The uniqueness of Jagaraga Temple in Bali makes this temple famous. This Pura Dalem is full with ornaments and has delightful sculptured panels along its front wall. Depicts of aircraft fights, dogfights, bicycle, boat, Kamasutra and old-fashioned car.
This temple’s carving shows the life of Balinese people before and after the Dutch come to Indonesia. This temple located 15 km from Singaraja, Bali. Exact place is in a small village called Sawan, 8 km from Sangsit.
Dalem Jagaraga Temple belongs to “Pura Kahyangan Tiga” (Three main village Temples) of the traditional village of Jagaraga. Like the other “Pura Dalem” in Bali in general, according to its function as the temple of the dead. “Dalem Jagaraga” Temple is also located close to the village-cemetery; one of them is “Betara Duga” sculpture. There is also some relics that shows about Balinese myths, such as; Rangda, the mean witch. In this temple, you can see a relic about Puputan War that happened on 1848 against The Dutch, under command of Prince Anak Agung Jelantik.
Dalem Jagaraga Temple belongs to Pura Kahyangan Tiga, three of the main temples in a village. This is the shrine to worship the god of death Ciwa or Durga so that when someone dies, his/her soul will depart for the heaven, not meandering on the earth. No definite source as reference about when the temple was built, most people believe that it was built during the Dutch colonial era, as displayed here on the relief carve, showing the war between the local fighters against the Dutch in an epic called Perang Jagaraga, battle of Jagaraga.
Location: Dalem Jagaraga Temple is located in Jagaraga Village, sub-district of Sawan, Buleleng, 11 km east of Singaraja.
Pura Dalem is where the Balinese Hindu worship the manifestation of the Almighty God as Shiva and his wife Dewi Durga. He is a dissolver , the one who keep the cycle of life, the balance of the universe. The Jagaraga temple especially has a historic value as it is devoted to Puputan Jagaraga (Martyrdom of Jagaraga ). The war broke out on the 16th of April 1848 which was led by I Gusti Ketut Jelantik, I Gusti Lanang Sura, I Gusti Ketut Intaran, Jero Jempiring and Jero Tilem.
Prior to the Dutch’s arrival, the village was called Desa Suka Pura and had a Subak organization called Jagasari which reflects the fertility of its land. The village had a temple which was surrounded by a pool called Segara Madu. However the pool was damaged during the war with the Dutch and the temple itself now is surrounded by the rice fields.
The name Jagaraga was used at the time when the people were preparing themselves for the battle with the Dutch and it means, ” Watch out at yourself”, as the Dutch was going to attack the village soon. The people of Jagaraga dug a deep trench and put some traditional deadly traps around, called Pecuntil of Pemantek. They also built fortress which was called Kapit Surang, extending from west to East at the current graveyard for the village.
In relation to the was casualties on both sides and also because of the village was damaged, the people of Jagaraga decided to do something at their Temple of the Death. After the war in 1849, the villagers renovated the temple and rebuilt the temple of Death in a different architectural style from those of other villages.
This style is very unique in terms of carvings, structure of the building, as well as for the statues located in the temple. On the wall at the front of the temple are some particular carving depicting Dutch characters driving car, riding bicycle, aboard a boat or an airplane, probably meaning the Dutch were attacking by land, sea and by air.
The description was provided by Wayan Sueta.
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