Dhyana Putri Adventures (AA Gede Putra Rangki & Rucina Ballinger)
Jalan Bima No. 7, Banjar Kalah, Peliatan, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
FAX: 0361 971939 - Tel: +62 81 238 05623 or Email


Batur Mangku	Paddy Field	Penjor	foto is not on the CD

Bali has much to offer to first-time or veteran visitors:

Processions and purifications, temple festivals and timeless rituals to deities and spirits, trance dances of the gods, and mountainous offerings of fruit, incense and holy water
The gotong royong or mutual cooperation that occurs in village communal life
The splendor of the dance and music, intricate paintings and woodcarvings
The Balinese sense of balance as manifested in their temple, village and house compound structure
Tranquil spots in nature filled with serenity
The beauty of terraced ricefields and majestic volcanoes

Feel the harmony of this place with Dhyana Putri Adventures' knowledgeable bicultural and bilingual staff: Anak Agung Gde Putra Rangki, a Balinese-identified Balinese and creator of Rangki (the created palace of plants) and Rucina Ballinger, an American who has lived in Bali since 1974 and is the co-author with I Wayan Dibia of Balinese Dance, Drama and Music: An Introduction to the Performing Arts (Singapore: Periplus Editions, 2005).

Both Agung and Rucina have worked with the Academic Semester Abroad Program of the Experiment in International Living and Elderhostel and have been leading cultural tours in Bali, Central Java and South Sulawesi since 1985. They live in Ubud with their two sons

Spiritual and Cultural Adventures

Journey with us as we take you to rituals and ceremonies where the many layers of meaning are peeled away.

Feel the extraordinary spiritual power that this island has to offer by participating in temple festivals or meditating in sacred spots. Experience the tranquility of the deities—(the mountains) and the spirits of purification -- (the sea).

Dhyana Putri Adventures can facilitate the journey of serious seekers of balance and harmony as well as more light-hearted adventurers. We go to great lengths to ferret out special rituals and ceremonies, rare forms of performance, life and death cycle rites such as baby ceremonies, tooth filings, weddings, and cremations for you to witness and document.

There are a number of tours that we can set up for you and we like to tailor them to your tastes. However, we have some “standard” (and nothing is standard for us!) tours we can offer:

1. Batur Lake, Volcano and Temple - 6 - 8 hours.
An hour from Ubud, thru beautiful countryside and terraced ricefields.
In Batur a fantastic view of the caldera, on the way home stop at a garden temple, lunch at a lovely paddyfield-side restaurant.
After lunch, a visit to a musuem, artist's studios, shopping, see a dance lesson....many options.

2. East Bali - 8 hours
To weaving and gamelan factory, Hall of Justice in Klungkung, traditional coin factory, vegetarian lunch in one of the most lush settings on the island, Tenganan Bali Aga village.

3. West Bali - 8 hours
trek thru Batukaru rainforest and lunch at an isolated jungle resort. Visit to typical farmer's home and walk thru village. To Bedugul Lake and Pura Ulun Danu temple, fruit and flower market.

4. Performing Arts Day - 8:00am - 9:00 pm
Start off with a gamelan (bronze orchestra) lesson, then to see the Barong dance in Batubulan, stonecarvers, lunch in Ubud, dance lesson (either as participant or observer), dinner and then to a performance in Ubud.

5. Village Walk and Architecture - 5 hours
Early morning walk thru village where community system is explained and we visit traditional homes.
Then to temples in Pejeng to see the architecture.
Lunch in Ubud.

6. Ricefield Walk - 3 hours
Early morning walk thru ricefields, seeing a village wake up.

7. Temple Festival - 3 hours
After an early dinner, get dressed in traditional temple garb (provided) and visit a nearby temple in the midst of its' anniversary celebrations.

8. Shopping
we can customize shopping for you to help you find exactly what you want!

Special Balispirit Rates:
Half-day $100/Full-day $150 (same rate applies for 1 – 8 people—group rates please inquire via email)

Includes air conditioned van and driver, guide, mineral water and snacks, temple clothing.
Does not include: entrance fees or donations, tips, meals.

Educational Study Groups and Workshops


hands-on learning of Balinese music	learning kidung or sacred Balinese temple singing at Rangki

learning how to harvest rice with the locals	one of the local village healers explains about the different plants that grow in Rangki

We have been working with various American universities since l985 in setting up study programs for their students.. ISTA (International School Theatre Association) regularly holds workshops on the theatre arts. We also handle all the Elderhostel programs (three week study tours for over-55 year olds) in Indonesia. Not only academics but students of life have seen Bali through our eyes.

