Temple (Pura and Candi) reliefs in Bali usually depicts stories of gods or mortal life that are sourced from public beliefs about their religion. The sources of these stories came from the epic of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Tantri. However, the Jagaraga Temple in northern Bali is different –it has its own special relief embodiments by blending modern shapes and symbols in both the story and the display. Modern shapes and symbols are presented with depictions of cars, bikes, drunkards, bandits, fishermen, and so forth. Even so, the techniques and ways of expressing these reliefs still align with traditional Balinese principles in carving statues and reliefs. This study aimed to determine the elements of relief formation in Jagaraga Temple that can be traced back to the history of its inception. The Dutch colonial influence that carries these modern symbols provided a substantial contribution to it, aided by the open character of northern Balinese living in coastal areas that makes them easy to accept new things. The data collection is done by conducting observation, interviews, literatures study, with relief visualizations analysis based on several constituent factors such as environmental factors, both external and internal. The external influences were brought by Dutch colonial, while the internal came from the Sangging as the relief carver, and people of Bali who remained obedient to their custom and belief. The alteration in symbols and values of the traditional Balinese relief artworks—from sacred to profane – provides visual diversity to the development of traditional Balinese art.
Keywords : Relief, Depiction, Symbol