Balinese Temples (Discover Asia) [Hardcover]

Julian Davison (Author), Bruce Granquist (Author)

Book Description

Series: Discover Asia | Publication Date: January 15, 1999

This book is intended to provide a general introduction to the architectural symbolism of the Balinese temple by looking at some of the most interesting temple complexes on the island and describing their salient features in relation to Balinese ideas.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Julian Davison is a freelance writer and illustrator in Singapore.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Periplus Editions (January 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9625931961
• ISBN-13: 978-9625931968
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,942,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Travel > Reference & Tips > Tourist Destinations & Museums

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Substantial Introduction to Balinese Temples, April 18, 2000

By 

marco santopietro "silkscream" (tokyo, japan) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Balinese Temples (Discover Asia) (Hardcover)

This small and inexpensive book packs with it a tremendous amount of information about Balinese Temples. The author starts by introducing the concept of Hinduism and Buddhism in Bali, as well as religious life in this island east of Java. He then proceeds to discuss general elements of the temples, such as: structures, functions, styles, and types. Along the way, he packs in many examples of those elements (in text and in images), and explains well each new terms that the readers encounter.

The illustrations are well thought of and done. The lay-out of the book assists the readers in navigating through the sea of information. Captions, side-bars and placement of graphics work very well. One thing that is missing from this book is the floor plan(s) of the temples. While this book does not profess to be an in-depth study on architecture, it will be useful to include simple floor-plan(s).

Almost toward the end, the author puts in a chapter on the kingdom of Majapahit of East Java, the influence of which is apparent in Balinese art and architecture. Somehow I wonder if this chapter would be better off placed toward the beginning of the book, since it would better explain the spread of the religion, as well as the style of architecture from Java, Bali's neighboring island.

This book is part of a series in Periplus' "Discover Indonesia." Check out the two other titles already available at Amazon.com: Balinese Architecture (ISBN 962-593-194-5,) by Davison and Granquist (the same team that writes the Balinese Temples), and The Mysteries of Borobudur (ISBN 962-593-198-8) by Miksic, Marcello and Trachini.