Posts Tagged ‘GWK’
Garuda Wisnu Kencana, or affectionately known as GWK, is a cultural park carved out of limestone in Bukit Peninsula, south of Bali.
It is devoted to the Hindu god Vishnu, the source of wisdom, who rides on the back of Garuda, the mythical bird, heading towards Amerta, the symbol of perennial virtue.
Made from more than 4000 tons of giant slabs of copper and brass, the statue of Vishnu is 23 meters high although the original plan was for a 146-meter gold plated Vishnu riding Garuda on top of an 11-storey entertainment complex.
But further construction now proceeds at a snail’s pace due to the economic crisis of 1998 and later the bombings in Bali, which must have discouraged investors.
The statue and its pedestal are surrounded by more than 240 hectares of cultural park which was once an abandoned and unproductive limestone quarry. Read the rest of this entry »