A Balinese hero

On one of our trips to Denpasar recently, I bought an Indonesian school atlas. For less than $1, it has proven to be hugely informative. Maps of all the provinces, lists of provincial capitals and major towns, heights of mountains, which volcanoes are considered active and at the back, portraits of national heroes. All in Bahasa Indonesia of course, but very visual, as you expect an atlas to be. There is only one Balinese name on this list of heroes* that I could see, I Gusti Ngurah Rai.

We have been flying into Bali for many years, but we have never really thought too much about the name of the airport, Ngurah Rai International. We had also noticed the handsome young man with the same name on the Rp 50000 note, but with the familiarity of banknotes, again we never thought to enquire. It was time to make amends.

A little investigation led to the realisation that less than an hour's drive away was a memorial park in Margarana for all the Balinese who died fighting for independence against the Dutch at the end of World War Two. I Gusti Ngurah Rai was a key leader of the resistance, and he died on 20th November 1946 at the age of 29 along with all his troops, in a puputan, or fight to the death, rather than surrender. This event is referred to as the Battle of Margarana.

Our sat nav wasn't particularly useful and just as we were ready to give up, there was the sign we had been looking for. (This happens quite a bit). Margarana is apparently seldom visited by foreigners, but holds the same place in the hearts of Balinese people that the War Memorial in Canberra does for Australians.

The park itself is truly beautiful. A few Balinese families were there on a glorious day enjoying the tranquillity.

Well tended lawns, gardens and ponds led to the area at the back with rows and rows of headstones. It is always sobering and immensely sad to visit the site of war graves. We had heard that several Japanese soldiers were buried here too. They had stayed behind after the occupation to join the independence struggle, but we could not find their resting place and there were no guides. The small museum wasn't open, but peering through the windows it looked to be very interesting. A major commemoration is held on the site on November 20 each year.

The longer we stay here, the more we realise there is so much we don't know, but we are now marginally less ignorant about a man who remains a hero, not just to the Balinese people, but to all Indonesians.

*A handful of women are regarded as National Heroes. One, Kartini, is being celebrated at this year's Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, so I will also write about her soon.