Do you know the history of GWK Statue Bali? 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 has become an icon of Bali, has an interesting history. To learn more about this iconic statue, let's take a look at 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 of Bali's icon. Based on data from the Badung Tourism Office, the GWK statue stands on a limestone hill as high as 263 metres above sea level in the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park area of about 250 hectares. The magnificent statue of Bali's mascot was inaugurated by President Jokowi on 22 September 2018.
The height of the GWK Statue reaches 121 metres and weighs 4,000 tonnes made of copper, steel and brass. With a height that exceeds the Statue of Liberty (93 metres), 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 Lord Vishnu riding a Garuda Bird. It is built 75 metres high, with a foundation of 70 metres high Garuda bird wings that span 66 metres wide. The statue that represents Lord Vishnu riding the Garuda Bird was made by I Nyoman Nuarta in up to 28 years.
Background of the GWK Statue
The history of GWK statue was made by a Balinese maestro named I Nyoman Nuarta. As reported by the Ministry of Education and Culture's website, the initial idea for the GWK statue in Ungasan Hill (Kapur), Bali, by Nyoman Nuarta had been around since the 80s. But his idea was not immediately accepted by the public. In fact, it took Nyoman Nuarta eight years just to introduce the idea to the public.
At that time, various problems arose, even before the GWK statue construction project began. The most important problem was the view of some people who thought that Nyoman Nuarta's big project would only be a pointless waste of money.
In fact, for Nyoman Nuarta, the background of the GWK statue was to realise an area as a new tourist destination in Bali. According to him, the place should show the cultural values of the nation, as well as a place to stage various arts of the archipelago, even the world.
History of GWK Statue Construction 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 went on until the groundbreaking seven years later on 8 June 1997.
Due to the 1997-1998 monetary crisis, the GWK statue construction project was temporarily halted. Construction 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 materialise.
Inauguration of Garuda Wisnu Kencana Statue
The Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) statue was inaugurated on 22 September 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 metres) is the fourth tallest after the Vallabhbhai Patel statue in India (182 metres) as the first rank, the Buddha in China (153 metres) and Myanmar (130 metres).
In 2022, the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue will be the destination for the G20 Summit in Bali on 15-16 November 2022. President Jokowi and First Lady Ibu Iriana Jokowi welcomed the G20 delegates at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park.
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 G20 goals." quoted from Jokowi's Instagram post (@jokowi), Wednesday (16/11/2022).
Thus information related to the history of the GWK Bali statue by I Nyoman Nuarta which took up to 28 years to be realised and can be exhibited as an icon of Bali.