Steeped in centuries of judgement, where kings and nobles once wielded verdicts beneath the watchful gaze of the gods, Kerta Gosa stands as a chilling testament to Bali’s intertwining of law, ritual and cosmic retribution, a sacred space where punishment was vivid, divine, and absolute. Beneath the flaking frescoes that depict the torments of the underworld, the echoes of those rulings linger like a cold breath, a haunting reminder that justice here was relentless and inescap

The Dutch first reached Bali in 1597 while scouting new ground for conquest and profit. They left without drawing blood but they didn’t leave without a decision. Bali had been marked. For the next two centuries, the island remained untouched, not because the Dutch had lost interest, but because they were waiting for the moment it would be worth the slaughter. It wasn’t peace. It was a pause before an extermination. When they returned, the rivers would turn red.