Mandala
Wisata Wenara Wana or more commonly know as Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. It
was established since 1990. And it has more than 605 balinese monkeys. You can
see a lot of monkeys hanging on some trees. Eyes constantly are shown by the
activities of monkeys that live comfortably in the sanctuary which has an area
of approximatey 27 hectares. Some of them are being lazy on the roadside, adult
females holding a tiny baby and they are also playing in a water pool near the
entrance.
When
Ubud began opening up to tourists, there are fears of local people that the
tourist presence will affect the habitat of monkeys that live in Padangtegal,
the greenest village in Ubud. The community built a sanctuary in the regin that
is most sacred because it has a temple that was founded in the mid 14th
century. There are 3 temples located in monkey forest Ubud : Pura Dalem Agung
located in the southwest, Pura Beji which has the structure of the “ Tiga
(three) Mandala “ and Pura Prajapati as a cremation place. Pura beji that is
located near to a small river has a pond that was formerly used as a place to
purify selves. It was said that visitors who pray and throw a coin into the
pond their prayer will be granted. Local people believe that this forest is a
place to be connected to the spiritual world. The sacradness of monkey forest
sanctuary can also be seen from the number of offerings on the side of the
statues that are on the roadside or in front of the temples and near big trees.
The
monkeys that live in this forest seem to be familiar with people. Balinese
people believe that the monkey is a manifestation of positive and negative
energy. It has correlation with Ramayana epic story and the story of Tari
Barong (Barong Dance). Monkeys are manifested as a symbol of goodness, as seen
in figure of Hanoman, the monkey who was assigned by Rama to help Sita from
Rahwana’s hand. The evil force of monkeys can be seen from the characteristics
of the antagonistic monkey that became Rahwana’s force. Monkey forest are
considered sacred and protected by Balinese people.
They
believe that monkeys are able to keep the existence of the temple against the evil
energy and soul. Many tourists say that the monkeys here are more adorable and
friendly than monkeys in Uluwatu Temple. The visitors can freely give a banana
to the monkey without fear of being attacked. There are some incidents that
make us to be more careful.
The natural beauty of
monkey forest sanctuary is not only seen from the balence kept between nature
and humans that is manifested through this sanctuary. Sacred monkey forest
sanctuary was the choice. The shady trees and it is beautiful natural scenery
seem right to be the shooting location, the scene was not the main scene, but
this sanctuary is able to make Hollywood falling in love with.
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