The Secret Garden in Bali(Taman Rahasia)

Discover Taman Rahasia, a Secret Garden in Bali, nestled in the quaint artist's village of Penestanan, Ubud. Small and intimate, Taman Rahasia Boutique Resort & Spa is just 1 kilometer from central Ubud, the “cultural heart” of Bali, with its many museums, galleries, boutique shops and dining attractions. Taman Rahasia is also ideally situated to explore Bali's numerous natural and cultural attractions, all within a convenient day-trip.
At Taman Rahasia you will find a haven embraced by nature where tranquil pleasures await. Seven luxuriously appointed hotel rooms reside among lush gardens, towering coconut palms and rustling bamboo groves. The tropical air is infused with the sounds and scents of nature. Each room features a private bathroom and verandah with pool and garden views for the lazy afternoon retreat. Perfect Bali accommodation - a hotel resort with unique Balinese charm.
Lounge in the sun or enjoy a refreshing dip at our inviting natural stone paved pool. Find total relaxation and contentment in our spa, offering aromatic custom-blended natural ingredients. Taman Rahasia's full range of spa services will revive your senses and melt away your stresses. Perhaps you'd prefer to further your cooking skills and cultural knowledge by taking our Balinese Cooking School.
If you find it hard to leave the Secret Garden our Café can satisfy your taste buds with a scrumptious light snack or meal.
Our intimate size ensures you enjoy personalized care and professional service with your ultimate comfort in mind. For the discerning traveler, Taman Rahasia is a little jewel of a hotel where we do everything with an extra measure of care and personal attention.
The unforgettable Bali experience awaits you at Taman Rahasia Boutique Resort & Spa.

About village in bali

Bali is densely populated island. Most of the population live in closely packed villages of 2000 to 4000 people on the fertile southern slopes of the islands, along the ridges that carry the irrigation ditches. On these slopes it usually only a fifteen minutes walk from one village to another through open rice fields. On the northern coastal strips, the villages are spread out along the Java sea. Traditionally the social organization of the islands was based on the village, with each village being completely self ? sufficient, providing all the need and function from birth through cremation. Recently, as in all industrializing countries, the cities and tourist centers are absorbing a portion of the population from the countryside and centralizing, to some extent, the flow of goods and services, the social organization of the villages is one of the most unique aspects of this enchanting island. The village is very much communal unit, almost an extended family. The layout of a Balinese village and life of its member are closely tied to religion and the religious life of the people. The main community organization is the Banjar, which plans all ceremonies, including marriages and cremations, as well as mediates disputes that may arise within the community. Every village has at least one Banjar, which have an average membership of 50 to 100 families. Each Banjar has a central meeting places, the Bale Banjar.
Cycle of life .

According to Hindu religious beliefs, after death, a soul passes into another body. During its tenure in the body, the soul is in torment. Consequently, the soul is always seeking to free itself from incarnation so that it can attain enlightenment or moksa. Once enlightenment is achieved, both the body and soul can join their cosmic equivalents forever. Therefore, when a person dies, but its soul fails to achieve moksa, it will continue with the cycle of life through incarnations.
The religious rites which are performed to accompany a soul through its journey between life and death is given high importance in Balinese rituals. Balinese believe that the mountains are the abodes of the gods, defied ancestors and souls which did not attain moksa/ The gods and deified ancestors will descend occasionally to earth during temple ceremonies to partake of offerings and to enjoy entertainment. When the souls are ready to reincarnate to earth, they will come from the mountains or straight from hell. That is why the mountains are revered as the Holy places.

All the phases of existence, from pregnancy to birth and then from birth to death, will be accompanied by rituals. Their purposes are: to fasten the soul in its body before birth, to welcome it into the world, to take it harmoniously along the various stages of life, and, finally upon death, to help it cast away earthly bonds and rejoin the old country of its origins. Here it can merge with the sublime soul of the world, paramata of God.

According to the principles of cosmic harmony, Man is expected to reach moksa. To do this he or she should strive to fulfill three other goals of life: desire ? karma, wealth ? artha, and virtu-dharma. Each of these goals should be fulfilled in an order of priority depending on the stage reached in life, such as when young, becoming an adolescent, getting married, and becoming old.
After marriage, priorities in life shift towards family and a accumulation of wealth or artha. Male heirs are regarded as important because it is these heirs of sentana who will implement the rituals of death and look after the family temples. They are safeguard in the process of release. It is therefore important to accumulate wealth so that the rites for their ancestors and the community can be financed.

