Tabanan, Rainbow over Ricefields

Bedugul Botanical Park Rich in Tropical Plants

It is interesting to see how rich Bali’s Eka Karya Botanical Park is. It is home to a great variety of tropical plants growing within a forest in Candi Kuning village, Baturiti District, Tabanan Regency, 55 km to the north of Denpasar. This botanical garden is 154,5-ha wide and lures tourists, vacationers and people celebrating New Year or the Balinese holy days of Galungan and Kuningan.

Standing proudly against a background of a tropical forest and Bukit Tapak hill with a panoramic view of Danau Beratan Lake below, the garden has a rich collection of plants, herbarium and other facilities for botanical study and research for those engaged in practice and pre-occupational training. Its management also serves a package of ecological education complete with guide and facilitators ready to assist visiting teachers and their students in research and discussion on plants.
According to Deden Mudiana, an official of Bali’s Eka Karya Botanical Park, this garden is the youngest, largest and widest in Indonesia with thousands of kinds of plants coming from both throughout the country and overseas. When planted, it was under the name of ‘Botanical Gardens Conservations International’ (BGCI). The Bali Eka Karya Park emerged on 5 July 1959 in a ceremony of inauguration by Prof. Ir. Kusnoto Setyodiwiryo.
There is a collection of 1,046 sorts of plants spread systematically throughout the park, labeled with complete information. The collection includes 316 kinds of natural orchid, which flower at different times of the year according to the variety. There are always orchids in flower here. The plant collection also includes 104 varieties of unique cacti stored in a greenhouse, accompanied by 117 varieties of traditional medicine plants passed down by ancestors and known as ‘Usada Bali’.
Another specific collection located on the ground, 1,250 – 1,450 meters above sea level, encloses 130 varieties of plants labeled ‘Upacara Adat’ or ‘Traditional Ceremony’, appreciated by Balinese as it gives the gardens a socio-religious character. The ‘Candi Bentar’ split gate of the complex, which separates the local settlement from the forest, also reflects this.
‘Taman Cyathea,’ with 49 varieties of fern, is another collection found in the park, as well as a taxonomical herbarium housing 507 varieties, a seed museum housing 595 varieties and an Ethno-botanical Museum with its collection of 74 materials and implements of Balinese ethno-cultural character. There is one hectare of ground used as a seeding site and where plants are developed and sold.
Statues of ‘Jetayu’ and ‘Rahwana’ strengthen the character of the park which also contains the temples Pura Batu Meringgit, Pura Teratai Bang and Pura Giri Putri. There is Balinese traditional housing for those visitors who would like to overnight in an atmosphere of a tropical garden. These are officially one of the UPT technical units of the Development Center of Indonesian Botanical Gardens, under the auspices of the LIPI Science Institute of Indonesia.
Visitors may tour around the park by car on a road of 6 km or trek leisurely in the garden, which is also good for recreational purposes, shooting videos, films, and photos and for contests with a theme of nature and the environment.
There are several different trails around the park. The Yellow Stripe or ‘Kosmos Bali’ is of medium difficulty, 6.2km long and takes around 2 hours. It follows a circular route while focussing on the dependence of Balinese people on plants and nature in religious and daily life. The Orange Stripe is a short-distant track going through renewed tropical forest. The Violet Stripe is an orchid plantation site. The Blue Stripe is a garden of various ferns, ancient plants that started to grow around 360 - 290 million years ago, 50 million years before the first animals. The Red Stripe is surrounded by Balinese traditional houses designed according to Asta Kosala Kosali architecture. The last is the Bird Stripe. (Budarsana)

Ceremonial Plants in The Botanical Garden

The ‘Eka Karya Bali’ botanical garden in Bedugul has six trails. There is a fine selection of exotic plants along each trail, which makes it easier for visitors to identify and choose which path to take. Amongst them there is the yellow trail that specializes in ceremonial plants.

After you enter the main gate, go straight ahead for about one hundred meters. Take the first left curve and then walk on for another hundreds meters. After a small bridge you’ll arrive at the location. The plants grow among the high towering tropical trees. Since they are big and high they keep the ground shaded from the sun, so it is perfect for walking around and observing the plants in a quiet and peaceful environment. Every plant has a label stating its name, Latin name and place of origin. In the middle of the plant area there is a pavement that leads to the temple of Batu Meringgit.
The collection of such plants commenced in 1991. Up to 1999 the collection reached some 130 species both originating from Bali and outside. It means to maintain and reserve the sustainability of plants used for Hindu ceremonies, and also for research of those plants of a rare species.
Some collections of The Botanical Garden are as follows. Plants that are required for their leaves are don delem (Pogostemon cablin), don karuk (Piper sp.), pandan harum (Pandanus amarilyfolius), and beringin (Ficus benjamin). Some common flowers are jepun bang (Plumeria alba), jepun putih (Plumeria acuminata), soka putih (Ixora sp.) and menuh (Jasminum sambat). Meanwhile the plants that are used for their tuber are gadung kasturi (Diescorea penthaphilla), temu ireng (Curcuma aeruginosa) and temu gongseng (Curcuma sp.)
Other than the Botanical Garden in Bedugul (Indonesian Institute of Science), research and documentation of ceremonial plants is also conducted by Taman Gumi Banten, an institution of Udayana University. Its cultivation project is located near the campus in Bukit Jimbaran and Besakih Temple on the foot of Mount Agung. Private collectors and ceremonial plant lovers are always welcome. For further details log on to www.taman.pustakabali.com.(pun)