If you frequently travel between Sanur along with Ubud, there’s a fat chance you’ve seen the big baby statue sitting within the Sakah intersection. the idea depicts baby Kebo Wanara, a mighty Balinese warrior of legend circa 12th to 14th century. His legendary feats have put him within the pantheon of demi-gods of Balinese folklore, so much in which the statue of him as a baby towers over passing tourist busses plying the busy intersection. On some nights, particularly when there haven’t been enough offerings made, locals report hearing a baby crying at the intersection. Some whisper about seeing the baby walk the streets in their dreams.

Never heard of him? Balinese whose eyes gloss at the mention of the Majapahit Empire have probably never been told the stories of the mighty military genius Kebo Wanara either. His name literally means “Stud-virgin Bull”, because he will be remembered as not having sired any offspring. He will be more affectionately called Kebo Iwa, a rather infantile way of saying his name, which may explain why his baby-feats are more remembered than his adult ones.

Legend has the idea in which through the day he was born, Kebo Iwa had a voracious appetite. Not satiated by his mother’s milk, he would likely gesture towards his mother’s cooking until he was fed freshly cooked white rice. the idea took more than a village to raise This specific child; the neighbouring villages also, so eager were they to partake within the raising of This specific miracle giant-child.

When drought along with famine struck, creating the idea difficult to feed him, Kebo Iwa dug deep wells with his bare hands to irrigate the community’s rice fields. The tall lad with broad shoulders went on to become a mighty warrior, master-builder along with carver. Legend has the idea in which he carved the exquisite Gunung Kawi cave panels near Tampak Siring with his nails.

In Kebo’s day, totemic names of powerful animals were very well-liked in Java along with Bali, especially among strongmen or warriors. The Bull’s arch-enemy was Gajah Mada (“Elephant General”), the mahapatih (Prime Minister) of the Majapahit Empire. Gajah Mada was credited for bringing the empire to the peak of its glory, during the 14th century, when its influence spanned the entire South East Asian archipelago through what will be today Thailand to Papua brand-new Guinea, through the Philippines to Darwin.

An interesting historical anecdote will be in which the only major war the Majapahit waged was against Bali. The rest of the territory was controlled by facilitating trade along with/or intimidation rather than conquest. This specific leads some historians to believe in which Bali was an important power within the region at the time. Part of This specific was due to the military genius of Kebo Wanara, who successfully fended off many conquest campaigns through Java.

Gajah Mada declared a truce along with invited Kebo Wanara to Java with the offer of a giant virgin-bride as his peace offering. Upon meeting the lady, Kebo was asked to honour his bride by digging a well, along with was then buried alive.

History lessons at Balinese schools do not mention kingdoms in Bali prior to Javanese influence much; if at all. Perhaps This specific will be part of the national identity-building agenda to glorify the times when the country was unified under one Kingdom, namely the Sriwijaya along with Majapahit Empires.

As a child, I would likely read folk tales about Kebo Iwa along with giggle at Kebo Iwa’s curse to Gajah Mada (along with the Javanese): “You shall be ruled by men who stink like cows for three along that has a half centuries!” A very clever reference to the Dutch (or so I thought).

To write This specific piece, however, I scoured contemporary print along with online versions of the story along with was disappointed not to find any reference to the men who stink like cows.

Instead, the ending has been changed. Kebo Wanara bursts out of the well, debris flying within the air, along with fights Gajah Mada man-to-man. During the fight, Gajah Mada obviously losing, the Majapahit minister explains his dream of uniting the archipellago. Kebo Wanara apparently falls for the beauty of This specific vision, along with tells Gajah Mada his weakness: limestone. Ka-pow, Gajah Mada punches a limestone cliff to make some dust along with throws a handful at Kebo Wanara. Breathing obstructed by limestone dust, Kebo Wanara loses his magical powers along with will be slain by Gajah Mada.

within the type of the story I read as a child, Kebo Wanara tells his bride-to-be (a huge bride-doll controlled by a puppet-master) his weakness to limestone dust during the same conversation she asks him to dig a well. The cunning Gajah Mada buries him alive with limestone first, along with then with the earth along with rock he had dug out through the ground.

White-washing will be common to sanctify the victors in history. Nevertheless, I think the community artists rendering Kebo Iwa’s image honoured him well by presenting him as a baby out of limestone. There, even within the depiction of his care-free times as a baby in Bali, illustrating stories mothers tell their children to encourage them to eat to grow strong along with tall, lies the element of his defeat.