The Kertha Gosa is an example of
Balinese architecture located on the island of Bali, in the city Klungkung, Indonesia. The Kertha Gosa Pavilion at Klungkung Palace was first built in the early 18th
century by Dewa Agung Gusti
Sideman. The first function of the pavilion
was for the court of law in 1945. Kertha Gosa was repainted in the
1920s and again in the 1960s. The people who discovered the pavilion knew there
was an extensive history behind the pavilion. The discovery of Kertha(1) Gosa
pavilion was only known by people writing about it here or there to others
outside of Bali. The Kertha Gosa Pavilion at Klungkung has the story of Bhima
Swarga painted around the ceiling. Bhima Swarga is a Hindu epic referenced from the Mahabharata. The story at the Kertha Gosa
Pavilion is not the whole Mahabharata but one small section called Bhima
Swarga.
HISTORY
Kertha Gosa means - “the place
where the king meets with his ministries to discuss questions of justice.” The
story of Bhima Swarga is elaborate and all-embracing. Bhima Swarga in Balinese means, “Bhima goes to the abode of the
gods.” Swarga literally means to any place where the gods happen to reside,
Heaven or Hell.
Bhima, the second oldest
of the five Pandava brothers, is forced by his mother Kunti with the mission to rescue from Hell the souls of his earthly father Pandu, and his second mother, Madri. After saving Pandu and Madri from Hell, Bhima must secure them for
Heaven. Throughout Bhima’s journey to Heaven and Hell he is accompanied by his
two loyal servants (the clown characters). These made up characters are highly
important to the story Bhima Swarga because the ordinary Balinese can relate to
the characters in the story Bhima Swarga because the characters represent
ordinary Bali.
Bhima’s
siblings go through hell right along with Bhima to rescue their parents. The
siblings observe people being tortured for their sins. The siblings are Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadewa, Yudisthira, and Bhima. The two clown
characters whom accompany Bhima on his journey to Hell are Twalen and Mredah. Twalen wears a black checkered loin cloth
and is the helper to Bhima. Twalen translates what is being said by Yudisthira
and Kunti. Mredah always wears red checkered loin cloths and he also helps
Bhima along with cracking a joke to lighten the mood. Bhima goes to Hell to
rescue his parents and when he arrives he finds his parents are in a huge hot
water bath. Bhima tips the bath which his parents were boiling in and they are
taken off to Heaven. The Demons did not like Bhima rescuing his parents and
allowing them to go to Heaven. Bhima then has to fight off the Demons. Next,
the Gods do not like this idea of Bhima taking his parents from Hell to Heaven.
Bhima then gets into a fight with the Gods and Bhima dies in Heaven. The high
God of all restores Bhima back to life and gives Bhima the drink of
immortality. The last scene of Bhima Swarga shows justice, even with
punishments of Hell.
ICONOGRAPHY
The ceiling
of Kertha Gosa is painted in a traditional Balinese style called wayang, meaning “shadow figure”. Paintings in the wayang style are related closely to shadow theatre art, relating to the Mahabharata and Ramayana stories. Wayang style paintings have been
faithfully preserved that it continues today to reflect Bali’s Hindu-Javanese heritage in its traditional iconography
and content. Iconography was used a lot in Bali’s culture. Iconoclasm is used because the Balinese people wanted to represent living things
through pictures and shadows; it was prohibited to represent any living entity.
Until the
early twentieth century, the wayang style was Bali’s only form of pictorial
ways. The ubud style developed after the arrival of the Dutch. Ubud style tends
to represent aspects and scenes of everyday life in Bali. In iconographic
language, color performs an important function. Very light brown is used for
flesh color of the gods. Kasar characters can be recognized by their
brownish-red flesh.
All the
characters in the story of Bhima Swarga painted in the pavilion Kertha Gosa
have a symbolic meaning relating to color and whether the characters are kasar
or halus. Kasar characters are rough and coarse, whereas halus characters are
refined and flowing. For example, the demons in the painting Bhima Swarga would
be described as kasar - rough, coarse, crude, and vulgar. A halus figure can be
described as refined and recognized by delicate hands and fingers. Bhima, his
siblings, and Kunti are all halus characters. The angle of the head and body
attitude of the characters are also important. For example, human heads and
bodies are always a straight on position, but kasar paintings are represented
in between with eyes and nose at an angle.
Kasar
characters also have big eyes, noses, and mouths. The hand positioning of the
kasar characters is upward. Kasar characters can be monstrous looking, have
skin troubles, and look masculine. Halus characters have small eyes, noses, and
mouths with almost no facial hair. The head and face are pointed downward. The
lips of a halus character are thin and show white uniformed teeth. In
paintings, the right hand is usually active, and the left hand remains
motionless. One of Bhima’s most important features assigned to only him is his
right thumb, which ends in a very long curved nail as his weapon, this is a
magical implication.
