I spent this past week in Bali, Indonesia during my Easter break & it was AMAZING! One of my favorite things was seeing some of the Hindu temples that the island has to offer.
Our first stop was Batuan Temple. It is about 1000 years old. It is full of many ornate statues, traditional architecture and black roofs constructed out of black palm. Although this is a Hindu temple, it has become a point of interest for Buddhist priests.
Our second stop was the Elephant Cave Temple, or Goa Gajah. The exact origins of this temple are unknown and there is much folklore surrounding the topic, but based off the style and architecture it is believed Goa Gajah was built during the 11th century. Within the temple, there is a pool of holy water filled by springs coming from statues carved into the earth. Visitors are able to climb down and feel the cold holy water, which was nice considering it was 90 degrees outside. We also went into the elephant cave itself. Within there are three shines covered in offerings from the visit Hindu people. And around the corner from the worshiping space there was a beautiful garden and lily pad full pond.
Third was Gunung Kawai. This temple was especially beautiful because if the way it sat on a hill - from the paths between the parts of the temple we could terraces of rice patties and the jungles that surrounded them. The temple sits on either side of the Pakerisan river. On either side there five, seven-meter-high shrines carved into the cliffs. This temple is used for funeral purposes and it is believed that the shrines represent the wives of King Udayana.
Later in the week we visited the Bat Cave Temple, or Goa Lawah. This is a temple built at the mouth of a massive bat cave. There is also a smaller temple within the cave that can only be entered by those who are Hindu. There were thousands of bats in the cave. No matter where we were in the temple you could hear the squeaking of the bats. Around sunset every night the bats leave the cave creating a black cloud over the worshipers. Sadly, we did not get to see this, but our guide informed us that is actually good luck to be pooped on by the bats. I'm not sure how I feel about that part, but the temple was beautiful, the bats were cute, and it was an amazing last stop to out temple tour. There will be a video on my photos/videos page to show you all how loud the bats were.
