On 20^th September 2006, the island of Bali will celebrate the 100^th anniversary of a tragic event with great historical significance. This date commemorates the bloody suicidal battle led by the King of Denpasar against Dutch colonialists. Referred to as ‘the puputan’, or fight until death, this atrocious massacre took place in the heart of Denpasar where a park square is now located.

It is believed that the battle resulted in a chain of events when a cargo ship was wrecked off the coastline of Sanur. The local Balinese people helped to rescue survivors and salvage the cargo. However, the Chinese owner of the ship complained that the Balinese were in fact looting the cargo and this news filtered back to the controlling Dutch authorities. Inevitably the Dutch send a military expedition to investigate the complaint as they had been seeking any opportunity to try and oppress the Balinese. So it wasn’t long before a troop of Dutch soldiers marched into the capital of Denpasar to take up the issue of the shipwreck with the local King.

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The palace of the second Puputan of Badung where the co-reigning prince of Badung, Gusti Ngurah Made Pamecutan, with his family and faithful followers died on 20 September 1906 between 16.00 and 17.00 in the afternoon.

A scene from Puputan in Pamecutan, where the old prince of Pamecutan, Gusti Gde Ngurah Pamecutan with his family and faithful followers found death on the square not far from the Puri (palace). One sees the gold sedan chair in the middle of scores of dead people in the foreground on the right hand of the photo.

Photo source : Museum Bali