In the
paintings, social standing can be portrayed by the hierarchical position of the
characters, the size of their body, the side on which they are placed (left or
right of the scene). In Bhima Swarga story the statue of Siwa, Heaven’s most prominent god, is larger and more inflicting than any
other god. Also, Bhima overpowers all other humans in the story. Bhima’s
servants Twalen and Mredah usually appear side by side, with Mredah, Twalen’s
son, placed a little below his father. Age and social class also play a role in
the placement of the five Pandawa brothers. Bhima, since his power is strictly
physical, his body must be unhindered and ready for battle. Around Bhima’s body
wrapped flowingly is a sarong of black and white checked material that in Bali
is believed to have magic protective qualities. In Heaven, battle scenes are
not bloody. Bhima as usual is in the center of the war panels, his body is much
smaller than in hell. Bhima’s body size is proving the importance of the
hierarchy, since Bhima’s importance diminishes when he is around the gods.
The Bhima
Swarga painting in the Kertha Gosa Pavilion is a moral epic, depicting wisdom and perseverance and the
ultimate virtue over vice. Today huge audiences listen to the epic just as it
was hundreds of years ago. It is said, “He who with fervid devotion listens to
a recitation of the Mahabharata attains to high success in consequence of the
merit that becomes his through understanding even a very small portion thereof.
All the sins of that man who recites or listens to this history with devotion
are washed off.
The
paintings of the Bhima Swarga story (painted in the traditional wayang style)
depicted on the Kertha Gosa pavilion ceiling have a mystery to them. The story
of Bhima Swarga occupies five rows and reads clockwise starting at the far
northeastern corner of the ceiling. The first two rows of the Bhima Swarga
paintings represent Bhima’s appearances in Hell, and the top three rows, his
journey to Heaven. At the center of the ceiling, there is a lotus surrounded by
four doves, symbolizing good fortune, enlightenment, and ultimate salvation.
A patron of arts, Dewa Agung Gusti Sideman took
greatness in supervising the design and construction of his palace in Klungkung
- an example of Hindu-Balinese architecture. Kertha Gosa architecture took
shape of a mandala - a Buddhist influence domed-mountain shape. Mandalas
help people further their enlightenment; pure forces of good come from a
mountain. Kertha Gosa’s first major function pertained to court of law and
justice. The Kertha Gosa pavilion was the meeting place for the raja
(Hindu prince) and Brahman judges (Kerthas) to discuss issues of law and human
affairs. Whether or not the king instructed his court painters to decorate the
ceiling at the time Kertha Gosa was built is impossible to know. Moreover, it
is impossible to know whether or not the story of Bhima Swarga was the first
painting in the pavilion. The earliest and only record of paintings at Kertha
Gosa dates from the year 1842 and is written in a lontar book (a book that holds
prayers, history of Bali, and epics). Also it is not documented whether the
paintings were a permanent feature of the pavilion or if it was for a temporary
reason of celebration. It is possible that the raja might have wanted the story
of Bhima Swarga since it deals with moral and social questions and with justice
in general. These paintings furthermore, have been supervised by I Gde Modara, the most important
painter at the court of Klungkung during this period.
Dewa Agung Gusta Sideman ruled until 1775; he was
succeeded by his son, then by his grandson, and his line of descendents
continued to reign until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1908, the Dutch attacked Klungkung, and fire
broke out in the royal area. To this day it is said that the fire was started
not by the Dutch but by the local people because they were confused with the
condition of their society and were rebelling against the raja. Klungkung was
the last Balinese kingdom to fall. In 1909 Kertha Gosa became the official
court of Justice for the region of Klungkung. Klunkung had been a unique service to justice;
utilizing Kertha Gosa as a court of law - the story of Bhima Swarga played a
significant role in aiding justice. Those who had broken the law therefore had
been tried. The accused knelt before the dreadful punishments (painting of the
story Bhima Swarga) depicted on the ceiling. But if the accused looked higher
above the horror of Hell and looked to the panels of Heaven he could find
consolation.
RESTORATION WORKS
In 1960 the entire ceiling at Kertha Gosa was
replaced (latest renovation) and new paintings were made, still depicting the
story of Bhima Swarga but adding a greater deal of detail. In 1982 eight panels
were replaced. The quality of the new paintings was substandard to those from
1960; the colors were subdued. Until 1982 a visitor could enter Kertha Gosa,
but now one must pay an entrance fee. The pavilion floor is surrounded by a
wooden fence so that visitors cannot go to the center to look up at the ceiling
paintings but can see them only from along the sides. Kertha Gosa is the most
complete example of Balinese art and culture. The most fascinating of all is
the painted ceiling in Kertha Gosa symbolizing afterlife.
If you visit the Kertha Gosa You could visit other tourist
object likes: Besakih (the mother temple in Bali), Goa Lawah ( bat cave),
Kintamani (volcano panorama), Coffee plantation.
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