Ubud is Bali's spiritual, artistic and cultural heart. It has long been known as a mystical place, rich in healing powers and important as a source of medicinal herbs and plants. In fact, it gets its name from the ancient Balinese word : 'ubad', which means medicine.
From as long ago as the eight century, noble families from all over Bali sent their sick to Ubud to be cured, and the tradition continues today with visitors from all over the world seeking out the healing therapies, alternatives medicines and wellness programmes for which Ubud is so famous. The area has also become a sought after destination for spiritual tourist, wgucg began with yoga teachers bringing students to find serenity in what was then a sleepy village.
It was also back in the eight century that the Javanese Buddhist priest Rsi Markandya came to Bali and meditated at the confluence of the two rives at Campuhan. Here he founded the Gunung Lebah temple on the valley floor, which was later expanded by Nirartha, the Javanese priest who is regarded as the founder of Bali's Hindu practices and rituals. The site still remains a pilgrim destination. More temples were established oover the next 400 hundred years, including the temple complex at Gunung Kawi, and the cave temples at Goa Gajah. Many dances, dramas and rituals were established and are still praxtised in Ubud today.
The Majapahit kingdom conquered Bali in the mid 14th century, with the final victory againts the Pejeng Dynasty centred at Bedulu, just to the east of Ubud. A great blossoming of Balinese culture followed, and the ancestry of Ubud's current day aristocratic families can be traced back to this period. In the sixteenth century there was a total transplantation of the Majapahit Kingdom to Bali as the islamisation of Java forced them eastwards. The balance of power swayed between the various dynasties and feudal lords, but the Ubud area remained a cery important mexhanism in the various regencies that ruled Bali.
In the late nineteenth century, Ubud became the seat of feudal lords who owned their allegiance to the king of Gianyar, which at that time was the most powerful of Bali's southern states. The lords were members of the 'satriya' family of Sukawati, and were significant supporters of Ubud's increasingly renowned arts scene.
In 1900, Ubud became a Dutch protectorate at its own request, and the coloniaslists allowed the traditioanla arts and culture of the area to remain relatively unchanged. The modern era of Ubud began in the 1930s, when foreign artists, such as Walter Spies and Rudolph Bonnet, were encouraged by the royal family to reside in Ubud, these artists, and others, were instrumental in promoting and understanding of Balinese art and culture worldwide, and entertained many celebrities including Charlie Chapling, Noel Coward, Barbara Hutton, H.G. Wells and Vicki Baum.
A new burst of century energy came in 1960s in the wake of Dutch painter Arie Smit and the development of the Young Artists Movement. From the 1960s onwards, while the insfrastructure wa still very limited, intrepud travellers started to arrive. Ubud has since developed rapidly into a wellknown, tops class international destination, which today still maintains its integrity as the hub of Balinese art and culture.
