The temple is located in the village of Mengwi, now a town,
around 18 kms north west of Denpasar city. If one wish
to find this temple she/he can take the main road of Denpasar
- Bedugul through the town of Kapal, then arrive at well known
cow market of Beringkit, from here the temple is
only around 5 kms to the direction of Bedugul. Exactly
at the cross road of Mengwi town turn right, one will
soon see the 
temple. The name of Taman Ayun literally means the garden
of mind. It was probably the temple was designed not
only as religious purpose, but also as an art that could
be uses as the place of relax and refreshing the soul
of the king as well as the people who worship the god
and homage of the ancestors. Seen physically, the temple
confirms the specific views nd careful choice of location
from where the environments are lower and on the west
side of the temple location is a river which is blocked
at the southern end of the temple to form a wide pool
bordering the west part of the temple, and exactly across
the pool is the palace.
The outline of the temple as the common temple of Bali
is divided into 3 yards. The first is the outer yard, is
considered the common place, less holy, the central
yard for the place of preparing material of rituals, and
the jeroan yard where all sacred constructions and place
of ritual are existing. The total size of the temple
proper is 250 x 100 meters that covers the 3 yards,
not including the pool. Some wrote that the outline
of the temple consist of 4 yards they separate the outer
yard with 2 shrines dedicated to the ancestor spirits
through the temple of Nusa island and Batu Aya. Car
parking area is located at the outermost of the yard
directly accessible from the main road. This road is
leading from the cross road at the center of Mengwi
town to the town of Abian Semal and Sangeh monkey forest.
The Jeroan yard, is considered the holiest place of
the temple. For Taman Ayun, the jeroan has 25 shrines,
as the main shrine is dedicated to the god as the power
of irrigation called Ulun Sui, a meru with 11 superimposed
roofs. There are another 11 merus for a praying related to some temples outside
Taman Ayun so people can pray immediately without specifically come to the respective temple, such as the temple
of Gunung Agung, Sakenan, and Batukara, while 2 merus
with 9 roofs praying to the temples of
Batur and Beratan temples. It is very interesting to
know that no one of the main shrine is dedicated to
Hindu God as those of India. Most shrines are medium
of worship to the spirit of Bali original belief. There
is found a shrine at the central yard mentioned as
the shrine of Surya with 3 nitched pavilion. Realizing
this, it is clear that the status of the temple is specific
to the kingdom ancestor's spirits as proved by a shrine
dedicated to I Pasek Badak at the jeroan yard.
At the central yard are exist 6 shrines, and at the
first yard found 13 shrines including now a big meeting
hall called wantilan. This meeting hall can be used
for various purposes with capacity more then 200 persons.
It is a design based on bali traditional activities
with higher place for performance stage. Border between
courtyard is separated by gates constructed in red bricks
and decorated with beautiful carving of bas relief.
Central yard has beautiful zoning with garden. Combined
with the palace and it's tradition Taman Ayun temple
is a perfect place to organize a cultural activities,
especially with dinner. Cultural night program will
include traditional performance, music, Bali traditional life, folk art and dinner.
Mengwi kingdom according to a manuscript written on
lontar palm leave was started around 1634. King of Tabanan
detained a price, and by king of Marga this price was
released and brought to Marga When king of Penebel conflicted
with Tabanan the price helped Tabanan to win the battle.
King of Tabanan gave Marga to this price, who is later
known as I Gusti Ngurah Putu. The palace was moved from
Marga to Blayu and I Gusti Ngurah Putu made an asceticism
on the peak of Mount Mangu to request strong power.
Return from asceticism he moved again his palace to
Mengwi. From Mengwi he extended his kingdom and was
able to annex half of Bali island including Blambangan
kingdom on east Java, which is now known as Kabupaten
Banyuwangi. Success in bringing Mengwi as the biggest
kingdom in Bali including Blambangan, he then used the
title I Gusti Agung Sakti Blambangan, and built the
temple of Taman Ayun. The success of Mengwi can not
be separated from the role of commander I Pasek Badak.
A common person from the village of Buduk near Krobokan
town. Unknown reason king was drawn into unending conflict
with Pasek, caused the fall of many victims. It was
told that the king was almost defeated and causing a
great panic and suddenly Pasek realized that his attitude
could erase his great success for years to build the
kingdom with the king. That is why he asked the king
to kill himself and for the sake of the kingdom he committed
to end the conflict, and ordered the king to adopt
40 persons from 4 castes who will continue his commitment
to protect the kingdom and his spirit be enshrined at
Taman Ayun temple. The king agreed the request of I
Pasek and built a shrine at the most sacred yard of
Taman Ayun with meru of 2 roofs as the shrine of I Pasek
Badak. Those 40 persons worship the spirit of Pasek
is called Pasek Bata-bata and until today this group
continue to worship him and always obediently praying
at front of the shrine to request the strength of I
Pasek Badak. Toward the end of 19th century the kingdom
of Mengwi totally declined and their kingdom was divided
and taken over by Tabanan, Badung, Buleleng, Gianyar,
and Bangli. While Blambangan entering the influence
of Islam and strong relation with Islamic kingdom of
Mataram ( now Yogyakarta ).
The gates of the temple imitate the style of Klungkung
palace, as Klungkung was considered the highest ruler
on Bali, which location was just on the west side of
present day Kerta Gosha in the middle of Klungkung city.
Kingdom of Bali under dynasty of Kepakisan with the
title I Dewa or Dewa Agung started to enter turbulences
since 1651, when their minister from Arya group with
title I Gusti took over the rule, although within short
time the rule of Kepakisan could be restored, but for
the rest of the life of Bali until 20th century Bali
continued to experiences breakages and born 9 small
kingdoms until the independence in 1945.
The ceremony for the temple is fall on Anggara Kasih
Medangsia, a local calendar which can not be regularly
fixed with international calendar except the day Anggara
means Tuesday. The responsibility on maintenance, rituals,
and others is by Mengwi royal palace, assisted by the
area of Kecamatan Mengwi. Usually not only people from
Kecamatan Mengwi who come to pray during ceremony but
also people from outside who might ever the resident
under Mengwi kingdom in the past. The ceremony will
last for 3 days, and during these days a procession by
girls in colorful costumes holding on head a high offering
called gebogan, a unique panorama. The procession usually
started at 4 o'clock, when the whole yard of the temple
is full of beautiful offering of gebongan. Exact time
of this ceremony can be seen on Bali local calendar
which is published every year. Mengwi kingdom is one
of the kingdom that built so many temples such as Taman
Ayun, Ulun Danu, Pradasa Kapal, Tanah Lot, Bukit Sari
Sangeh, Kedaton, Batukaru, Batu Klotok, and Pucak Mangu.
Bibliography
- Goris, Dr. R. : Sejarah Bali Kuno, Singaraja, Bali, no 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.
- Linus, Drs. I .Kt. : Sedikit Tentang Hubungan Konsepsional antara Candi dan Pura di Bali, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Udayana, Denpasar, 1974
- Kempers, Dr. A.J : Monumental Bali, Introduction to Balinese Archaeology & Guide to the Monuments, Periplus Addition, 1989
- 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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