Hello friends asean hivers wherever you are I am now writing this in the morning I am very enthusiastic because the weather is sunny and I am happy in the current atmosphere, I have also done my homework and everything is in order so I just sit in front of the laptop, but I haven't had breakfast yet, usually you eat morning with what dear? or just snacks like bread or cereal? I am a human who has breakfast by eating rice directly. because if I don't eat rice I will quickly feel hungry.
oh yes dear I will discuss my trip to Bali a few years ago, I might be one of the humans who want to visit Bali again because it is really amazing. the sea is very beautiful. in 2019 I visited Bali to be precise visiting the statue of Wisnu Kencana Bali. Indeed, at that time it was very different from now, the difference is that you can see the photo I have is a 2019 photo and the two photos that I don't have are the current state of the Wisnu Kencana statue.
Profile of Garuda Wisnu Kencana Statue
Before discussing the history of the GWK statue, let's take a peek at the profile of this magnificent statue of a Balinese icon. Based on data from the Badung Tourism Office, the GWK statue stands on a limestone hill 263 meters above sea level in the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park area of around 250 hectares. This magnificent statue of the Balinese mascot was inaugurated by President Jokowi on 22 September 2018.
The height of the GWK statue reaches 121 meters and weighs 4,000 tons made of copper, steel and brass. With a height that exceeds the Statue of Liberty (93 meters), the GWK statue can be seen from a radius of up to 20 km so that it can be seen from Kuta and Nusa Dua.
The GWK statue is a statue of Lord Vishnu riding the Garuda bird. Built 75 meters high, with a foundation 70 meters high, the wings of the Garuda bird stretch 66 meters wide. The statue which represents Lord Vishnu riding the Garuda Bird was made by I Nyoman Nuarta in 28 years.
Background to the Establishment of the GWK Statue
The history of the GWK Bali statue was made by a Balinese maestro named I Nyoman Nuarta. As reported by the Ministry of Education and Culture's website, the initial idea of erecting the GWK statue on Ungasan Hill (Kapur), Bali by Nyoman Nuarta dates back to the 80s. But the idea he offered was not immediately accepted by the public. In fact, it took Nyoman Nuarta eight years just to introduce the idea to the public.
At that time, various problems arose, even before the GWK statue construction project began. The main problem is the view of some people who think that Nyoman Nuarta's big project will only waste money without a purpose.
In fact, for Nyoman Nuarta, the background for the establishment of the GWK statue was to create an area as a new tourist destination in Bali. According to him, the place must show the nation's cultural values, as well as a place for performing various national and even world arts.
I Nyoman Nuarta had the idea to build the GWK statue since 1989. A year later, in 1990, President Suharto approved Nyoman Nuarta's proposal. Construction continued until the groundbreaking took place seven years later on 8 June 1997.
As a result of the 1997-1998 monetary crisis, the GWK statue construction project was temporarily suspended. Construction resumed in 2013 until it was finally inaugurated in 2018 by President Jokowi. This means that the history of the statue of GWK by I Nyoman Nuarta took 28 years to materialize.
The Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) statue was inaugurated on September 22 2018 by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). According to Jokowi, the GWK Bali statue is a masterpiece of the nation's children. This is because the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue is one of the largest copper statues in the world.
Even The Straits Times crowned the GWK Bali statue as the largest copper statue in the world. The GWK statue (121 meters) is the fourth highest after the Vallabhbhai Patel statue in India (182 meters) as the first rank, the Buddha in China (153 meters) and Myanmar (130 meters).
In 2022, the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue will become the destination for a series of events at the G20 Summit in Bali on 15-16 November 2022. President Jokowi and First Lady Iriana Jokowi welcomed the guests of the G20 delegation who came to the Garuda Wisnu Cultural Park Area golden.
Jokowi said the GWK statue depicts love, responsibility, courage and devotion. "In Balinese mythology, this statue depicts love, responsibility, courage and devotion. This is our duty to the world and humanity, in line with the goals of the G20." quoted from Jokowi's Instagram post (@jokowi), Wednesday (16/11/2022).
This is information regarding the history of the GWK Bali statue by I Nyoman Nuarta which took up to 28 years to materialize and can be exhibited as a Balinese icon.
alenia after the photo was taken from