Hello Mister Madé Wijaya!
With many interest I always look at your site "Stranger in Paradise".
I was very surprised to see that in the version of March you mention the Goa Giri Putri on Nusa Penida, which cavetemple your security guard Wayan Suyasa visited in January with the Chinese New Year.
We also visited the cavetemple almost in the same period, during our latest 6 weeks visit to Bali (for the 6th time) and also made some pictures, of which a selection I hereby send to you.
And I was also surprised to see there a statue of the goddess Kwan Jin. As being a buddhist I immediately recognised her as a bodhisattva, the embodiment of love and compassion. It is the Chinese version which is female. In Tibet the bodhisattva is male and called Chenrezi (in Sanskrit: Avalokitesvara).
We were there with our driver/guide Seta, who is born on the island. He was a great help in explaining everything.
He had a long and serious conversation with the priests.
We did a offering in the temple on the top of the cliff, after climbing many steps.
From there it is is a very nice sight over the beach.
Most locals there keep themselves busy with catching fish and seeweed.
From the temple on the top, it is possible to enter the cave through a very narrow hole in the rock.
I was very happy to have Seta at my side very close. Because the stone floor was hardly to see in the dark. Only here and there some lights, mostly very close to the shrines and statues. Which created a very magical atmosphere.
The cave is some hundreds of meters long. And have side-corridors as Seta told me. Sometimes two kilometers long. Seta used to play there in his youth. Somewhere in the middle there was a ceremony going on with a priest and devoted Balinese people. No sign of any Russian this time. Very close there, there was a unstable shaky iron staircase, leading to such a side-corridor. After me also other people went up.
They did a an offering in front of another shrine there.
Completely at the end of the gigantic cave there was daylight coming through a fence. It is exactly there where is the statue of Kwan Jin.
One statue in blue got my attention, it was clearly a female and the looks were very much like the Holy Mary ....
In the series of pictures, which I will split up to make the sending more easy, I also inlcude some of other temples nearby, temples mostly made of limestone, which creates a very exciting effect against the turquoise of the sea and the blue of the sky.
With many interest I always look at your site "Stranger in Paradise".
I was very surprised to see that in the version of March you mention the Goa Giri Putri on Nusa Penida, which cavetemple your security guard Wayan Suyasa visited in January with the Chinese New Year.
We also visited the cavetemple almost in the same period, during our latest 6 weeks visit to Bali (for the 6th time) and also made some pictures, of which a selection I hereby send to you.
And I was also surprised to see there a statue of the goddess Kwan Jin. As being a buddhist I immediately recognised her as a bodhisattva, the embodiment of love and compassion. It is the Chinese version which is female. In Tibet the bodhisattva is male and called Chenrezi (in Sanskrit: Avalokitesvara).
We were there with our driver/guide Seta, who is born on the island. He was a great help in explaining everything.
He had a long and serious conversation with the priests.
We did a offering in the temple on the top of the cliff, after climbing many steps.
From there it is is a very nice sight over the beach.
Most locals there keep themselves busy with catching fish and seeweed.
From the temple on the top, it is possible to enter the cave through a very narrow hole in the rock.
I was very happy to have Seta at my side very close. Because the stone floor was hardly to see in the dark. Only here and there some lights, mostly very close to the shrines and statues. Which created a very magical atmosphere.
The cave is some hundreds of meters long. And have side-corridors as Seta told me. Sometimes two kilometers long. Seta used to play there in his youth. Somewhere in the middle there was a ceremony going on with a priest and devoted Balinese people. No sign of any Russian this time. Very close there, there was a unstable shaky iron staircase, leading to such a side-corridor. After me also other people went up.
They did a an offering in front of another shrine there.
Completely at the end of the gigantic cave there was daylight coming through a fence. It is exactly there where is the statue of Kwan Jin.
One statue in blue got my attention, it was clearly a female and the looks were very much like the Holy Mary ....
In the series of pictures, which I will split up to make the sending more easy, I also inlcude some of other temples nearby, temples mostly made of limestone, which creates a very exciting effect against the turquoise of the sea and the blue of the sky.
In February we tried to meet you in your Villa Bebek in Sanur. But unfortunelatley for us, you were not there. But your very friendly secretary welcomed us very warmly and we made a tour around your beautiful garden. Maybe next year we do another attempt, if you don't mind.
If you want to use the pictures, you can do. For making the sending of the mail not too long, I made them smaller (less pixels). If you need the original size, just ask. I took the pictures mostly without flash. I just put the sensitivity level on the highest, which is the reason of the granual structure sometimes.
About ourselves: our motto in life is "the Art Of Living" as we call it. That life itself is art. And this we find on Bali. As one Balinese painter told us: "Everything on Bali is art, even combing the hair ..."
We wish you luck and succes with all your activities, special those which have to do with the maintaining and supporting the Balinese tradition and culture.
Many greetings from a cold Holland, Hans Smeekes and Fifi Engelen.
P.S. On Bali we visited the Griya Kongco Dwipayana (Tanah Kilap) which is very close to the mangroves (near the airport), close to the lagune. This is a Chinese buddhist temple. And in reverse they incorparate hindu gods and goddeses: At a side there was a shrine for Ratu Kidul and one for Betari Hyang Lingsir. And remarkable: at the opposite of this buddhist temple which main colour is red, is a hindu temple (the Pura Luhur Candi), which has a strong relation with the famous Pura Ped on Nusa Penida ( I Mecaling or Ratu Gede). Everything coming together. I have also many pictures of these temples, if you want, I can send them.
If you want to use the pictures, you can do. For making the sending of the mail not too long, I made them smaller (less pixels). If you need the original size, just ask. I took the pictures mostly without flash. I just put the sensitivity level on the highest, which is the reason of the granual structure sometimes.
About ourselves: our motto in life is "the Art Of Living" as we call it. That life itself is art. And this we find on Bali. As one Balinese painter told us: "Everything on Bali is art, even combing the hair ..."
We wish you luck and succes with all your activities, special those which have to do with the maintaining and supporting the Balinese tradition and culture.
Many greetings from a cold Holland, Hans Smeekes and Fifi Engelen.
P.S. On Bali we visited the Griya Kongco Dwipayana (Tanah Kilap) which is very close to the mangroves (near the airport), close to the lagune. This is a Chinese buddhist temple. And in reverse they incorparate hindu gods and goddeses: At a side there was a shrine for Ratu Kidul and one for Betari Hyang Lingsir. And remarkable: at the opposite of this buddhist temple which main colour is red, is a hindu temple (the Pura Luhur Candi), which has a strong relation with the famous Pura Ped on Nusa Penida ( I Mecaling or Ratu Gede). Everything coming together. I have also many pictures of these temples, if you want, I can send them.
