The village of Tenganan in Karangsem regency is indisputably the village with most preserved culture and nature in Bali. It’s popularity as been spread all over the globe but only visitors know the beauty of neighboring villages which surround the Tenganan village.

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Here is a write up on Bali’s cultural landscape prepared by Directorate General of History and Archaeology of Bali, that is submitted to UNESCO in accordance with World Heritage Program. I hope this writing can give a better view on Bali’s cultural landscape.

Cultural Landscape of Bali Province

Description
The island of Bali has long been characterized in the world as the last “paradise” on earth, a traditional society insulated from the modern world and its vicissitudes, whose inhabitants have exceptional artistic talents and consecrate a considerable amount of time and wealth to sumptuous ceremonies for their own pleasure and that of their gods. Therefore, the relation between the tangible and intangible aspects is a major aspect of the heritage and culture of Bali. The cultural heritage of the island goes way beyond physical structures and landscapes. More than anywhere else on the Indonesian peninsula an intricate connection exists between the built environment, the natural settings and the social and religious life.

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The wind blows quite hard recently in Bali, older people who know the characteristics of each month in a year complained: “It is already Kedasa (tenth month of traditional Caka calendar) everything should be clean and nice, but this strong wind, dark clouds, sudden downpour of rain, what all these thing all about!” Yes, of course, they are right as always; in this month, the weather should be clean and nice but what can we do with the weather except talking and complaining.

This strong wind, however, creates many beautiful things to see. There are many clouds appear in beautiful formations, fill up the sky, creating beautiful views to behold. This one for example

Or this one

These photographs are taken by my boss. He said that Bali is blessed by beautiful panorama; someone does not have to be genius to produce a postcard-quality photo here in Bali. The recipe for a good shot is just a slice of good weather, a few ounces of good gears, a few slices of knowledge of photography, preferably on composition and finding good angles and generous sprinkle of secret ingredient that is called ‘persistence’.

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Gumang Hill is situated in Bugbug village, on the road between Candidasa and Amlapura in Karangasem Regency. This hill overlooks the majestic Mount Agung on the north and Lombok strait on the east. During a favorable weather Mount Rinjani and the island of Lombok can be seen from this hill. Gumang Hill is not a tourist resort,so there is no such a thing as entrance fee.

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Every two years, special ritual happens on fourth full moon (Purnama Kapat, October 7, 2006); One day before full moon, Pilgrims from four villages (Bebandem, Ngis, Bugbug and Jasi) go up to Gumang Hill, where the temple lies on the top. It is about 400 hundred meters high from sea level and four kilometers to the east of Candi Dasa.

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