PANULISAN AND KEHEN TEMPLES

The location of the temple is still on the rich archaeological site along the environment of Pekerisan river, near Tirta Empul, Tampak Siring. The area from Pejeng, Ubud up to Tampak Siring was very much possible once the center of Balinese kingdom before 1345 AD. Archaeological researches until now could not find any indication about the possibility of the ancient city around this area.
Gunung Kawi complex consist of 2 main groups, those are the ancient rock-cut temple, and the new temple built just adjacent to the ancient one. The rock-cut candis ( shrines ) are hewn in a relief deep enough to be protected from water flows and dirt sweeping from the top of the slope. The height of the frame in average of 7 meters and 2 meters wide.
Seeing from the type of the candis it is very similar with a shrine called " prasada " One of the prasada can still seen in a village of Kapal near Denpasar city, the only thing is from much later period.
To visit this site one have to walk down and up the steps around 300 meters from parking area, since the object is located down near the river bed. During the day it might very hot and need to bring small towel to sweep the sweating. The historical research disclosed that the rock-cut prasada were made for co memorial shrine of king that reigned Bali between 1050 through 1077 AD. Documentary research gave the fact during that time the king was His Majesty Anak Wungsu with his 4 consorts.
The current site has been protected by local people by building a temple as a place for regular ceremony. The good side of Balinese is that were ever they found ancient remains they build temple and make the site a sacred place, so no one can enter without the permission or regulation valid in their village. It is like a preservation that implicit in their culture. At every temple, at least twice every 210 days there are religious ceremonies. During the ceremonies cleaning the area from grass, wastes and any other dirt are organized. The problem is that some time cleaning service do not following a scientific procedure which can harm also the ancient object. With the establishment of Bali Culture Preservation Bureau it is hoped that the knowledge of local people in preserving their cultural heritages more and more correct.
The people around the village of Tampak Siring culturally feel obliged to preserve and maintain the temple and the surrounding. They divide themselves into some groups based on their village location to cover the responsibility, since around the area many ancient site with temples are exists.
KEHEN TEMPLE
The temple is located north to Bangle city on the ancient cultural area between Bangli and Kintamani area. This area is also rich with ancient heritages especially bronze documents which are mostly preserved in the temple of the local villages. Local people consider this kind of ancient inscriptions are a very sacred objects, as they respect very much the writings. This living thought of respect is expressed by the ritual for the whole Bali which is called Saraswati. During this ritual everyone who deals with writing make an offering, and implores to the good of the benevolence and security in learning any cultural and social matters.
In Bali beside Pejeng - Tampak Siring area, we also know many other areas which preserves ancient cultural heritages. In the area where Kehen Temple is located even, stretches as long as to the north up to the hill on which is now a temple called Panulisan or Tegeh Koripan. At this temple is now preserved a big number of ancient stone sculptures some of which bear the dates of it's carving, artists, and the figure which is symbolized with the sculpture.
The word " Kehen " is estimated to originate from " keren " means kiln. Kiln related to fire. In ancient inscriptions are mentioned about a status of a temple called " Hyang Api ", and at the other occasion on the inscription is called " Hyang Kehen" The inscription bearing the dates from 9th century AD and 1204 AD. It is normal in the vocabulary of ancient Balinese language that the phoneme / r / and / h / is changeable and does not change the meaning, such as "tikar" = "tikeh" means pandanus mat, "natar" = "natah" means yard. What is the architectural shape of the temple in the beginning, this is not yet clear. Since the comparison to be used is not really available, although there are many ancient stone shrines are successfully reconstructed such as Mangening temple, Pagulingan temple, and Yeh Gangga temple. The reason indicates that in case Kehen temple was built also as those temple it must have been some ruins be found which is actually not. Many historians thought that the beginning of the temple must have been built with perishable materials, and using common architectural pattern of Bali. Current structure of the temple shows common temple of Bali, where the whole zone is divided into 3 courtyards. At the first court and second courts are normally pavilions related to the facility to prepare the ceremonies, while at the third court are some pavilions or shrines dedicated to the gods and ancestral spirits.
