History of the GWK Bali Statue: Profile to the Background of Its Establishment
Do you know the history of the GWK Bali Statue? The Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Statue is one of Indonesia's historical buildings located in Ungasan Village, South Kuta, Badung Regency, Bali. This statue, which is an icon of Bali, has an interesting history to listen to.
To learn more about the statue that is an icon of Bali, let's look at all about the history of the GWK statue below.
Garuda Wisnu Kencana Statue Profile
Before discussing the history of the GWK statue, let's take a peek at the profile of this magnificent statue, the icon of Bali. Based on data from the Badung Tourism Office, the GWK statue stands on a limestone hill 263 meters above sea level in the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park area of around 250 hectares. This magnificent statue of Bali's mascot was inaugurated by President Jokowi on September 22, 2018.
The height of the GWK Statue reaches 121 meters with a weight of 4,000 tons made of copper, steel, and brass. With a height that exceeds the Statue of Liberty (93 meters), the GWK statue can be seen from a radius of up to 20 km so that it can be seen from Kuta and Nusa Dua.
The GWK Statue is a statue of the God Vishnu riding the Garuda Bird. Built 75 meters high, with a foundation of 70 meters high, the Garuda bird's wings span 66 meters wide. The statue representing the God Vishnu riding the Garuda Bird was made by I Nyoman Nuarta in a period of up to 28 years.
Background to the Establishment of the GWK Statue
The history of the GWK Bali statue was made by a Balinese maestro named I Nyoman Nuarta. As reported by the Kemdikbud website, the initial idea to build the GWK statue on Bukit (Kapur) Ungasan, Bali by Nyoman Nuarta had been around since the 80s. However, the idea he offered was not immediately accepted by the public. It even took eight years for Nyoman Nuarta just to introduce the idea to the public.
At that time, various problems arose, even before the GWK statue construction project began. The main problem was the view of some people who thought that Nyoman Nuarta's big project would only waste money without a purpose.
In fact, for Nyoman Nuarta, the background to the establishment of the GWK statue was to realize an area as a new tourist destination in Bali. According to him, the place must show the cultural values of the nation, as well as a place to stage various Indonesian and even world arts.
History of the Construction of the GWK Statue in Bali
According to information from Indonesia.go.id, the idea of building the GWK statue by I Nyoman Nuarta had emerged since 1989. A year later in 1990, Nyoman Nuarta's proposal was approved by President Soeharto. The construction continued until the laying of the first stone which was carried out seven years later on June 8, 1997.
The impact of the 1997-1998 monetary crisis, the GWK statue construction project was temporarily stopped. Construction was resumed in 2013 until it was finally inaugurated in 2018 by President Jokowi. This means that the history of the GWK statue by I Nyoman Nuarta took 28 years to finally be realized.
The Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) statue was inaugurated on September 22, 2018 by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). According to Jokowi, the GWK Bali statue is a masterpiece of the nation's children. This is because the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue is one of the largest copper statues in the world.
Even The Straits Times named the GWK Bali statue as the largest copper statue in the world. The GWK statue (121 meters) is the fourth tallest after the Vallabhbhai Patel Statue in India (182 meters) as the first rank, the Buddha in China (153 meters) and Myanmar (130 meters).
In 2022, the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue will be the destination for a series of events for the G20 Summit in Bali on November 15-16, 2022. President Jokowi and First Lady Iriana Jokowi welcomed the arrival of the G20 delegation guests who came to the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park Area.
Jokowi said that the GWK statue depicts love, responsibility, courage, and devotion. "In Balinese mythology, this statue depicts love, responsibility, courage, and devotion. This is our duty to the world and humanity, in line with the goals of the G20." quoted from Jokowi's Instagram post (@jokowi), Wednesday (11/16/2022).
This is information related to the history of the GWK Bali statue by I Nyoman Nuarta which took up to 28 years to be realized and can be exhibited as an icon of Bali.