The Balinese death is a return to your origins. The preceding wheels of one's life are the way to ultimate release. Not all corpses are cremated immediately, as some wait for an auspicious day, a collective ceremony or until their descendants have enough money to perform the rites. The cremation ritual is a reminder of the cosmic symbolism of life. The tower is a duplicate of the cosmos; the corpse is put in the middle, symbolizing its position between the spiritual and the human worlds. The sarcophagus, in which the body is burned, is vehicle to take the would away. The ashes a collected and taken to the sea. It is here that the soul passes through hell to be tortured and cleansed. The soul is then called back on shore and eventually taken back to the mother mountain, Gunung Agung. The soul is then enshrined in the family temple and the dead in now an ancestor, until the next incarnation.

Special Days/Festivals

Every temple and shrine has a special date for annual ceremony or ?Odalan? every 210 days, including the smaller ancestral shrines that each family possesses. Because of this practically every few days a ceremony of festival of some kind takes village in Bali
Galungan
Galungan is literally a celebration of the creation of the universe, in which the Supreme God. Creator of the universe is Worshipped, and all ancestral spirits called to come down to earth and dwell again in homes the family shrines and graceful ?Penjor? tall arching bamboo decorates with palm leaves and flower, as well as small bamboo altars bearing intricately woven palm-leaf ?Lamaks?, placed at gate of each home.

Kuningan
Ten days after Galungan, this is the day on which the ancestor are bidden farewell with more offerings and freshly woven ?lamaks? and the barongs take to the roads converting along their troupes of following children.

Nyepi
Balinese New Year's day according to the caka Calendar this is day activity and silence throughout the island 24 hours. Fires may not be lit so cooking must be done the day before. Great purification offerings are made in every village on the day before to appease the evil spirits and general exorcism is held. That evening large gangs of children roam the villages dressed in garnish attire and bearing burning torches, chanting and banging on homemade cymbals to scare the evil spirits away. Traditionally the day of Nye is spent at home fasting, in a prayer and meditation, but only more religious Brahman families follow this custom .

Saraswati
A special day is devoted to Saraswati the Goddes of learning science and literature, once a year according to Wuku Calendar. On this day no one is allowed to read or write, and offering are made to the lontar, Plam ? leaf books, and books.

Favorite Beach In Bali

Forget in moment Kuta, Sanur, and or Nusa Dua. Enjoying Bali only by sand sunning in the coasts not be prestigious anymore. Nowadays, time for you enjoying more challenging eksotis and exclusive vacation. Because the coasts only known by a few/little turis. The information even also by mouth to mouth. You will not find in reference or travel. Even so maybe its not too much and can be calculated by finger.All of beach/Coast like Pecatu and of Uluwatu enter to south kuta District Region. There’s no formal guide to go there. Easiest direction is roadway to Uluwatu temple, one of the biggest temple in Pecatu Village, south of Bali. All of the coast have same caracters, short coast land , limited by two bank, white sand, billow, and... hidden! cause, this coast near in Garuda Wisnu Kencana in Bukit Ungasan.First Coast/beach is Balangan Beach. Behind Pecatu hill, in this moment still working Bali Pecatu Graha ( BPG) project. To go to the coast we through zigzag way, up down hill. This journey be my own experienced because through hill and we saw Kuta beach and Ngurah Rai air port so far away in front of there. It’s about two kilometers, there are branches ways and illegal guide with simply write board to Balangan Beach and other to Dreamland. Forget it the last beach, because we come to Balangan Beach. This moment to go there we must down steep way. After that white sand and wave sound welcome us ( our tired)When I’m Visiting with my team from Jakarta months ago, there is one couple only is sand sunning. The other tourist still waiting wave white take hold on their board surfing, and others relax on the beach chair while reading novel. There is no one disturb them. It’s so really beach to hide, Tiar said local tourist from Indonesia.Balangan view beach faced on north, so Ngurah Rai airport can be saw from here. East part limited by mountainside with the call abouts 3 meters and the west part limited by mountainside more high and full of plant. There are two corals smaller beside high white stone mountainside between them. There are white sand that have big granule than Kuta. The coach a little stones near of the beach part you must be carefull. There are about 5 cafes in here. In that evening there are some touris, sitting in that café with their beer in the table. Café’s function too as a placa to stay with the price about Rp. 50000/night. Local tourist or foreign tourist could walk to dreamland from Balangan Beach. They will trough some corals stone, swim to the beach and walk in the white sand to the west. Dream Land beach more crowded then Balangan. Mede Said “this Place known about 1996 ( she is from there ). Dreamland beach like dream beach. In the first time come to that place my friend feel so proud they shock when they trough as small gate about one meters between two corals and then becomed, white sand, blue beach, roll of waves and west point Bali island in Uluwatu. Some tourist enjoying solving swimming, surfing and sanding. Although more crowded than Balangan, amount of tourist in Dreamland smaller than Kuta and Sanur. It’s about 50 tourist. The Beach length about 1 kilometers to south. In the north limited by sharp stone Beach and high coral 15 meters. In this hill we ca see the beach ( Dreamland ) under there 20 meters. This beach side to west so we can see sunset. It’s really beautiful place. Silent and good place to take a rest from crowded place and bussy day. Coming and enjoy your life to Bali. You will feel satisfied.

