The Temple of the Owner of the Land
Your vacation in Bali will be not complete without visiting any temple here. One that should be added in your wishlist is Maduwe Karang temple. It is located in Kubutambahan Village, Buleleng Regency, for about 12 km east of Singaraja City.
This temple was built around the 19th century and was very well known among local people and foreigners even before the World War II. The temple was built by local immigrants from Bulian Village (Ancient Bali Village) who immigrated to Kubutambahan Village. At that time, the foreigners came to Bali by sea at the Port of Buleleng and while waiting for the public transportation, they took the time to visit this beautiful temple.
There are so many reliefs on the templeโs wall. These reliefs tell about ancient stories taken from the characters and scenes of the Ramayana story. There is an interesting carving located on the north wall of Pura Maduwe Karang, which is a carving of a Dutchman riding a bicycle. From the existing history that the driver is W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp (a famous Dutch painter). He was known to travel around Bali by riding a bicycle in the 1900s and painting in all the places he had visited. After experiencing repairs due to the earthquake that had occurred, the bicycle wheels were then replaced with lotus flowers.
Apart from the reliefs of cycling people there are also sculptures that are very unique and take the view of the tourists visiting this temple. That is the sculpture of Durga’s figure in his manifestation as Rangda, in a sitting position with his knees wide open so that his genitals are clearly visible. While his right hand was placed on the head of a small child standing on his knees, his right foot was placed on a horned animal that was lying down. This figure is intended to describe Durga as Mahisasuramandini, a figure who destroys the giant evil buffalo.
Maduwe Karang Temple is one of spots in our Kintamani Tour program. Or if you have your own itenerary to visit this place, we can help you to make it happen!
