MUSEUMS IN BALI

Bali has got the name of living museum. The name was given by those experts and people visiting Bali confirmed this statement. This was due to the fact that historical heritages and ancient way of life are preserved well mixed and adopted in the daily life of the society. One of positive attitude among Balinese is that when they found any ancient artifacts or any ancient remains they will preserve it in relation with religious ritual. As of the nature of religious ritual related to any material, it is considered sacred object and no one will risk to touch it without special ceremony to be carried out before. That was, when archaeologist made a research to read the inscriptions of ancient king, the people had to make religious ritual before the reading, and will be escorted by religious figures. Almost bigger part of movable ancient heritages such as stone sculptures, bronze objects, inscriptions are preserved in the temple. They have made a good concept of preservation so until now we have historical heritages still preserved well, but at the other hand the historical facts are not in-site anymore, and this gives special difficulty in developing the research. It is lucky also that the people become more and more aware about the modern technique of preservation and they one by one trust the government in preserving the heritages. With this new awareness, many ancient heritages have been preserved in the museum. Started by Dutch scholars some real museum were built to preserve the rich cultural heritage of Bali. Below are some museums so far have been built in Bali. Gedong Kirtya Museum Built in Singaraja city, the capital city of Nusa Tenggara at the time. One of Dutch scholar L.J.J. Caron invited kings of Bali and religious figures o discuss about rich heritages of ancient litterair spreaded out in Bali. This art works were supposed to go astray or damage in the course of time without giving chance to the people to know or study their values. The meeting was done in Kintamani on June 1928. The forum decided to establish a foundation called " Kirtya Liefrink - Van der Tuuk" to manage the preservation. F.A. Liefrink was the Assistant Resident of Dutch Administration on Bali and Lombok who put an intensive attention to Balinese culture and had written many articles on Bali and Lombok. Dr. H.N. Van der Tuuk, was an historians who built his house on the land what is now Gedong Kirtya Museum He compose the 4 volumes of Kawi - Balineesch - Nederlandch Woordenboek between 1872 - 1894. The museum is dedicated special for manuscripts written on palm leaves as literary heritages of Bali. Here further research on contents, preservation, and socialization are being projected, beside more collection be searched among the private collectors and persuade them to trust the preservation at the museum. Bali Museum Around 1910, when Dutch cruise ship named K.P.M started to visit Bali and dropped tourists, Bali started to be known abroad. More and more tourists coming to Bali. Many ancient heritages felt into the hand of tourists. Realizing this situation Mr. W.F.J. Kroon, the assistant Resident of Bali and Lombok asked Mr. Curt Grundler to work out a plan of museum with Balinese architects. The team decided to build a museum with architecture of mixed between temple and place style. The construction was almost stop during the explosion of Mt. Batur in 1917 which was damaging hundreds of temples and people houses, and falling down the half-built museum. Finally the museum can be opened in 1932, with a real management, with 3 mains exhibition pavilions, these are Gedung Tabanan, Gedung Karangasem, and Gedung Buleleng. Gedung Tabanan or the Pavilion of Tabanan is one of the pavilion with architectural design of Tabanan regency style to preserve and exhibit Bali ethnography such as arts, accessories, household tools, ritual tools, and various traditional arms. Gedung Buleleng or the Pavilion of Buleleng with architectural style of north Bali. This pavilion is dedicated to preserve and exhibit Chinese Buddhas, various sculptures classified according to it's period, and primitive style. Gedung Karangasem, or the Pavilion of Karangasem with architectural design of East Bali to preserve and exhibit various human cultural fact from before BC until current decade such as agricultural tools from bronze age, megalithic age, inscriptions on bronze, stone sculptures of 13th to 16th century, Chinese porcelain, and various ritualistic objects. Museum bali is one of the biggest museum in Indonesia with various type of collections. According to the inventory made in 1981 the collection of Museum Bali are recorded as follows:
Pre-historical fact                           640 objects
Historic fact                                  6.883 objects
Ethnographic fact                           4.103 objects
Source : Proyek Pegembangan Permuseuman Bali, 1981/1982
Puri Lukisan Museum Located in the center of Ubud city. The museum was built by the association of artists. This association later established a foundation in 1930 with the name " Pita Maha" The foundation including artists in Ubud and surrounding, Kamasan, Klungkung and Denpasar. Each area had the coordinator. The pioneer of the association was Mr. Rudolf Bonnet a German artists, Walter Spies a Dutch artist, and two royal family of Ubud, and a local artist I Gusti Nyoman Lempad. The foundation decided to build a permanent exhibition pavilion which was later known as " Puri Lukisan Museum " This association and it's foundation had succeeded in organizing various exhibition in Indonesia and abroad such as Singapore and French. World war II had stopped the activity and can only be re-started again in 1947. In 1954 the permanent exhibition hall were built on what is now the location of Puri Lukisan Museum. The collection of the museum are mostly the historic style of Bali Painting style. Some works of famous Bali artists and foreign artists living in Bali between 1925 through 1950. Small number of carving arts are also on display. The biggest number of collection is the type of classical Ubud painting and new Ubud painting style. Classical style is the type when Western influence not yet applied.Museum Le Mayeur The museum was born by a love story of Belgian painter Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merpres with Balinese dancer Ni Polok. He arrived in Bali for the first time in 1932 at his 52 years old. His first plan was only for staying in Bali for 8 months in search for new ideas for his painting creation. Balinese culture, nature and Ni Polok had startled him of the strong magic of Bali and totally changed his vision about life. Ni Polok at the beginning was only his model for painting. It is very clear about his admired spirit of the girls who was only 17 years old at that time and stopped to be a legong dancer. It was a tradition that a legong dancer  is good only between 12 through 17 years. The close relation between Le Mayeur with Ni Polok had grown a different feeling of relation which brought them to the oath of marriage, and built his house near current The Grand Bali Beach Hotel. During his living in Bali with his wife was the most productive period of his life. Even he was able to donate his earning to French, Begia, and England after the Europe was hit badly by the war in 1941. He died in Belgia on 31 May 1958 during his treatment of cancer. The heritages in his house are mostly various paintings clearly shown his love to Ni Polok, and some are painting he made during his way from Europe to Bali. The house has now become a museum and has been donated to Indonesian government. As a museum many tourists and students visited the collections. A small entrance fee is asked to the visitor to finance the management of the museum.Museum Gedong Arca Located at Bedulu village, Pejeng, Gianyar. The area along the lowland between Tampak Siring and Bedulu, even further south is rich of ancient heritages especially ancient stone carving, and rock cut candis ( hermitages ). The construction of this museum was the idea of R.P. Soejono, an Indonesian arhaeologist in 1958/59. The aim was to preserve archaeological findings around Bali, some also by purchasing& from private. Until now the museum has 3000 collections. The type of collection is from pre-history until historical period, and classified as follows:

