Kertha Gosa

Kertha Gosa was the hall of justice of the Klungkung kingdom, the senior Balinese court, an open pavilion in the palace precinct where cases too serious for village resolution were heard by the raja and his priests - and the point of the room is the ceiling. It is painted in wayang style, the flat figures of shadow puppetry, in registers: the lower ones show the Bhima Swarga narrative with the punishments of hell, souls sawn, boiled, impaled and dismembered for specific offences, and the upper ones the rewards above, so a defendant sitting below looked up at exactly what was at stake. The paintings have been repainted several times, most recently in the twentieth century, on the traditional cycle. Beside it is the Bale Kambang, a floating pavilion in a pond with its own painted ceiling.

What you actually see

• A painted hell ceiling - punishments in wayang style over the judgment seats.
• A working court room - the pavilion where the raja heard serious cases.
• The Bale Kambang - the floating pavilion in the pond, also painted.
• Repainted cycles - the ceiling renewed periodically in the traditional manner.

When to go

April to October. An hour.

Honest expectations

It is small - half an hour covers it. The paintings are modern repaintings of an older scheme. The rest of the Klungkung palace was destroyed in 1908 and only fragments remain.

Nearby

Goa Lawah is east; the Klungkung market and Kamasan painting village are close.