Dutch Colonialism Symbols At The Reliefs On Jagaraga Temple, Northern Bali

Abstract

Temple  (Pura  and  Candi)  reliefs  in  Bali  usually  depicts  stories  of  gods  or  mortal  life  that  are sourced  from  public  beliefs  about  their  religion.  The  sources  of  these  stories  came  from  the  epic  of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Tantri. However, the Jagaraga Temple in northern Bali is different –it has its own special relief embodiments by blending modern shapes and symbols in both the story and the display. Modern shapes and symbols are presented with depictions of cars, bikes, drunkards, bandits, fishermen, and so  forth.  Even  so,  the  techniques  and  ways  of  expressing  these  reliefs  still  align  with  traditional  Balinese principles in carving statues and reliefs. This study aimed to determine the elements of relief formation in Jagaraga  Temple  that  can  be  traced  back  to  the  history  of  its  inception.  The  Dutch  colonial  influence  that carries  these  modern  symbols  provided  a  substantial  contribution  to  it,  aided  by  the  open  character  of northern Balinese living in coastal areas that makes them easy to accept new things. The data collection is done  by  conducting  observation,  interviews,  literatures  study,  with  relief  visualizations  analysis  based  on several constituent factors such as environmental factors, both external and internal. The external influences were brought by Dutch colonial, while the internal came from the Sangging as the relief carver, and people of Bali who remained obedient to their custom and belief. The alteration in symbols and values of the traditional Balinese relief artworks—from sacred to profane – provides visual diversity to the development of traditional Balinese art. 

Keywords : Relief, Depiction, Symbol