Ubud District

Ubud District (Indonesian:Kecamatan Ubud) is a district (kecamatan) in Gianyar Regency, Bali, Indonesia. Its area is 42.38 km². The permanent population is 69,361 people as of 2010 census, but at any given time there are large numbers of temporary residents and tourists.

Neighboring districts are: Tegallalang and Payangan districts to the north, Tampaksiring district to the north-east, Sukawati district to the south, all four within Gianyar Regency, and Abiansemal district of Badung Regency to the West.

Villages in Ubud include the villages (Kelurahan and Desa) of Ubud, Kedewatan, Mas, Peliatan, and Sayan.

References

Ubud

Ubud is a town on the Indonesian island of Bali in Ubud District, located amongst rice paddies and steep ravines in the central foothills of the Gianyar regency. One of Bali's major arts and culture centres, it has developed a large tourism industry.

Ubud has a population of about 30,000 people. Recently, it has become difficult to distinguish the town itself from the villages that surround it. The area surrounding the town is made up of small farms, rice paddies, and dense forest.

History

Eighth-century legend tells of a Javanese priest, Rsi Markendya, who meditated at the confluence of two rivers (an auspicious site for Hindus) at the Ubud locality of Campuan. Here he founded the Gunung Lebah Temple on the valley floor, the site of which remains a pilgrim destination.

The town was originally important as a source of medicinal herbs and plants; Ubud gets its name from the Balinese word ubad (medicine).

In the late nineteenth century, Ubud became the seat of feudal lords who owed their allegiance to the king of Gianyar, at one time the most powerful of Bali's southern states. The lords were members of the Balinese Kshatriya caste of Sukawati, and were significant supporters of the village's increasingly renowned arts scene.