Arkeologi Indonesia

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The Elephant Cave (Goa Gajah Bali)
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Introduction
The Elephant Cave lies southwest of the village of Bedulu, in the district of Blahbatuh, Gianyar regency, 26 km from Denpasar and 6 km from Gianyar. The cave lies just below the level of the main road to Tampaksiring, on the side of the steep ravine of the Petanu river. There is a fine view here, a fitting place to be chosen in ancient days as the site for a hermitage where devotees could admire the beauty of God’s creation.

The antiquities that survive indicate that followers of Hinduism and Buddhism once lived peacefully side by side in this valley, under the protection of the rulers of the pejeng- bedahulu dynasty whose capital lay close-by. Known only to local villagers and the bats during centuries of neglect, the cave was announced to the public in 1923. The bathing place was discovered and restored only in 1954 during archaeological investigations by Mr. Krijgsman. It had become filled in and a temple built upon it, which had to be moved to its present site. The spring and pond there have given the temple its name Pura Taman. The development of tourism in the sixties and seventies led to its current popularity. In recognition of this, the Departement of Education and Culture, under the direction of Made Sutaba.

Cave Entrance and Reliefs
Carved into the stone above the cave entrance is a massive face with bulging eyes and high arched eyebrows. The eyes glance towards the west or the left as you face the cave. The large ear ornaments do not necessarily indicate a female face, for male royalty also wore such ornaments. This figure represents Bhoma (sometimes also called kala or Sanskrit, kittimukha), and it is probably the earliest representation of this figure in Bali. According to Balinese texts (lontars), Bhoma is the son of the god Wisnu and the goddess Basundari or Ibu (Mother) Pertiwi. Boma may be likened to the child of water and earth, for Wisnu is the god of the waters and Perwati is the goddess of the soil or Mother Earth.

The coming together of water and earth results, above all else, in the growth of plants. In Sanskrit, Bhoma means ‘born of the earth’, and thus may be taken as a symbol of plants and trees. Sanskrit is an Indo-European language, and many of its words find parallels in Europe languages. Un Ducth, for example, the word ‘boom’ means ‘tree’. The reliefs around the Bhoma head and the cave entrance represent rocks and vegetation, peeping out of which are animals, a hunter, and curious ghostly heads. It illustrates a forest environment.

The association of Bhoma with vegetation appears again on the kori agung, the roofedover entrance gate in a temple which is usually decorated with a carving of Bhoma (Karang Bhoma). The kori agung symbolizes the holy mountain. The gods, who during ceremonies come and reside permanently at the to of Mt. Mahameru, whose lower slopes, like those of any mountain, are covered with thick forest and large trees. To attain the summit a person must wind his way through the dense trees, their branches thick with leaves, and only then will one enter the presence of the gods.

The temple as a whole represents Mt. Mahameru, the residence of the gods. The meru, the pagoda-like structure, represents the summit of the mountain. The kori agung, the gateway, is the symbol of its form. Its bulk, and Bhoma the symbol of its forest. When we pass through the kori agung, under the mouth of Bhoma, it is as if, on entering a forest, we are between the trunks of great trees. And so at the Elephant Cave the figure of Bhoma indicates that we are entering a place wherein the worshipper comes into the presence of the gods.

Bhoma’s eyes glance to the left or west. In that direction, are the remains of quite extensive brickwork. This may have been an entrance gate, although that would mean that the original entrance path descended from high ground which would be unusual. Or perhaps the old path came from the village to the east and followed the little valley below the restaurant Puri Suling (the famous German painter Walter Spies was the fist to build a house here).