Monkey Forest | Sangeh
Located at the northern part of Sangeh Village, Abiansemal district Badung Regency. It is about 21 km from Denpasar or 30 km from Athena Garden Villa and can be reached by car easily with a good road condition. In the 17th century during the golden period of Mengwi kingdom, I Gusti Ketut Karangasem, son of Gusti Agung Made Agung (King of Mengwi) founded a temple in the midst of nutmeg tree forest, later, it was called Bukit Sari Temple. The nutmeg tree forest with extent of 10 hectares is a holy territory that is securitized by Sangeh Customary village and its vicinity. In the middle of such green and dense forest, lives over 600 tame and friendly monkeys that all the time appeal to visitor. Part from functioning as sacred place, the forest along with the monkeys comes to be a fascinating tourist object that is worth visiting.
According to the mythology from the local villagers, the word Sangeh is derived from the root “Sang” that means a determiner for person and “Ngeh” means seing or observing. It is said that the nutmeg trees growing in the forest were originated from Mount Agung that performed a journey to Taman Ayun. They would be going to festoon the garden belonged to Mengwi Kingdom. Their journey was carried out in the evening to avoid from being observed. Unfortunately, people saw the nutmeg trees walking in a procession. They suddenly stopped. Spot where they stopped was named Sangeh that means one who sees.










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