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Batubulan Culture Village for Traditional Barong Dance 

Batubulan Puseh Temple
Batubulan Puseh Temple

Batubulan culture village has been known as a center for the art of sculpture and carving in Bali, whose name has been worldwide. This carving art by the artist of Batubulan village, Gianyar is so highly admired and in demand by foreign and domestic tourists. Not only being a center for producing various types of carvings and sculptures, but Batubulan Village also offers other tourist attractions, which is a place for performing arts in Bali such as Barong Dance, Kecak Dance, and Legong Dance at Barong Dance which is seen by many tourists.

The history of Batubulan Village started from a story of a Great Prince Kalesan. He was the adopted son of the King of Badung who in his adulthood was given a gift by the king to build a palace for him in the middle of the forest. Well get the mandate, then he went with his followers to a forest area in the eastern part of the Badung Kingdom. But a strange thing happened when he and his followers arrived at the border of the forest, they saw a lump of glowing stone (Batu) that looked like the moon (Bulan). Well from that incident, finally the Great Prince Kalesan established a palace at the location of the place and named the area Batubulan.

Batubulan Banyan Tree Root
Banyan Tree Root

Batubulan Village stands on an area of approximately 6,422 km2 and administratively belongs to the Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency, Bali. Led by a Batubulan Village Head call Prebekel, for those of you who want to send letters to relatives or business relations, the Batubulan Postal Code is 80582. Batubulan Village itself is divided into three traditional sub-villages (Banjar Adat), namely Tegaltamu Traditional Village, Jero Kuta Traditional Village, and Dlod Tukad Traditional Village.

Each traditional village is further divided into several banjars which function to manage agricultural activities in their respective regions. Not only that but there are also several banjars in Batubulan, Gianyar, which function as places to stage various artistic attractions, such as Balinese dances such as the Kecak Dance and Barong Dance. Jambe Barong Dance Stage at Banjar Tegehe (in Dlod Tukad Traditional Village), Barong Dance at Puseh Temple of Banjar Denjalan (in Jero Kuta Traditional Village) and Sahadewa Barong and Kecak Dance at Pegambangan Village.

Batubulan Stone Manuscript
Stone Manuscript
Desa Adat Tegaltamu Desa Adat Jero Kuta Desa Adat Dlod Tukad
Banjar Tegaljaya
Banjar Denjalan
Banjar Tegehe
Banjar Pengembungan
Banjar Batur
Banjar Menguntur
Banjar Tegal Tamu
Banjar Pagutan Kelod
Banjar Sasih
Banjar Pagutan Kaja
Banjar Tubuh
Banjar Telabah
Banjar Kalah
Banjar Pegambangan
Banjar Buwitan
Banjar Kapal
Batubulan Barong Statue Junction
Barong Statue Junction

One of the uniqueness of this village is the skill of its citizens in mastering the art of carving and sculpting statues from generation to generation. It’s no wonder that along the Batubulan Village road in Sukawati, Gianyar, it’s easy to find various galleries or art shops, You can go in there, see and buy a collection of statues or other artistic works of art as Balinese souvenirs to display at home.

Right in the middle of the Village, there is a huge Banyan Tree, football field, Batubulan Palace, Bale Budaya (culture hall), and local government office building. The foot field and culture hall is used for sports and art events (PORSENI Pekan Olahraga dan Seni) every year around August to celebrate Indonesian Independent Day on 17th August. There were 6 sports competitions and 7 art competitions. Among them, football, badminton, volleyball, tug-of-war for men and women, table tennis, barong competition, Balinese song karaoke competition, baleganjur competition at Batubulan youth level.