PANULISAN TEMPLE
Panulisan temple is known also as Tegeh Koripan temple. In 971 AD the people of Canigan village near Dausa village around 3 kms north to Kintamani asked to the king to be discharged the responsibility of worshipping "Bhatari Mandul". That is the description of inscription preserved at Bukit Indrakila temple at the village. The temple is on the peak of a hill accessible by more than 200 steps with around 60 degrees elevation. There are some big number of ancient stone carvings some of which bears the dates and the person being symbolized with the sculpture. This site has invaluable historical source for the construction of Balinese history, including the relation between Bali and Chinese Chung dynasty. A unique temple called "Balingkang" just few kms from the temple, and within Panulisan temple itself there is a sculpture symbolizing "Ratu Chung Kang" ( Her Majesty of Chung Khan ) which has a close relation with the existence of Balingkang temple.
Among the batch of ancient stone sculptures is found the first tradition in Bali that an artist carved his name on the creation. It is quiet strange, as in Bali normally artists never mention his/her name on their creation. Once he/she created an art work, it become the public ownership, group ownership, or anonymous works. They never claim his/her intellectual rights, even they were proud when their creation become model of the work of others. We found the name of an artist called "Mpu Bga" who carved the stone sculpture. This artist did not just carved here at Panulisan but at Sibi Agung temple in southern part of Gianyar regency, a please almost 60 kms away from Panulisan temple.
Some important sculptures are the Shiva symbol called "Lingga", a couple of royal wedding bearing the date 1011 AD, supposed to the symbol of King Udayana and his wife, a sculpture of a princess bearing the date 1077 AD and name "Bhatari Mandul". The Chinese sculpture, and a sitting couple which is also supposed to be the icon of king Udayana and his wife.
About the existence of Chinese princess figure in this temple which is still worshipped by the Chinese society living in Kintamani and surrounding, there is the same opinion from historians. If is an indication that one of Balinese king married Chinese princess from Chung dynasty. The existence of "Balingkang" temple is an indication that king of Bali built their temple in the version of Chinese Buddhist. Balingkang itself gives an indication that it was a Chinese word " Bali-khan" means "king or Bali" A legend about Balinese king married Chinese princess is preserved in the form of traditional dance called "Barong Landung" means tall barong, a couple of black king with Chinese white-yellow princess. An indication that the latest Balinese king of Sri Astasura was the figure in question, is not yet solved. An ancient manuscript called "Usana Bali" mentions that a king of Bali who was defeated by Majapahit kingdom of East Java due to his negligence in performing religious ceremony and even prevented the Balinese people to perform pray in the temple, sounds provocative. In the scripture the king was named Maya Denawa or Sri Gajah Waktra, or Sri Tapolung. If we observe the mask used for the Barong landung dance it looks that the king was not a wise man, but a ruthless and dictator.
In the temple of Panulisan there are not many shrines have been built, only some pavilions used to preserve the ancient stone sculptures which are considered very sacred objects by their people who have the responsibility to maintain and perform the religious ceremony in the temple. A regular ceremony is also conducted based on Hindu Java calendar which is consist of 210 days.

Bibliography

• Goris, Dr. R. : Sejarah Bali Kuno, Singaraja, Bali, not date
  Sekte-Sekte di Bali, translated by Soejono, Bhrattara, Jakarta, 1974
  Bali Atlas Kebudayaan, Pemerintah Republic Indonesia, no date
  Arti Pura Besakih Menurut Sejarah dan Ibadat, Majalah Bhakti, Th. II, No. 17
• I.H.D.: Kumpulan Penelitian Tentang Pura di Bali, diperbanyak untuk Lingkungan Institute Hindu Dharma Denpasar, Bali, no. date
• Kempers, Dr. A.J : Monumental Bali, Introduction to Balinese Archaeology & Guide to the Monuments, Periplus Addition, 1989
• Linus, Drs. I .Kt. : Sedikit Tentang Hubungan Konsepsional antara Candi dan Pura di Bali, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Udayana, Denpasar, 1974
• Rata, Drs. I.B. : Konsepsi Dasar dan Pengembangan Pura di Bali, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Udayana, Denpasar, Bali, 1979
• Pemda Propinsi Bali : Sejarah Bali, 1980

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