Temples

Category

Bali’s Penglipuran Village – A Visiting Guide

Penglipuran Village is Bali‘s most famous “traditional village”, renowned for its pristine beauty and steadfast preservation of traditional Balinese customs. It is also a place where the community has graciously opened its doors to the public to help promote and celebrate Balinese culture. Often described as the cleanest village in the world, it strongly adheres to the Balinese philosophy, promoting harmony between humans, nature, and the divine. To help you plan your visit and get the most out of your...

Best and Most Beautiful Temples and Palaces in Bali

Bali is known for many things, including stunning waterfalls and relaxing beaches, but some of its most interesting attractions include its beautiful temples, many of which are historical and architectural gems. Despite its small size, Bali is a land of over 10,000 Hindu temples. With so many to choose from, it might be hard to wrap your head around all of the available information and make a proper informed choice. That’s why we put together this travel guide on the...

Best Temples in and Around Ubud

Despite its small size, Bali is home to more than 10,000 Hindu temples. Ubud, Bali’s cultural capital, whose location makes it a perfect base from which to explore many of the island’s temples. In this travel guide on the Best Temples in and Around Ubud, we will focus on our favourites that are either in Ubud itself or within about an hour’s drive from town. Disclosure: This page (Best Temples in and Around Ubud) may contain product affiliate links. At...

Gunung Kawi temple

Bali’s Gunung Kawi Tampaksiring – A Temple Visiting Guide

Gunung Kawi Tampaksiring is easily one of our favorite temples in Bali, if not our favorite (though it’s hard to pick just one). Gunung Kawi is several attractions rolled into one: a beautiful temple complex, and huge archeological site that includes royal tombs, and a series of stunning rice terraces, all of which are surrounded by lush green vegetation and crisscrossed by the scenic Pakerisan River (which also flows through the nearby Pura Tirta Empul and Pura Mengening temples). As...

Pura Mengening fountains and pool

Bali’s Pura Mengening – A Temple Visiting Guide

Often overlooked by tourists, Pura Mengening is one of Bali’s Bali‘s best-kept secrets and a true hidden gem. Tucked away in the shadows of the more popular Tirta Empul and Gunung Kawi Tampaksiring, Pura Mengening is a beautiful oasis surrounded by lush vegetation on all sides. Also, much like in Tirta Empul, its popular neighbour temple from down the street, you can take part in a water purification ritual but in a much more relaxed atmosphere with fewer other tourists....

Bali’s Pura Tirta Empul – A Temple Visiting Guide

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 bathing 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

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 stone walls on three sides and by a lush jungle on the other. It’s also located near the town of Tampaksiring, where you’ll find three other fantastic temples,...

Bali's Goa Gajah the Elephant Cave

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

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

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

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...