Batubulan Village also has famous 3 arts college school including SMK Negeri 1 Sukawati, SMK Negeri 2 Sukawati (SMIK) and SMK Negeri 3 Sukawati (KOKAR). These 3 college schools learned how to play orchestra (Balinese Gambelan), learning Balinese Dance, how to be a painter, woodcarver, stone carver, silversmith, and other product handy crafts

Batubulan Culture Village
Village View by Drone

The Barong Dance is a type of traditional Balinese dance that is played by one to two people wearing costumes and masks of four-legged animals. Then along with its development, Barong Dance is also manifested with two-legged animals. Barong dance is said to be an art that is part of the repertoire of pre-Hindu culture in Bali besides the Sanghyang dance. Both are religious and sacred which were originally performed as a means of religious ceremonies. This dance depicts the battle between dharma (Virtue) and adharma (Ugliness). In this battle, the Barong dancers manifested virtue, meanwhile, the figure of Rangda, who looks creepy with two pointed fangs in his mouth, plays virtue. The famous one is Sahadewa Barong Stage located at Jalan SMKI, Pegambangan, Batubulan, the show starting from 9.00 AM – 10.00 AM.

Batubulan Barong Dance
Barong Dance

The Kecak Dance is typically performed by about forty to eighty men wearing only loincloths; their upper bodies are left bare. They form concentric circles, in the middle of which is a traditional Balinese coconut oil lamp. First, they move their bodies rhythmically to the left and the right, chanting the words “chak ke-chak ke-chak ke-chak” continuously, in a slow rhythm. Gradually the rhythm speeds up and by turns they lift their hands, trembling, into the air. The kecak dance is performed for dance dramas and the story presented is taken from the Ramayana Hindu epic. The Kecak Dance performs every day at Sahadewa Barong only from 6.30 PM – 7.30 PM.

Batubulan Kecak Dance
Kecak Dance

Batubulan village has been known as a center for the art of sculpture and carving in Bali, whose name has been worldwide. This carving art by the artist of local people from Batubulan village, Gianyar is so highly admired and in demand by foreign business tourists and domestic tourists. The street is full of varieties of stone carvings located at Tegaltamu Village between Barong Dance Statue junction up to Bali Bird Park. The stone carving is made from sandstone the grey color, pualam stone the white one and lava stone the black one.

Buddha statues of various sizes are also in great demand by consumers from Japan, France, Germany, and other European countries. Padas stone statues made of antique types are still entering the export market and even increased in number earlier this year. Stone statues in the form of various forms of animals such as frogs, horses, in addition to ancient humans, are widely used for decoration in gardens, guest rooms, and workplaces. 

Many statues perform as Dwarapala, the figure who guards the gate in the temple. Each of these statues is named Nandiswara which is located on the right (left of the gate) and Mahakala which is located on the left (right of the gate). The existence of both is associated with the power of Lord Shiva as one of the manifestations of God in Hinduism.

Batubulan Stone Carving Village
Stone Carving

Some other places located near Batubulan Village is Gunung Kawi Sebatu Spring Water Temple, Ubud Monkey Forest, Ubud Art Market, Ubud Palace, Barong Dance, Gunung Lebah Ubud Temple, Sukawati Painting Art Market, Saraswati Temple, Bali Swing, Tegenungan Waterfall, Tibumana Waterfall, Ubud Ayung River Rafting, Kintamani Batur Mount Volcano, Elephant Cave, Bali Bird Park, Tegallalang Rice Terrace, Spring Water Temple Tirta Empul, Gunung Kawi King Memorial, Bali Coffee Farm, Bali Zoo Park, Butterfly Park, Puseh Batuan Temple, Celuk Village, Mas Village, Natural Bali Salt, Balinese Old House, Serangan Island, Denpasar City, Denpasar Traditional Market, Sanur Beach, Bajra Sandhi and Bali Museum, Tanjung Benoa Beach for Bali water sport packages, Nusa Pudut Island for Turtle Conservation Center, Nusa Dua Beach, Geger Beach, Jimbaran Beach, Kuta Beach, Seminyak Beach and Legian Beach.

To visit Batubulan Village and these places above you can join our Full Day Tours and Half Day Tours or combine them with Adventure Tours.

Batubulan Village Temple
Village Temple

If you are staying in Ubud will take about 30 minutes to drive by car local Ubud Driver or motorbike and from the Kuta area will take about an hour drive by car local Bali Driver or motorbike. There is no entrance ticket to explore Batubulan Village, except if you would like to watch Barong Dance or Kecak Dance.

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Batubulan Culture Village