Garuda Wisnu Kencana - Bali

One area of Bali that has long been popular with surfers is the Bukit (hill) peninsula at the southern end of the island. This limestone plateau has Uluwatu on the western end and Nusa Dua on the eastern. Outside of Nusa Dua the biggest construction project is GWK (Mandala Garuda Wisnu Kencana), the cultural park carved out of the limestone rock. GWK was conceived to be a cultural center and events park and is privately funded.

The statue of half man half bird Garuda, the Vishnu statue which is currently 23 meters high and the plan for GWK was to have a 146 meter gold plated Wisnu riding his winging chariot Garuda and have the whole thing on top of an 11 storey entertainment complex.

This entitle you to stroll around and view the statue of Vishnu, the Hindu God who is the protector (part of the Hindu trinity Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer). The planners of GWK envisioned arriving airline passengers would view the landmark as a warm greeting to Bali. Unfortunately not everyone is over the moon about it. Religious Balinese sometimes complain that this massive statue will disrupt the natural balance in Bali as it tries to compete with the highest spot Gunung Agung. Also the purely commercial nature does not feel right to some people.

Walking round which took altogether almost 1 hour including stopping for a drink and viewing art, you will impress at the size of the place and the effort that had been put in to tend the gardens. Walking through the open air stage section you will see an awesome place to have a concert. Across the way down alleys created by cutting chunks of the limestone away. The museum features local contemporary works of art.