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Bali’s Pura Tirta Empul – A Temple Visiting Guide

  • February 10, 2025
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  • Bali

Pura Tirta Empul is one of Bali‘s most popular temple complexes, a sanctuary revered for its sacred springs and spiritual significance. One of the main draws to this temple is the opportunity to take part in a purification ritual (Melukat purification ceremony), where you will enter the bating pools to receive holy water from several water sprouts in a specific sequence. The temple is also quite large and has several courtyards, meaning there’s lots to explore here even if you...

Bali’s Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu – A Temple Visiting Guide

  • February 9, 2025
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  • Bali

Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu is a very scenic temple complex located in the heart of Bali, north of Ubud. It’s filled with relaxing koi ponds, pools and fountains designated for purification rituals, and several photogenic shrines. The temple complex, which was built into a dip in the ground, is surrounded by high stonewalls on three sides and by a lush jungle on the other. It’s also located near the town of Tampaksiring, where you’ll three other fantastic temples, including the...

Bali's Goa Gajah the Elephant Cave

Bali’s Pura Goa Gajah (The Elephant Cave) – A Temple Visiting Guide

  • February 9, 2025
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  • Bali

Located just outside Ubud, Goa Gajah is a popular destination due to its impressive “Elephant Cave”, whose impressive and ornate doorway is a unique attraction in Bali. Though many are unimpressed with the temple complex beyond the main cave doorway, that’s because most don’t venture beyond the elephant cave to discover paths that go through a lush jungle garden with a cascading river, beautiful stone bridges and a scenic waterfall. Although we visited with somewhat low expectations, we were pleasantly...

Bali’s Pura Goa Lawah (The Bat Cave) – A Temple Visiting Guide

  • February 7, 2025
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  • Bali

Pura Goa Lawah is one of Bali’s most unique temples, not because of the architecture or temple structures, but rather because of what it was built around: a bat cave! Although the temple is one of Bali’s most important temples from a spiritual and cultural perspective, the main draw for tourists is the large cave that is home to thousands of bats, which is also the main feature behind the temple’s name: Goa (cave) and Lawah (bat). Although you are not...

Kertha Gosa temple and pond

Bali’s Kertha Gosa Park and Klungkung Palace – A Temple Visiting Guide

  • February 6, 2025
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  • Bali

Located near the center Semarapura, one of East Bali‘s largest towns, Klungkung Palace and Kertha Gosa Park are part of a building complex that stands where a larger palace once stood from the 17th century until the early 20th century, when it was destroyed during the Dutch colonial conquest (Klungkung was the last Balinese kingdom to succumb to the Dutch). Although not a large complex, it makes for a fascinating visit as several buildings host important historical artifacts from both...

Bali’s Pura Kehen – A Temple Visiting Guide

  • February 6, 2025
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  • Bali

Although not a particularly large temple, Pura Kehen is one of the oldest and most beautiful in Bali. It sits atop a long, ornate staircase with intricate stone carvings and statues. Within the temple, you’ll come across several picturesque shrines, including an 11-tiered Meru Tower, and a 400-year-old banyan tree. Although not off the beaten path nor in a far remote location, the temple doesn’t seem to be part of the main tourist circuit yet, meaning that you might find...

Taman Ujung Water Palace in Bali

Bali’s Taman Ujung Water Palace – A Temple Visiting Guide

  • February 3, 2025
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  • Bali

Taman Ujung Water Palace is a former king’s palace in Karangasem, East Bali. It is an extravagant former royal palace built by the same king who was behind Tirta Gangga Water Palace and is known for its large ponds, impeccably manicured gardens, beautiful bridges and historic “floating” pavilions, all of which show an impressive blend of Balinese, Chinese, and Dutch influences. The Taman Ujung Water Palace complex is the largest temple or palace site we visited in Bali, it receives significantly fewer...

stepping stones in Bali's Tirta Gangga Water Palace

Bali’s Tirta Gangga Water Palace – A Temple Visiting Guide

  • February 3, 2025
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  • Bali

Though it shares similarities with many traditional Balinese temples, Tirta Gangga is not a temple but a former royal palace. Known for its stunning water ponds, beautiful fountains, lush gardens, and intricate stone carvings, the palace has significantly grown in popularity over the past years due to the photogenic and Instagrammable stepping stones that allow you to cross one of the water ponds. To help you plan your visit and get the most out of your time here, we put...

Pura Ulun Danu Beratan

Bali’s Pura Ulun Danu Beratan – A Temple Visiting Guide

  • January 31, 2025
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  • Bali

Known as Bali’s floating temple, Pura Ulun Danu Beratan is one of Bali’s most popular and scenic Hindu temples. Set on the tranquil shores of beautiful Lake Beratan, Bali’s second-largest lake. Located on a highland plateau 1200 meters above sea level, the air here is often much cooler than at Bali’s other main temples, and the cool morning air often shrouds the temple in an eerie mist. Dating from the 17th century, Ulun Danu Beratan temple is one of the island’s...

Luhur Batukaru temple

Bali’s Pura Luhur Batukaru – A Temple Visiting Guide

  • January 29, 2025
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  • Bali

Pura Luhur Batukaru was one of our favorite hidden gems in Bali – an important Hindu temple that is truly immersed in nature, surrounded by lush forests, stone carvings covered in moss, and built on the slopes of Mount Batukaru (a currently inactive volcano and the second most prominent peak on Bali). It’s somewhat off the beaten track, making it a great attraction to visit while escaping the crowds found at other temples. To help you plan your visit and...