Yeh Pulu Relief tourist attraction is located in Banjar Batulumbang, Bedulu village, Blahbatuh subdistrict, Gianyar regency, it is abount 26 km from Denpasar city. This tourist attraction is part of the archeologicat heritage site series on the bank of the Petanu river. Yeh Putu is not only an archaeological heritage site but it is also has beautiful rice field and cliff and it is easy to be reach because it is situated on Denpasar Tampaksiring – Kintamani tourism track.
HISTORY OF YEHPULU
The relief of Yeh Putu lies in a valley that extends from north to south, it is bounded by a steep wall on the west side, a quite deep valley in the southern and eastern edges, this carved relief has a length of 25 meters. As reported by Nieuwenkamp, a Dutch painter, this relief was first discovered in 1925 with several restorations in 1949 and 1953 in order to protect the sandstone wall from abrasion of the rice field water above the wall.
In general, Yeh Pulu relief described about the daily life of ancient Balinese society, according to Stutterheim, an archaeologist, Yeh Putu relief came from 14th Century AD, the form of the building that is shown on the reliefs have similarity with the reliefs found at Penataran temple in East Java.
Yeh Pulu derived from word “Yeh” = water, while “Pulu” = container of rice, so that Yeh Pulu means water that comes from / comes out from container of rice (pulu) located in the western part of the relief cluster that extends along 25 meters with a widht of 2 meters, it is the longest relief in Bali.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE OF YEN PULU
Yeh Pulu relief still has a good and clear picture’s surface, it is not certain what is actually depicted on the relief, as beginning we see an arch, next, a picture of a man who raised his hands up to greet, then, there are also another pictures, among others : A picture of man who is carrying a cooking pot on his shoulder, he is walking behind a beautifully dressed woman heading to a house, an old lady is opening the door, there is a man who is hunting a bear above them.
An old woman is sitting surrounded by sandstones and trees, the monkeys are playing around, a man who is carrying a hoe with a lady standing next to him. On the left side there is a woman sitting with turban like crown on her head, and there is also a Satan holding a spoon, on the right side.
A man is riding horse, three armed men are attacking the tiger, a frog is attacking a snake.
Two man are carrying 2 animals which tied to the pole, a woman is holding the tail of a horse.
Among these reliefs, there is also a hollow as a meditation place (ceruk)that carved on the Ganesha statue. There is also a former entrance picture, and a picture of a man who is entangled in elephant trunk. There is a bathing pond with several hollows “ceruk” and sculptures that have been damaged.
THE ANCIENT TRACKING OF YEHPULU
Goa Gajah has a Tracking Tourism potency that we named “Ancient Tracking”. It is started from the Petapaan Temple (Buddha site) in the sourthen part of Goa Gajah Temple to explore the beautiful natural existence of Petanu watershed until arriving at Bidadari temple. This tracking path inspires us that the beautiful natural existence gives us a better life.
Bidadari temple is located on the edge of Petanu river, which still has a very impressive nature, there are also some showers (pancoran) that belived by the people has holy water. Then we are going to go up the stairs to Jasan temple, in Banjar Lebah Bedulu, there are various cultural heritage of ancient statues stored in Jasan Temple.