali. This wall is actually the back of a -tall statue of the rakshasha figure Jero Gede Mecaling. A padmasana shrine is located at the most sacred, kaja-kangin (north-east) side of the temple. The base of this padmasana is decorated with ''paras'' carvings of the cosmic turtle and several nagas, these represent the world of demons (''bhur''). The uppermost part of the padmasana is topped with a golden empty throne decorated with the image of

Acintya Achintya (from Sanskrit: अचिन्त्य, "the inconceivable", "the unimaginable"), also known as Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa ( Balinese: "The Divine Order") and Sang Hyang Tunggal ("The Divine Oneness"), is the Supreme God of Indonesian Hin ...

, the highest deity in the Balinese Hindu pantheon. A pavilion (''bale'') with three empty thrones on the inside is dedicated for the Hindu

Trimurti The Trimurti ( /t̪ɾimʊɾt̪iː/) is the triple deity of supreme divinity in Hinduism, in which the cosmic functions of creation, preservation, and destruction are personified as a triad of deities. Typically, the designations are that ...

of Brahma,

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

and

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

. Several meru towers are located on this side as well. The temple also contains the bale barong, a pavilion to keep the barong figures used by villagers for exorcizing rituals. Normally there are two barong figures in the ''bale barong'': the lion-like Barong Ket and the boar-like Barong Pangkal). There is also statue of the goddess Sarasvati.

References

Cited works

* * * {{Indonesian architecture Hindu temples in Indonesia Religious buildings and structures completed in 1952 20th-century Hindu temples

History

Temple compound

See also

References

Cited works