Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park

The Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park is a 240 hectares private cultural park on the Bukit Peninsula at the southern end of the island of Bali in Indonesia, 20 minutes from Ngurah Rai International Airport. It is also one of tourist destinations when visiting Pura Luhur Uluwatu or Nusa Dua (a must visit sites in Bali) since the park as is not very far from that area.

Garuda Wisnu Kencana

Currently, the park is not yet completed since the dimensions were so huge, one can easily understand why such a delay from the original schedule. I think it would be even more magical once the redevelopment finished.  Garuda Wisnu Kencana was an ambitious project started to create the world's largest statue. Designed by Nyoman Nuarta, the statue of Lord Vishnu (Wisnu as they say in Bali) sitting astride on the mythical bird Garuda was to be about 150 meters tall with Garuda's wingspan being 64 meters.

Entrance to Garuda Wisnu Kencana

Located on the Mount of lime in Bukit Ungasan Jimbaran Bali  with a height 300 metres above the sea level, the park would then be a landmark that welcomes anyone who set foot on the island of Bali. GWK is already a major attraction, receiving many tourists every day. The place has the serene and relaxing ambience with very beautiful place with beautiful view, and offering the best view of the city, the beach and overall Bali Island.

Sunset at Garuda Wisnu Kencana

As the anchor point of GWK, the 20 meter tall copper statue of the Lord Wisnu has been placed temporarily on the highest hill of Ungasan where visitors can enjoy sunset or sunrise over the magnificent view of Kuta, Benoa and Sanur. Made from more than 4000 tons of copper and brass, the statue is picturing Lord Wisnu, riding on the back of the mythical bird Garuda as the manifestation of conscience toward Amerta, the perennial goodness. The god Wisnu is the owner of Amerta in the form of water as the source of fertility, giving wealth and life to the universe.

Garuda Statue

The cultural park also provide attractions for both local and foreign visitors with supporting facilities such as Lotus Pond, Festival Park, Amphitheater, Street Theater, Exhibition Hall, as well as Jendela Bali The Panoramic Resto and souvenir shop. At present time, the statue of Wisnu, the statue of Garuda, and the hands of Wisnu have been placed temporarily in three different plazas within the park.

limestone alley

At the present time, Plaza Garuda becomes the focal point of a massive alley of carved limestone pillars which covers more than 4000 sqm open space area namely Lotus Pond. The colossal limestone pillars and monumental Garuda statue make Lotus Pond a very exotic space. With its room capacity that can accommodate up to 7000 people, Lotus Pond has gained good reputation as the perfect place to hold big and international events.

tourist at Garuda Statue

The Statue of Wisnu’s Hands
The statue of Wisnu’s hands was added to GWK Cultural Park in 2007. It’s one step closer to finishing the complete Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue. This piece was placed temporarily on Tirta Agung area.
The idea of having this park was not without controversy for Balinese.  The religious leaders on the island complained that its massive size might disrupt the spiritual balance of the island, and that its commercial nature was inappropriate.

Lord Wisnu  statue

On 20 February 2011, British heavy metal band Iron Maiden played the first rock concert at the venue to a sold out crowd of over 7,000 fans. This is also a venue of Miss World 2013 which will be held on September 2013.


Tips:

• You can spend some of the time watching one of the many shows that are being offerred in the auditorium and then spend the rest of the time wandering around taking photos and do some shoppings
• If you're visiting Pura Luhur Uluwatu (a must visit site in Bali) then GWK is on your route, so you can stop by. 
• Enjoy a sunset or sunrise over the magnificent view of Kuta, Benoa and Sanur on the highest hill of Ungasan.
• There are usually free performance of various type of Balinese cultural  Kecak dance in evening in the amphitheater, such as kecak ramayana, kecak hyang lala nusantara, kecak ramayana fire, kecak balian batur collaboration, kecak joged collaboration and kecak hanoman duta

Reference: http://gwk-culturalpark.com