• Period of hunter and food gathering,
• Late hunter & food gathering,
• Cultivation period,
• Metal age cutlure,
• Historic culture starting 8th century.

• Magedong-gedongan is a ritual for a baby when it is still in mother's womb
• Mabuhu-buhu ritual, is for the birth of a baby
• Ngaroras dina, a ritual of 12 days after the birth of a baby
• Macolong, a ritual of 42 days after the birth of a baby
• Nyambutin, a ritual of 105 days after the birth of a baby
• Pawetonan ( otonan ) a ceremony after the baby reached 210 days, and this ceremony will be regularly repeated every 210 days, such as the birth day
• Ngaraja Sewala, like initiation ceremony, when the boy or girl considered to get physically adolescent.
• Mapandes, is tooth filing ceremony
• Marriage ceremony
• Ngaben ceremony
• Mamukur ceremony

1. Madik or taah, is a cutting blade to clean the bushes or land, especially used in the dry land
2. Penampad, is a long sword-like blade to clean the wed rice field.
3. Tengala, is a land cultivating tool dragged by 2 cows, to up-side down the surface of the land. Normally after cleaning of the surface there are small wastes left, and this wastes are buried under the soil by tenggala, so it can be a natural fertilizer when it is dissolved
4. Lampit, is a heavy block of wood dragged by 2 cows or buffalos, to make the surface of the land after cultivated with tenggala become plain.
5. Gabag, a tools dragged by 2 cows or buffalos, to clean and sweep the waste remaining on the soil after being cultivated with lampit.
6. Ganggan, is a handy tool with the same function as gabag.
7. Lighter lampit, is a tool mostly used in dry land, to make the spreaded seeds of the rice become even, so when it grows the distance between one to an other not to concentrated or the far.
8. Tambah is a digger, used as handy tool. If one does not have cows or buffalos, tambah is used to up-side down the soil, or to clean the final completion of the planting process. There are 2 kinds of tambah, one is solid plates and other is made with 4 blades. This 4 blades used mostly in the wet rice field.
9. Petakut, is a scare prop, to make the birds eating rice be scared to go down to the rice,
10. Kikis, a handy tool to clean the grass among the growing rice, and it is mostly used in the dry land,
11. Anggapan, is a cutting tool for collecting rice from their trunks,
12. Gelandar, is a place to dry the harvested rice,
13. Ketungan, is a scooped out big trees, to form like a canoe. This is used to pounder the bunch of rice, so the cereals will come off the bunch,
14. Lesung is holed strong tree to pounder the rice seeds, so it is separated with it's hard skin. After being poundered with lesung and alu ( wooden pole ) the rice become clean and ready to be cooked.
15. Kerumpu or jineng is rice barn or rice granary.