Karangasem, On the Wallace Line

Historical Museum of Karangasem Kingdom

Relics belonging to the king of Karangasem are now well retained in the royal museum of Karangasem. They are spread out at the Puri Agung and Puri Gede, right in the heart of the city of Amlapura. Some parts of the museum collections are hundreds of kris daggers belonging to Puri Gede that are cleansed and given an oblation on the Tumpek Landep day (once in 6 months).

Owner of the Puri Gede, Anak Agung Bagus Ngurah Agung, looks so favoured to refurbish his palace. The palace, inherited from his predecessor, is indeed unique and grandiose. Being refurbished, the palace is opened to public, including visitors who would like to see one of the relics of Karangasem Kingdom originating in the sixteenth to twentieth century. So is the Puri Agung Karangasem. It has been opened as tourist object in the Amlapura city.
Other than royal buildings, there are also other tourist objects made into a single package, namely the Tirtagangga Park, the newly refurbished Soekasada Oejoeng Park as well as a number of other palaces in the city of Amlapura. The Puri Agung Karangasem has a number of distinctive buildings such as that made in the combination of Chinese and Dutch (European) architectural style. Here lies a building named Amsterdam (or maskerdam in Balinese) and the London Pavilion. Some photographs of the king and his royal guests at that time remain to be kept properly in this palatial complex.
Apart from refurbishing the palace, Agung also founded a small-scale museum. It is called so because, as an enterpriser living and spending more time in Denpasar together with his family, he lacks time to manage his museum. This museum retains some momentous palm manuscript containing various kinds of disciplines including culture, religion and literature and a number of royal relics. The latter comprises the weapon belonging to the king and his soldiers of ancient times. Those weapons consisting of kris / dagger, spear and bayonet are believed to have magical power and only certain people are entrusted to take care of them.
Other articles kept in this museum are home appliances such as the box of chewing betel, table and chair, photographs as well as paintings. These days, Agung tries hard to collect the articles considered to become the royal relics of Karangasem that remain in good condition at subject’s home or collected by other parties. "We make an effort to find out and collect the relics of our ancestors in accordance with our capacity," he says.
Another royal building called elephant pavilion is lent to the Supervisory Assembly of Customary Institution of Karangasem as its secretariat office. Besides, the royal palace is also frequently used to organize a seminar, meeting and performance of Balinese art and culture of typically Karangasem. By and large, it is used by the surrounding community of the Puri Gede.
Agung has an inspiration to bring back the function of royal palace as what it had in the past, namely as the centre of social activities together with the community, religious, art and cultural maintenance. He also intends to add his collection with gamelan instruments and use it for the exercise of art and culture like the art of dance and playing gamelan. (BTN/budana)