As Bali is renown for its arts, students can study one of the myriad art forms here on the island: dance, gamelan music, stone sculpture, kecak, mask-making, offering-making, painting, sacred kidung songs, poetry—the list goes on and on. Throughout the program, students meet with experts in their fields and listen to lectures, participate in learning activities (how to plant rice!) and go on numerous field trips to experience daily village and urban life in action.

We can set up lectures for one to one hundred people. Want to know how the Balinese think about the current state of the world? Or simply need to know what things mean? We can provide lectures on nearly every subject from geography to tourism, form theater arts to cooking, from women's issues to weaving.

On a practical level, we can set up your hotel or other accommodations, find qualified yoga teachers and healers, suggest healthy places to eat, spas and body treatment and more. We can set up a program filled with a variety of activities or simply give you suggestions on where to go and what to do.

Location Managers For Film Crews

Planning on doing a film here but have no idea how to find the perfect location? Get extras? Have sets built? Need crew? Having worked with the BBC, CNN, ABC and various independent filmmakers, we are quite adept in getting you what you need and what you didn’t know you needed.

Rent Rangki

Set in the middle of the ricefields, 25 kilometers west of Ubud and 10 kilometers north of Kuta in a tiny village, Rangki has been designed as a created Balinese palace to preserve the ancient traditional philosophy of Balinese architecture and botany.

Over one and a half hectares of ponds, stages, forest and river, this is the perfect venue for a performance, workshop, special dinner or wedding. It is available for rent on a daily basis. Dhyana Putri Adventures holds many of their workshops and performances here.

Rangki is a “created palace”, a sanctuary filled with plants, tress and herbs used in healing and in Balinese Hindu ritual. It sports outdoor stages, three Barongs, a Semaradhana gamelan orchestra, a sacred spring, hundreds of rare trees and plants, Ballinger River and a myriad of grand gates, carved walls and niches that are all built on the traditional Balinese code of architecture known as Asta Kosala Kosali. Rangki is a gift to Agung's community, his family and descendents.

Agung's great respect for the teachings of his ancestors about plants and traditional architecture inspired him to create Rangki. At Sunia Gunung he has tried to create a space that will guard the cosmological harmony found in the natural elements of earth, water, flora and fauna that usually integrates with the natural surroundings found here. By conserving rare plants related to Balinese ritual and healing, and listening to what they have to offer us, we can discover their essence that has been placed there by the Supreme Entity.

The Balinese divide their space into threes: the utama or head, the madya or torso/middle area and the nista or lower body. The utama is the most sacred with nista being the most “polluting”. This tripartite division begins with the body, extends to the house compound, temple and the village. Rangki reflects this philosophy with its family temple being in the northeast (or “head”) portion. The Tri Hita Kirana philosophy (harmony between people and God, Nature and other Human Beings) is also extant here as there are sacred springs and temples on the site, a place for the community to meet and a great respect for the environment.

One of the unique sculptures at Rangki is the Bhuta Siu, which serves as the aling-aling or false wall to prevent spirits of chaos from entering. It is in front of this statue that numerous performances are held, both for tourists and the community. Moonlit dinners under the stars with the soft notes of the gamelan playing in the background make for a perfect evening.

A 100-year old Torajan house has been rebuilt on the premises and is outfitted with a complete Western kitchen and bathroom.

With its typical curved roof and buffalo horns on the front pillar, this unique house is available for long-term rental. It is ideal for a writer, painter or simply someone who wants solitude in a rustic and beautiful setting.

There is one bedroom upstairs, a downstairs space for living/office and of course, all the nature of Rangki. This is not a villa with all of the amenities but rather a special place to learn about Balinese nature and the nature of the Balinese village. (for more information, see the accommodation section)

Translation and Interpretation Services

Writing a book or article and need to interview Balinese about their views but cannot speak their language? Or you need some assistance with getting the deeper levels of interpretation? Or you have a document that needs translating from Indonesian to English or vice versa? We can find the people to interview and fully translate for you. Subtitling for films is another of our specialties.

Travel to Other Islands

Want to take a side trip to another island but don't know how to start? We can be your travel companions.

Our special areas are:

JOGYAKARTA: the temples of Borobodur and Prambanan come alive at sunrise and sunset under our guidance. Want to learn how to do the intricate dye-resist technique of batik? Or try your hand at the languid music of Javanese music? Learn how to make a mean Javanese curry? Live with a family? We can assist you.

SOUTH SULAWESI: Sulawesi is most famous for the Bugis sailors and the mountain villages of Toraja. Isolated beach villages in South Sulawesi are the perfect place to get away from it all. The Torajan highlands are cooled by mountain winds, filled with terraced ricefields and intricate textiles and a fine place to hike. Agung is an expert on I La Galigo (an ancient text of South Sulawesi).

LOMBOK: Often called “Bali from 20 years ago”, Lombok offers pristine beaches and a feeling of timelessness.

Your connection to holistic Bali