Profile of Taman Kaja Community

Taman Kaja is one of the Pakraman villages, which are located in Ubud , Gianyar, more precisely is located along Sri Wedari and Sandat street . Pekraman village is a traditional Balinese community that has responsibilities on all of religious, and social activities in the village. The philosophy of mutual assistance strongly remains in every people in the village, as they works together preparing all offerings for the ceremony in the khayangan tiga, three main temples (Desa, Puseh, and Dalem) that are representing three main god in Hindu (Brahma, Wisnu, and Siwa).

The population in Taman Kaja is about 650 peoples (140 families). Most of them are painter, musician, dancer, and farmer. In their daily life, they tried to keep the balance between human, environment, and god, which is known as the concept of Tri Hita Karana : 1. The connection between human and god. 2. The connection among the human. 3. The connection between human and the environment. Based on that spiritual consciousness, we have to apply the concept of Tri Hita Karana in our social and religious activities, by presenting Dewa Yadnya (ceremony for the god), reconstruct our temples, keep a strong relationship among peoples in the village, and taking care the environment. For example: The Pura Dalem has recently been totally renovated. It was rededicated on March 2004, in a series of major ceremonies lasting two weeks, and for which the preparations took a full three months.

Currently, another temple, Pura Desa and Puseh, that is located in the same street as Pura Dalem, is under construction. Almost all adult members of the village have been involved in the mutual assistance of this construction. All the financial support is coming from all members of the village.

To support all those activities, we formed a classical “monkey chant” dance, known as Kecak Dance, that all of dancers are coming from Desa Pekraman Taman Kaja. We invited a kecak master from the village of Bona to teach and direct us every day for about 6 months, until we became one of the best kecak performers in Ubud . With all of great talents, we will present the original style of kecak that distinguish from others. Based on the story of Ramayana epic, we will bring you in a full imagination of classical and original kecak dance. We perform regularly every Wednesday and Saturday at Pura Dalem Taman . We would love to invite you to come and give your support for our community’s performance. All the money will go directly to support our social and religious activities mentioned above.

The Pura Dalem has recently been totally renovated and was rededicated in March 2004 in a series of major ceremonies lasting two weeks and for which the preparations took a full three months. A further 350 meters further north on the same street is the Pura Desa/Pura Puseh Taman Kaja. Almost all adult members of the Desa have been involved in one way or another in the presentation.