INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES SPRING 2016
and military activities . 7 These criteria are further echoed by Vitruvius who proclaimed that a ‘ healthy ’ site ( on account of orientation and prevailing winds ) should be the first recommendation . 8
The initial arrangement of terrain of the Tabanan royal palace was in the form of a ‘ cross pattern ’, based on a motif that was synonymous with royalty in the Majapahit era , called catuspatha . The word derives from Sanskrit meaning that four main directions define the centre of a territory ( Putra , 2005:61 ). According to this principle , the cross pattern gave rise to four zones that are utilised in the layout of the palace , temple , market and adjacent open space , whilst the intersection of the cross becomes an essential location for ritual activity . Significantly , the four zones in the cross pattern arrangement derive from a nine zone concept familiarly known as the ‘ sanga mandala ’ ( sanga = nine , mandala = within a defined space ), in which the zones refer to the nine wind directions called nawa sanga ( Gelebet , 1982 ). The zone of the Tabanan palace , in the south-west quadrant of the cruciform layout , is however different , since other royal palaces in Bali are typically located in the north-east quadrant ( Figure 2 & 3 ).
The central royal territory of the Tabanan is bounded by two rivers , at the east and west ends . The rivers are named Tukad Dikis and Tukad Empas , both of which may have served defensive purposes . The king ’ s palace is surrounded by a series of allied houses associated with the king ’ s families that collectively formed part of the state ceremonial structure . The cemetery , which served as an important facility for the state , is also located in this area on the west side of the river ( Geertz , 1980 : 56 ). The royal household of Tabanan , and its allied properties in the centre of the Tabanan village , can be seen in the schematic plan below ( Figure 4 ). From this image , it seems that the north-south axis in front of Puri Gde and Kaleran is the main access to accommodate ritual activities in which this axis passes through three processional junctions ( one is located between the palaces and two junctions are outer side of the palaces ) that originally framed the Tabanan palace complex . Though using a different history and time period , this layout has some similarities with the village of Marzabotto in the province of Bologna , Italy , an example Roman era site dating back to the beginning of the sixth century ( Rykwert , 1976:80 ).
Furthermore , the initial site of the Tabanan palace is approximately 4 hectares , and consists of 33 zones . This is substantially more than most other royal palaces in Bali which commonly consist of between 9 and 21 zones . For instance , Puri Kaleran , the second king of Tabanan , controlled only 9 zones . Hence , the Tabanan royal palace is one of the biggest palaces in Bali ( Figure 5 ). 9 The royal household was surrounded by a main ceremonial access , except this access was separated by the king ’ s family house ( Jro Subamia ) at the rear of the
7
Aristotle , Politic , VII , 11 , 276 , 1330a , in J . Rykwert ( 1976:41 ).
8
Vitruv ., I , 5 , i . Vitruvius ’ s insistence on the importance of wind follows classical doctrines on the subject as set out for instance in the short Hippocratean book ‘ on winds ’ in J . Rykwert ( 1976:41 ).
9
The documentation photo derives from Bappeda Kabupaten Tabanan , Laporan RTRK Tabanan tahun 2006 , Ibid , p . III-24 .
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