The Moon of Pejeng, also known as the Pejeng Moon, in

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

is the largest single-cast bronze

kettle drum Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

in the world. and "the largest known relic from Southeast Asia's

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

period."Rita A. Widiadana,
Get in touch with Bali's cultural heritage
," ''The Jakarta Post'' (06/06/2002). It is "considered highly sacred by local people." It is thought to be a relic of early rice cultivation rituals. The drum is high and the diameter of the tympano is . It is kept at

Pura Penataran Sasih Pura Penataran Sasih is a Hindu temple in Pejeng village, Bali. According to a modern chronogram displayed at the entrance, it was founded in 1266 AD and served as the state temple of the Pejeng Kingdom (1293–1343 AD). Significant ...

Temple in

Pejeng Pejeng is a village in Bali, Indonesia, in the Petanu River valley. It is a bit east of Ubud in Gianyar Regency. It is home to the Moon of Pejeng, the largest single-cast bronze kettle drum Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally calle ...

, near

Ubud Ubud () is a town in the Gianyar Regency of Bali, Indonesia. Ubud has no status, that is part of the eponymous Ubud District of Gianyar. Promoted as an arts and culture centre, Ubud has developed a large tourism industry. It forms a northern p ...

, in the Petauan River valley which, along with the adjacent Pakerisan River valley, forms the heartland of South Bali where complex irrigated rice culture first evolved on the island. Its large mould was also found on the island.

History

The Dong Son people made the drum around 300 BC, more than two thousand years ago. According to Balinese legend, the Pejeng Moon was a wheel of the chariot that pulled the real

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

through the night sky. One night, as the chariot was passing over Pejeng, the wheel detached and fell to

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, landing in a tree, where it glowed nearly as brightly as the real moon. This light disturbed a thief who, annoyed, climbed the tree and urinated on it; the thief paid for his sacrilege with his life. The moon eventually cooled and has been preserved as a sacred relic by the local villagers. It is the largest and most complete type of drum known as the Pejeng type drums which have been found in

and

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The Pejeng Moon was first reported to the western world by G.E. Rumphius in his book ''

The Ambonese Curiosity Cabinet ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

'', published in 1705. The Moon was first systematically described by the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

artist W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp who reproduced the famous face motif.

Possible use

Similar drums—albeit smaller—have been found in Bali, such as that discovered in 1997 in Manikliyu (west side of

Bangli Regency Bangli Regency (; ) is the one and only landlocked Regency (Indonesia), regency (''kabupaten'') of the province of Bali, Indonesia. It covers a land area of 520.80 km2, and had a population of 259,392 in 2024. It is bordered by Badung Regen ...

), in a unique burial system thus far unknown in Indonesia. A. Calo suggests that such kettle drums were associated with early rice cults—and cultivation—in Bali: most of them are found near sources of irrigation water (lakes, springs or weirs in rivers); their shape and decoration are reminded in modern representations of female deities associated with rice and irrigation water, the latter originating in a pre-Hindu culture and later integrated into the Hindu-Balinese panel of gods. Ritual ceremonies honouring these deities are still held to this day at places where irrigation water first enters fields (''bedugul'') and at crater lakes, the highest sources.

References

{{coord, 8, 30, 49.54, S, 115, 17, 36.50, E, display=title Drums Bronze Age Gianyar Regency Indonesian musical instruments Dong Son bronze drums

History

Possible use

See also

References