Pura Taman Kemuda Saraswati (Water Palace)

This guide to Pura Taman Kemuda Saraswati in Ubud, Bali centers on I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, a sculptor already elderly enough to remember the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa when the prince of Ubud asked him to build this temple to Saraswati, goddess of learning, in the early 1950s. It follows his path from the royal court of Blahbatuh to new patrons in Ubud's Sukawati family, and the decades of palaces and temples his hands shaped. Look at the stone turtles and serpents lining the bridge in front of you, carved by Lempad himself.