• Tanah Gajah is also one of distinctive looking hotels in Bali.Tanah Gajah was built by Mr. Hendra Hadiprana for him and his family as retreat. He is a famous interior decorator and architect. Hotel Kamandalu was made by modeling traditional village in Bali. On the contrary, Tana Gajah adopts today's civilization and becomes a snazzy hotel with urban atmosphere. This hotel is also cottage style. The hotel is integrated with paddy fields around targeting balance with nature and is made in vast land of four hectare.

• Tanah Gajah means "Elephant Realm" probably in Indonesian language. There are many elephant related things around the hotel.
  We see many Ganesha statues, God of Hindu religion, having elephant head. The story is impressive.
  Son of Lord Ganesha is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and has the head of an elephant. Ganesha was made from her own grime. One day the son was guarded the gate, Lord Shiva came back and the son did not allow for Shiva to go into the gage. They began to fight and God of Destroyer Shiva won the fight and chopped down his son's neck. Parvati was angry and then Shiva ordered his officer "Bring the live neck when you will meet first." It was elephant head that the officer brought back. This live head was put on the son's neck. That is Lord Ganesha who has the elephant head.
  Lord Ganesha, Gana "mob" and Esha "Lord," is God of Wisdom and Literature. He has four arms and one tusk. There were two tusks in the beginning but when Ganesha started to take dictation of the Mahabharata written by the sage Viyasa, he pulled out his tusk and made a pen. This made Ganesha God of Literature.

• The other event was the Kecak Dance. It is explained as follows.
  In past times, Kecak meant a chorus with dancing called Sangyan in which young girls dance in trance condition. Sangyan aimed to hear ancestral wish through the girls in the trance condition. Today's Kecak Dance depicts a sub-plot from the Hindu epic the Ramayana.
  Bharata, the third son of King Dasaratha , and Rama's younger brother was crowned as king of Ayodhia to fulfill his father's wish. For this reason, Rama, the legal heir to the throne, left his father's palace followed by his wife, and his younger brother Laksamana to a forest called Dandaka. Rahwana, the king of Alengka intended to kidnap Sinta and ordered his Prime Minister Marica, to transform himself into a golden deer to allure Sinta. By using this trick, Rahwana succeeded in kidnapping Sinta, and brought her to his kingdom, Alengka Pura. On their way to Alengka, they encountered a huge eagle, Jatayu, who was a friend of Rama. Jatayu tried to recapture Sinta with all his might but Rahwana was too powerful for him and he was defeated. Rama and Laksmana were told by Jatayu about Sinta before his death. Hanoman the sacred white monkey, succeeded to meet Sinta in the garden of Alengka's. Hanoman destroyed the garden. Accompanied by an all monkeys troop, Rama and Laksmana attacked Alengka. A great battle occured between Rama and Rahwana which ended by Rama's victory. Finally, Sinta met her beloved husband and joyfully returned to Ayodhia.

Reddish light at dusk and yellow ribbons	Ribbons decorate approach	Elephant statues fit the atmosphere	Hindu religious related?
Yellow ribbons guide the way	Main Hall; called Ganesha	Brilliant color's flowers in the pavilion	Ganesha statue with elephant head
King's umbrella held by Garuda	Drum	Drinks and chatting before dinner	Calm atmosphere around the pool
Fantastic illumination caused by water flow	Elephant is important motif	Elephants even in illuminated wall	Every house is hotel's lodge
Modern outside	Nice living room can be seen from outside	Bedroom is hidden inside	Stage is next to cottages
Traditional Museum after lamps	Kecak Dance began	We had Indian friends there and he said that..
the story can be understood because of same story as in Indian Hindu, even language is not understood.		He can hold furiously burning fire. Is there know-how?
Probably, Monkey King Sugwari?	Contrast between angel-like child	Played by about 100 players	Many children were also participated
Ceremony of Hindu	Center is Pines Rama	Finally all casts together	Paddy fields lighted calmly

2004/05/01