I Gusti Ketut Pudja (19 May 1908 – 4 May 1977) was an Indonesian politician and national hero, who served as the first governor of Lesser Sunda from 1945 until 1946.

He again continued his education to the Algemene Middelbare School (AMS) in Bandung, graduating in 1929, and then entering the Rechtshoogeschool in Jakarta.

[7] During the Japanese Occupation of the Dutch East Indies, he was appointed as a member of the Raad van Kerta, in Badung, Denpasar, and was given the task of setting up the civil government.

The PPKI was tasked with accelerating all efforts related to the final preparations to form the Government of the Republic of Indonesia during the waning days of World War II.

[9] Following the Rengasdengklok incident, Pudja was present at Admiral Tadashi Maeda's house, located at Imam Bonjol street No.

[3] Pudja was also witness to the historic moment of reading the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence at Sukarno's house, located on Pegangsaan Timur street no.

[12] The areas under the authority of the Governor of Lesser Sunda included Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores and Timor, with his home town of Singaraja being designated as the capital.

On 23 August 1945, Pudja arrived in his hometown of Singaraja, Bali, carrying the mandate of his appointment as Governor and immediately started his duties.

[13][14] As governor, he began to carry out the mandate from the president to secure the proclamation and seize power from the hands of the Japanese.

[16][17] Fighting continued to occur between the young Balinese pemuda and the Japanese, in addition to the arrival of the allied troops.

In this meeting, it was decided to carry out an attack on the Japanese barracks throughout Bali to seize the armories that were desperately needed by the TKR.

[20] On 2 March 1946, the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) returned to Lesser Sunda, to disarm the Japanese soldiers, take care of prisoners of war and maintain public security, they also wanted to meet with Pudja.