Ubud: From The Origins to 1920

Jean Couteau (Indonesian Art Institute (Institut Seni Indonesia/ ISI) in Denpasar)

Jurnal Kajian Bali
Vol. 3 No. 1 (2013): PENULISAN SEJARAH BALI

Today’s historis often tries to weave together unquestionablefacts with a narrative that consciously gives room to pastmyths and legends. The following article about the famous“cultural” resort of Ubud freely applies this approach to history.Myths and legends about the origin of Ubud combine withunquestionable historical facts to convey, beyond the Ubud’sraw history proper, the prevailing athmosphere of Ubud’spre-modern past. Thus the mythical seer Resi Merkandayais made to appear alongside the story of the kembar buncing(fraternal, non-identical twins) of the House of Ubud, and thehistory of Western presence and intervention.