Klungkung Attractions

History

Among the Hindus from Java who sought refuge on Bali towards the end of the 15th century to escape persecution was Batu Renggong, son of Prince Widjaya. In order to escape imprisonment his father had burned himself alive - a fate which his son did not wish to share. With a few hundred followers, including many priests, he fled to Bali and built a palace at Gelgel, a little town 5 km (3 mi.) south of Klungkung, assuming the style of Dewa Agung (Grand Prince) and declaring Gelgel his capital.

About 1710 the royal court moved to the more conveniently situated town of Klungkung, where Prince Di Made, a great-grandson of Widjaya, built a new palace. The town's principal sight, the Kerta Gosa (Court Hall), probably also dates from this period. Thereafter Klungkung grew steadily in importance, to such an extent that all important legal disputes from anywhere on Bali were dealt with, and criminals from all over the island were tried, in the Court Hall in Klungkung.

Klungkung also played an important part during the Dutch attempts to occupy Bali. After the Dutch landing in the north of Bali and their capture of Singaraja, Buleleng and other towns, an advance party led by Captain Cornelis de Houtman reached Klungkung, where they were welcomed as guests by the Dewa Agung, who was much interested in the European way of life. Soon afterwards it was agreed to establish trading relations.

During the 18th century Klungkung increasingly lost importance and influence to nearby Gianyar. The Dewa Agung reached agreement with the neighboring princedoms on common action against the Dutch, but he lacked the military means to resist the threatened invasion; and so, after Buleleng to the north and Amlapura to the east, Klungkung became one of the first territories to be conquered by the Dutch.

Then in 1908 occurred an event which still arouses strong emotions among the Balinese. Dutch troops occupied Klungkung and took up position before the gates of the palace, whereupon the gates opened and a procession of 250 men, women and children, led by the Dewa Agung emerged, advanced towards the invaders and halted. The Dewa Agung drew his kris and plunged it in his heart; his example was followed by his retinue, and those who survived were killed by Dutch bullets. (Note the similar event at Denpasar.)

Little is left of the one-time splendor of Klungkung, for after the conquest the Dutch pulled down almost all the major buildings. In recent years a few old buildings have been restored or reconstructed, but the pattern of present-day Klungkung is set by modern functional buildings.

Only during the 1980s were some of the buildings repaired or reconstructed. They recall the town's heyday when Klungkung was the artistic and cultural center of Bali and produced numerous important painters.