Population

Bali is very different culturally and religiously to rest of Indonesia. 95 % of Balinese people are Hindu. Bali follows a branch of Hinduism that is quite different from India. Most obvious difference is that Balinese have integrated some aspects of Buddhism. This makes them tolerant and very friendly to visitors and tourists.Religion in Bali is interwoven with everyday life. As well as the obvious ceremonies for births, deaths and marriages, and celebrating aspects of the rice harvests, there is a day for blessing machinery, one for blessing education, etc. Pictures show Ketut and Dewi who are going to bless new River bungalow of Jowamandari Resort.Daily evidence of the importance of Hinduism to Balinese people is shown by innumerable offerings everywhere. Almost every house, business, road intersection, government building, etc., has offerings to gods and spirits of Bali, placed in a shrine everyday. The small banana leaf baskets, containing flower petals, rice, incense and other gifts for the gods demonstrate the way that Balinese live their religion.Many tourist attractions have a religious origin. For instance, Barong dance tells a story of good versus evil, which is basic theme in most Balinese dances and legends. Another example is Ramayana Ballet, a Hindu epic story about good and evil and love.Ceremony in river (sungai) of Jowamandari during low waterCremations in particular are impressive to watch. Sarongs are not necessary for watching a procession, but are mandatory when entering the grounds of temple where the actual cremation occurs. The important thing for visitors to understand is that cremations and other ceremonies are not tourist attractions, but are genuine religious events. That Balinese allow outsiders to be part of them does not detract from their religious significance.Ceremony at neighboring village Padang LinjongA common occurrence in Bali are traffic jams, caused by Hindu ceremonies. For a procession roads are blocked off, even if it happens to be main street of Kuta, Sanur or Ubud! The Balinese understand priorities, and expect non-Balinese to do likewise.The small river temple of Jowamandari ResortBesakih temple, in East Bali, is the "mother" temple of Bali. Other three important temples are at Uluwatu, Kintamani and Tanah Lot, close to Jowamandari Resort. All of them are fantastic to visit. In each village there is a temple for life at mountain end of village, and one for death at end nearest the sea. Then, there are family temples, temples in particular sacred places, and shrines everywhere, including most houses.Sunset at famous temple at Tanah Lot, 9 km from Jowamandari Resort.You have the same beautiful sunset at Pererenan beach just 2 km away.

About Bali

Bali has now come a long way since the first settlers immigrated to this place from China in 2500 BC. Nowadays, it has a total population of over 3 million people, of which the majority of these are Hindus, while there are a few people who are Muslims. Most of these people live in the coastal areas in the South and others live in Despansar, which is Bali’s capital, with a current population of over 370,000. Textiles, handicrafts, and garments are the backbone of the economy of Bali; they provide thousands of jobs and, when exported, these contribute about 45% to Bali’s economy. The hotel and tourist industry in Bali also continues to boom as more and more people find Bali a totally relaxing tourist destination. Over the years, many people come and visit beautiful tourist locations in Bali such as the town of Kuta, Sanur, Seminyak, Jimbaran, and Nusa Dua. There are several available activities in these places, including diving, snorkeling, paragliding, cruising, rafting, and even mountain climbing. However, due to the terrorist attacks in October 2002 and October 2005, not only properties were lost but many lives as well. The devastation that was caused to the island affected not only the people of Bali but also those who planned to travel to this place. Many people changed their minds because of their fear that terrorists might attack once again. Indeed, Bali has come a long way. And although terrorists’ attacks happened in the past, the determination of the Balinese people never fades, thus, they continue to look forward to a much brighter tomorrow