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Tirta Gangga

September 2008

This beautiful and playful garden was designed by the last king of eastern Bali, Anak Agung Agung Anglurah Ketut Karangasem, in 1957. It sits on a sloping spot perfect for a water garden: on one side, a spring rises out of the ground under an ancient banyan tree in the foothills of scared Mount Agung; on the other side, on a clear day, you can see more than 20 kilometers down to the sea. (For a picture of the king and more of his creations, see the Amlapura Palace gallery.)

The main fountain has 11 layers like the famous 11-layered pagoda temple at Lake Bratan (see the Candikuning gallery)

Carved animals are dotted around the garden (no two quite alike)

Some renovation was going on near the main fountain

Women frequently work at construction sites in Bali carrying dirt

Chris on one of the stone pillars in the main pool that give the you illusion of walking on floating stones

The pools are full of giant catfish

The giant lily pads in this pool cleverly call to mind the stone pads in the main pool

Each pool in the garden is a little different in shape or plantings or decorations

A lotus blossom emerging from being a leaf

A carved house covering the spring at Tirta Gangga (this was inside a temple, which we weren't dressed properly to enter)

This statue of a barong playfully includes the feet of the two dancers wearing the barong costume

We loved the twining tails of the sea serpents on this bridge