GARUDA WISNU KENCANA
A MONUMENTAL UNDERTAKING
THE HEAD OF GARUDA WISNU KENCANA
Slowly, Surely, a monumental undertaking is taking shape on theUngasan Peninsula, halfway between Ngurah Rai Airport and the Nusa Dua Resort Complex, not far from the luxury hotels of Jimbaran. When completed in 2003, the horizon will be forever changed by a massive statue of the mythical Garuda Bird in flight with the Lord Wisnu mounted on the bird's back. The finished monument, wighting and estimated 4,000 tons and towering 286 meters above sea level and 146 meters from the monument's base, will by comparison dwarf New York's statue of Liberty which stand only 86 meters.
The
finished statue will form the centerpiece of an ambitious 100-hectare - Garuda
Wisnu Kencana (GWK) Cultural Park housing restaurants, shopping, accommodation
and meeting venues. In anticipation of the final monument, an impressive public
attraction has already opened to the public allowing close-up view of the construction
process and panoramic views to the two oceans bordering both sides of the peninsula.
The GWK is already proving very popular as a venue for using the 700-seat open
amphitheatre, and adjoining open mall suitable for themed events, and the collection
of excellent restaurants at GWK able to cater such gatherings.
One of the site's more dramatic venues is a magnificent manmade canyon cut squarely
into a massive hillside. More than a thousand diners can be accommodated between
the imposing vertical cliff faced providing a surreal backdrop for an outdoor
event long to remembered. Ingeniously reclaiming and landscaping lands once
scarred by massive limestone excavations, the GWK is slated to become the monumental
landmark on an island where monuments abound.
