Puputan Square

A great place for families to hang out in the evenings is the huge, well-kept park in the middle of town, named for the bloody 1906 extermination of the island's ruling class by the Dutch. An heroic-style monument facing Jl. Surapati commemorates this tragic event. Note the woman with the kris in one hand and jewels in the other. Eyewitnesses of the time reported that female members of the court tauntingly flung their jewelry at the Dutch troops before being mowed down by rifle fire.

On every side of Taman Puputan are the traditional symbols of the power elite. North of the square is the Governor's Residence, built in Javanese pendopo style. Facing the Bali Museum is the stolid, modern military headquarters complex. Just south of the square in the middle of the city's busiest intersection is a five-meter-high, four-faced, eight-armed statue?ukha, representing Batara Guru, "God of the Four Directions," who is even-handedly blessing all the cardinal points simultaneously.