Kayu Putih giant tree (Bayan Ancient Tree)

Nobody can say for certain what kind of tree this is, and its base is about six metres across. Villagers call it kayu putih, white wood, for the pale trunk, or beringin; an article from Indonesia's Ministry of Finance says plainly that the species is not known with certainty. We list it as a fig and would like to be told. What you see is the root system. Pale buttresses flare out and fold into a sculpted base with a small window straight through the trunk. People have long taken its bark for traditional medicine, and the shrine beside it, Pura Babakan, is named for that bark. The age is a local estimate either way. The ministry article says more than 500 years. The temple caretakers say about 700, tying it to the age of the village and calling the tree older than Pura Babakan, which they date to the 15th century. Nobody has dated the wood. Local lore says a gamelan and weapons were buried beneath it in the days of the kingdom, and a neighbour says he has heard gamelan music coming from the tree. It went viral in 2013. It stands behind Pura Babakan in Banjar Bayan, Tua village, about an hour north-west of Ubud by car or scooter, on the way to Jatiluwih. There is no bus. Entry is a donation written in a visitors' book plus a small parking fee, and you need no sarong to walk round the outside.