Ubud, a town in central Bali, is far removed from the beach
party scene in Kuta, and is
regarded as the cultural centre of Bali. It is famous as an arts and crafts
hub, and much of the town and nearby villages seems to consist of artists’
workshops and galleries. There are some remarkable architectural and other
sights to be found, and a general feeling of well being to be enjoyed, all
thanks to the spirit, surroundings, and climate of the place.
Ubud is pronounced ‘oobood’ as in the same way as the
‘oo’ sounds in ‘good’ (but not the ‘oo’ in ‘mood’). Even if you mispronounce
the name, the locals aren’t likely to do anything more than titter. As they
say, seng ken-ken!– Balinese for ‘no worries!’.
While Ubud seems to outsiders like one small town, it is
in fact fourteen villages, each run by its own banjar (village
committee). Ubud has grown rapidly, and some central parts are creaking under
the strain of coping with the number of visitors. That said, most development
is sympathetic to the zeitgeist, if not designed specifically in the local
style. Growth continues apace, but there are still terraced rice fields along
the rivers, and away from the town centre, regular, quiet village life carries
on relatively undisturbed. Central Ubud is heavily commercialized and teams
with tourists.
In many ways, the history of the Ubud area (not so
much the modern day town) is the very history of Bali itself.
Ubud has a known history back to the eighth century, when
the Javanese Hindu priest Rsi Marhandya came to Bali from Java, and meditated
at the confluence of the two Wos rivers at Campuan, just west of the modern day
town centre. A shrine was established and later expanded by Nirartha, the
Javanese priest who is regarded as the founder of Bali’s religious practices
and rituals as we know them today. At this time the area was a centre of
natural medicine and healing, and that is how the name Ubud originated: Ubad
is ancient Balinese for medicine.
Read more on https://baligoodnews.com