But the purpose of a visit to Pura Tirta Empul for most people was to wash themselves in the ancient spring, which is channelled into a series of pools. Since it was a festival day, the pools were full of people coming from the city (locals usually go on a non-feast day). Everyone gets into the act, from children to the elderly. People also collect the holy water for their homes.
This week we’re visiting Pura Tirta Empul, otherwise known as the Holy Spring Temple. Water plays an important part in all belief systems, and in Bali, being cleansed at this temple is particularly special – so special in fact that pilgrims have been coming there for a thousand years.
Another symbol of the tropics is the banyan tree. This is a large, old tree. One can imagine that it was a seedling when the very first pilgrims came to Tirta Empul.
Balinese women have good posture, balance, and above all, are strong as an ox. Traditionally, they are the ones who do the heavy labour, like (I kid you not) road works. We saw quite a few women carrying offerings on their heads that day, but I think this lady takes the cake.
We’re going into the jungle now. We visited an area called Goa Gajah, or Elephant’s Cave in English. The cave, near Ubud, was used as a shrine since the 9th Century, although these steps down to the river were built much sooner. I can imagine monks and pilgrims resting in this cool place.
Along with the flags, umbrellas, and gamelan, a mainstay of a procession is the barong – a creature from Hindu and Buddhist mythology. It’s a smaller, less dynamic form from the barong one sees at a Chinese new year procession. I guess they’re just a lot more laid-back in Bali.
We came upon a procession for Kuningan, the festival day, as we made our way through the village. On festival days, everyone from great grandparents, to young kids, get dressed in their ‘Sunday best’ and process from their family compounds to their village temple. With their colourful sarongs, flags, offerings, and mythical creatures, it was a vibrant sight.
You’ll see shrines and temples everywhere in Bali, because they are an integral part of Balinese life. Every house, village, even business has one. Balinese may call themselves Hindus, but the locals tell me that their beliefs are a mixture of Hindu, Buddhism, and the animist religion that was on the island before the arrival of the former religions.
This shrine was in one corner of our hotel. The staff studiously left offerings there every day.
I’m returning once again to Bali to view another temple. This one is quite different from the last. It’s not beside a lake but under a volcano…
Pura Besakih (Besakih Temple) sits under Gunung Agung (Mt Agung) – Bali’s highest peak (3,142m – almost 1km taller than Mt Kozzie) and also an active volcano! The volcano last erupted in 1963, and still belches smoke.
So why have they built this mega temple underneath a volcano? Because…
The Balinese believe that Mount Agung is a replica of Mount Meru, the central axis of the universe. One legend holds that the mountain is a fragment of Meru brought to Bali by the first Hindus
– From Wiki
The temple is built on the side of the hill in terraces. This photo was taken at the bottom. Being Bali’s most important temple, it holds up to seventy festivals a year. The locals were in the midst of preparing for a new moon festival when I visited.
Static and Silence 