I was fourteen when I ambitiously replicated I Gusti Nyoman Lempad’s drawing on a glass for an art project. His name was reverentially mentioned by my art teacher as one of the founders of Pita Maha, an Ubud-based art collective founded in 1936. His ink and paper drawings adorned the walls of Museum Puri Lukisan and Neka Art Museum, providing accessible inspiration for an artistically-inclined Balinese teenager. Needless to say, I did not get an A.

Many years later, I found out that he was a polymath. He was an undagi, a traditional Balinese architect, and a sangging – a painter, a filer of teeth, and one who makes decorations for ceremonies.

Under the patronage of Ubud’s royal family, he designed temples and palaces, crafted gilded ceremonial spires and holy cows for the funerals, and carved stone statues as well as dancing masks. True to the legend of a great artist, his life was shrouded in stories and myths.

I Gusti Nyoman Lempad: Bali’s Own Renaissance Man

Born in the ancient village of Bedulu, Lempad and his father – a well-known undagi Gusti Mayukan – had to flee his village due to politics. They found refuge in Ubud.

The royal family recognised the father-and-son’s many talents and commissioned them to work. Born sometime in the mid-19th century, he was already married when the mighty Krakatoa erupted in 1883, experienced the Great Earthquake of 1917, and witnessed the catastrophic impact of Mount Agung's eruption in 1963.

Lempad also lived through the bygone era of Balinese kings and the end of their absolute reigns under the intervention of the Dutch in 1906, welcomed the first arrival of Western artists, musicians and anthropologists; endured the short and brutal Japanese occupation, saw Indonesia’s declaration of independence in 1945 and its ensuing struggle, and experienced the beginning of Bali as a tourism destination.

It was said that when he died, he chose on one auspicious day in 1978 when “the sun rises from the northeast” at the wizened age of about 116.

I decided to join a walking tour to discover more about the maestro, who was said by his son to possess “a simple exterior but complex interior engineering”.

Ubud: From Past to Present

These days, visiting downtown Ubud involves circumnavigating traffic, gawking tourists, and endless chants of ‘taxi, boss!’ from freelance hustlers by the road.

Restaurants, cafes, resort-wear shops, yoga studios, and healing retreats are back in business after a slowdown due to the COVID-10 pandemic. Resorts’ occupancy has stabilised by a healthy mixture of domestic and international visitors giving plenty of their staff a good reason to smile after the hardship of the past few years.

New businesses are opening up, proof that there are still niches to fill and stories to be told, even in a world-famous destination like Ubud.

Ubud Story Walks is a good example of how creativity and entrepreneurship came together. Founded in 2021, it wishes to tell the stories of Ubud’s ancient past as well as its history and cultural heritage through a three-hour walking tour around the walkable town.

“When you slow down and take time to understand how this town came to be known as Ubud, you realise how the past impacted the decisions that are made today. Bali grows so fast, and the development is staggering. I often worry that people may just come to Ubud for a pseudo-spirituality experience, but there is more to Ubud than that,” says Kelly Kluvers, the founder of Ubud Story Walks.

My guide for the day is Ni Wayan Khana Putri Pertiwi. Born in the same village as Lempad, Khana comes from a family of tour guides and holds a degree in archaeology.

As one of the few certified female professional guides in Bali, her passion for storytelling is palpable as soon as we arrive at our first spot for the day: the banks of the Campuhan River. She tells fascinating stories about Balinese Hinduism, the significance of the sacred confluence under the bridge, and the origin of the word Ubud which means ‘medicine’ in the Balinese language.

The tour continues to the rusty Campuhan Bridge, a remnant of Dutch colonialism and an early sample of infrastructure for tourism. Located parallel to one of Ubud’s main streets, Jalan Raya Campuhan, it is unused and often overlooked by passers-by.

Museum Puri Lukisan, Bali’s oldest art museum and home to Lempad’s drawings, are included in the itinerary, alongside fascinating stories about Pita Maha’s founders, the Kennedys who visited the town in 1962 and President Soekarno’s visit when the rotors of his official chopper damaged the roof of the museum.

The tour continues to two of Ubud’s famous landmarks, where the maestro’s remaining carvings are kept and ends at The Lempad House, the residence of the late maestro and where his family currently lives.

“I want our guests to walk away with a good memory of Ubud. There are often no explanations in our local attractions. That’s why we are here. We want to share with our guests interesting stories behind this temple or that painting,” says Khana.

Travel in the time of Instagram

In the documentary “Lempad of Bali” –shot by Australian filmmakers John Darling and English cameraman Lorne Blair one year before he passed away – he was caught on camera saying: “I feel I was reincarnated on this earth to create what the gods direct…”.

His was a life of creativity, creating works of art for the divine for his king and his community. Despite his illiteracy, he absorbed knowledge, myths, folklore, and stories from his surroundings, processed it within, and created something utterly original.

Through Pita Maha and his collaboration with the co-founders - Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati, Walter Spies, and Rudolf Bonnet - Lempad contributed to putting Ubud on the map as the art and cultural heart of Bali. The groundwork that started in the 1930s continues to benefit the town and its communities until today, proving that leadership, vision, and collaboration have the power to alter a place for the better. Just like they transformed Ubud into an art and cultural tourism destination in Bali.

“We believe that there is a move toward slower, more sustainable tourism. There is a growing interest from people who want to know more about their destination. When people want to know more and want to learn more, we feel that it will only have a positive impact on Bali as a destination,” adds Kluvers.