TO THE MEMORY OF
WILLEM FREDERIK STUTTERHEIM
1892-1942
Preface
MONUMENTAL BALI relates to an early period of Balinese history which is known only from archaeological remains and inscriptions. No doubt there are many connections between ancient times and later Balinese culture, but they are separated by several centuries about which archaeologists know little.
Discussing the early monuments is like talking about an essentially different age, mysterious also to the Balinese themselves. It is like stepping from the colorful present into a hazier world. Quite often, for that matter, the investigator must literally descend into the depths of ravines to get in touch with it. Even ordinary tourists usually must make such a journey to look at the rock-cut "Royal Tombs" at Tampaksiring and the Goa Gajah or "Elephant Cave." This is where one stands face to face with ancient "monumental" Bali. There are many more equally old places of a similar type, although more modest in appearance—these are dealt with in the second part of the book, the guide.
There is another reason why ancient Bali is rather a mystery to many students of Indonesian archaeology. Most books and articles mentioned in our Bibliography were written by Dutch specialists, in Dutch—a language not easily understood by the majority of the world's population. Nowadays papers on ancient Bali are mostly written in Indonesian; the same difficulty applies to these. On behalf of the younger generation of Indonesian archaeologists to whom earlier specialized literature might be inaccessible, as well as for other non-Dutch readers, I have included most of this written material in my present text.
For a considerable time most of my visits to archaeological sites in Bali—the first in December 1935, the latest in October 1980—were greatly facilitated by the constant support of the late Mr. J. C. Krijgsman from the Archaeological Service. During the difficult post-War years, he did excellent work for the Balinese monuments and thus also for the Balinese themselves. If anything, he must have felt rewarded by the appreciation and friendship of all the local people with whom he lived and worked during the 1949-1957 period (as described in Chapter 6).
The present volume is a revised edition of the book which I published under the same title in The Netherlands (Van Goor Zonen, The Hague) in 1978. Changes have been made in the text, which has been brought up to date—especially with regard to illustrations, the original black-and-white plates having been replaced by recent color photographs.
Mr. Amir Sidharta, who was commissioned to take most of the color slides to replace the earlier illustrations, has taken great care to make his photographs resemble the originals, which reflected an earlier situation when archaeological sites and individual sculptures were several decades "younger" than they are now. It certainly was no easy job for climatic and other natural conditions—or human activities—do not favor the preservation of ancient monuments and statues. In a way Mr. Sidharta's archaeological ensemble, in particular the sculptures in se, present a rather different appearance. He, moreover, impresses us of the interest taken by the local people in their minor gods and demons, nowadays appropriately dressed up in an "adat" costume of sorts (which also should be laid on by visitors from outside). Yet, in spite of the fact that Bali has always been and still is changing, certain essentials are still much like they used to be. Taking all together Balinese art and archaeology are as inspiring as they used to be to visitors and serious students.
The photographs formerly taken by the Archaeological Service of Indonesia, many of them taken by staff-photographer J. J. de Vink, or much later by myself on various occasions, were used for the original version of "Monumental Bali" at that time (1977) with the permission of the late Mrs. Satyavati Suleiman, head of the (then) Pusat Penelitian Purbakala dan Peninggalan Nasional, Jakarta, and members of her staff.
Any book on Balinese archaeology cannot but contain an overwhelming amount of information and ideas originating from the works of the late Dr. W. F. Stutterheim, Director of Archaeology in Indonesia (during his life still "the Netherlands Indies"). This certainly applies to my Monumental Bali introduction and guide. I knew Dr. Stutterheim for many years and after World War II, which he did not survive, had the honor of succeeding him. To stress my indebtedness to this great Bali scholar, I gratefully dedicated the original edition to his memory. That dedication may also be extended to the present edition.
Equally gratefully I acknowledge the financial support received in 1977 for the publication of this book's first edition