Pura Panataran Sasih

 
Pura Panataran Sasih

The principal sight in the temple of Pura Panataran Sasih, which stands on the road from Bedulu to Pejeng, is what is claimed to be the largest kettledrum in the world, the famous "Moon of Pejeng". In fact it is not so much a drum as a gong, 1.25 m (4 ft) in diameter and richly decorated with spiral bands of ornament, stylized faces and Hindu symbols. Little can be seen of this, however, since the gong is hung high up in a bale and partly concealed.

While the date of the gong is well established (Dongsong culture, c. 300 BC), it has not been possible, in spite of intensive research, to determine its place of origin or the meaning of the decoration. The local people are firmly of the opinion that the Moon of Pejeng was one of the originally thirteen moons in the sky and that it fell to earth on the precise spot where the temple now stands. It is said that on the night on which it fell it landed in the branches of a tree, where it shone so brightly that it upset the plans of a gang of thieves. One of the thieves tried to put the light out by urinating on it: whereupon the moon exploded, killing the thief, and fell to the ground.

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