In the eighth century, a Javanese Buddhist Priest, Rsi Marhandya saw a distant light rising from the earth to the sky and returning again. So Rsi organized a large group of men and women to find the place which was the source of the light. On this first journey he found a beautiful island as we know now as Bali. By the time Rsi and the search party eventually reached the mountains they came across Taro (30 minutes from Ubud) where he and his men fell ill and many died, they returned to Java where Rsi had another vision, regrouped his men and set out on his quest again. After a long journey he finally found the place of the light in the central mountains of Bali, Ubud, and this time built a sacred temple on the site.
On the journey, Rsi was led to stop and meditate at a place where two rivers met. It was at Campuhan (which actually means two rivers meet) that Rsi Marhandya received the inspiration he needed on how to build what is now one of the most revered and beautiful temples in all the world. He meditated at the confluence of the two Wos Rivers at Campuhan, just west of the modern day town centre. To mark this place of holy inspiration, a small temple was built on the banks of Campuhan and the surrounding land granted to the royal family of the town near Campuhan and refers to the healing power of this most sacred ground. Ubud means Medicine in Balinese, Ubud was originally called Ubad and was revered as a source of medicinal herbs and plants. Tjokorda Raka of the Ubud Royal family has had a dream of opening up this and sharing the rejuvenating life of this place with visitors of other cultures. A shrine was established and later expanded by Nirartha, the Javanese priest who is regarded as the founder of Bali's religious practices and rituals as we know them today. Campuhan has continued to be a source of light and inspiration for many, attracting artists and musicians of worldwide notoriety such as Walter Spies, Rudolf Bonnet, Colin Macphee, and Noel Coward, last but not least in this line was Antonio Blanco. |
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