Garuda – painted wood carving<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhen you travel to Bali you cannot help being dazzled by the amazing detailed wooden statues and masks of Garuda. Both there and in Java, the mythical creatures\u00a0has become a cultural symbol.<\/p>\n
It is worth mentioning that in\u00a0Bali, you can see the tallest Garuda statue in Wisnu Kencana complex. It’s about o18 meters tall and made from tons of copper and brass.<\/p>\n
The modern symbolism of Garuda<\/h2>\n In Indonesia, India and the rest of Southeast Asia Garuda stands for the eagle symbolism. Garuda is today a national emblem of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The Coat of Arms of Indonesia is called Garuda Pancasila and it was designed by Sultan Hamid II of Pontianak. On February 11, 1950 it was adopted as the national coat of arms<\/p>\nGaruda as represented today on Indonesian’s national flag.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe main part of the Coat of Arms is the golden mythical bird Garuda with a shield on its chest and a scroll gripped by its leg bears the national motto: “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika”<\/em>, roughly means “Unity in Diversity”<\/em>. The shield’s five emblems represent Pancasila, the five principles of Indonesia’s national philosophy. The numbers of feathers were meant to symbolise the date of Indonesian Proclamation of Independence; 17 feathers on each wing, 8 tail feathers, 19 upper tail feathers (under the shield, above the tail), and 45 neck feathers; all symbolise 17-8-1945; 17th August 1945. Garuda Pancasila was designed by Sultan Hamid II of Pontianak and was adopted as the national coat of arms on February 11, 1950.<\/p>\nTo conclude this brief story about the king of birds, there’s one more thing I do have to mention especially for those travelling to Hindu countries. Don’t be surprised if you’ll see him along the way. With the spread of Hinduism to Nepal and to Southeast Asia, where Garuda is frequently depicted on various monuments, sculptures or temples.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Kecak Dance story I’ve shared with you there’s a character named Garuda, a large bird-like creature, or humanoid bird that appears in both Hinduism and Buddhism. When researching a little bit about him, I realized deserves special attention …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[661],"tags":[31,8,29,236,24,32,28,237,30],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-identity-culture-symbols","tag-aquila","tag-bali","tag-buddhism","tag-coat-of-arms","tag-garuda","tag-garuda-pancasila","tag-hinduism","tag-indonesia","tag-vishnu"],"yoast_head":"\n
Garuda - The King of Birds and Lord Vishnu's Vehicle<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n