Writing about Ubud is like writing a poem. You wish you had a lyrical tone to it somewhere or your sentences can somehow magically rhyme to convey the sensual flavours you’ve just experienced.
To me walking into Ubud was like walking into a painting. The lush green rice fields painted the perfect backdrop to the architectural marvels on display. But that’s hardly the end of it – it is the beginning.
Ubud is like a flower, and to me, I was the one smelling each one of its petals – each of a different colour. The feeling can’t be described by words, it can be somewhat described by some photographs. When I processed them, they spoke a story to me: of the colours of life, the beauty of simplicity, the transcending power of beliefs, and the juxtaposition of them all to evolve the fabric of life. I wanted the images to each tell a story, but then thought what was the need of it all? Does life need to have a meaning at the end of it? Does it need to tell a story? Do I need to describe each step of my journey and every rationale for my action?
And so I’ve let these images communicate in a way you understand them to me. A few additional facts give the smell of context.
Ubud Monkey forest which was once built to highlight how we as humans need to coexist with animals
Celebrating sensuality as one a force essential to the creation of life: Ubud’s monkey forestAnd how we may sometimes play around with the definition of sensuality
Yama, the ancient Hindu god noting our life’s deed for the ultimate judgement: Ubud’s Monkey ForestGanesha’s purification pool, which to me seemed to be taken over by Shiva – the force of destruction: Ubud’s Monkey ForestThe Goa Gajah or the 11th century Elephant Cave is a UNESCO World Heritage site, houses a Shiva Linga inside celebrating the force of destructionThe Balinese woman who offered prayers on my behalf at the Goa GajahOne of Ubud’s prettiest rice field TagalalangA tribute to the movie Eat Pray Love that was shot in the rice fields of UbudThe local artist’s view of TegalalangThe photographers raw encounter with the rice fields, TegalalangBalinese dance show at the Ubud palaceThe Ravana dance in Ubud palace. The context here was the demon finding the forest all to himself and dancing to celebrate itThe Art Market in Ubud. To me the woman was prettier than the things she soldThe Tirta Empul Tampaksiring or the Bali Holi Spring Water Temple. Built in 942 AD, Tirta, or holy water known in Balinese, has three purposes in life: Tirta Gering, for cleansing bad spirits. Tirta Merta, for attaining prosperity. Tirta Sudhamala, for purifying one’s soulAn artisinal Batik production placeCoffee plantations around UbudKnown for capturing the Lemak, that eat coffee to produce the world’s most valuable shit..…which is then processed to produce the world’s most expensive coffee: The Lemak Coffee. My Italian friend however still swore by the Italian oneSimpler mortals like me however preferred the local assortment of teas: Rice, Ginseng, Honey, Ginger ..Street art in Ubud
very enriching article apoorva….keep on “scribbling”….
🙂 Thanks for the sweet words Gargee! Hope you’re doing well 😉