Besakih Temple (
Balinese: ᬧᬸᬭᬩᭂᬲᬓᬶᬄ) is a ''
pura
Pura may refer to:
Places
* Pura, Kushtagi, a village in Koppal district, Karnataka, India
* Pura, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran
* Pura, Tarlac, a municipality in the Philippines
* Pura, Switzerland, a municipality in Ticino, Swit ...
'' complex in the village of Besakih on the slopes of
Mount Agung
Mount Agung ( id, Parwata Agung; ban, ᬕᬦ ᬆᬕ) is an active volcano in Bali, Indonesia, southeast of Mount Batur volcano, also in Bali. It is the highest point on Bali, and dominates the surrounding area, influencing the climate, especiall ...
in eastern
Bali
Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. It is the most important, the largest and holiest temple of
Balinese Hinduism
Balinese Hinduism ( id, Agama Hindu Dharma; Agama Tirtha; Agama Air Suci; Agama Hindu Bali) is the form of Hinduism practised by the majority of the population of Bali.McDaniel, June (2013), A Modern Hindu Monotheism: Indonesian Hindus as ‘P ...
, and one of a series of
Balinese temple
A pura is a Balinese Hindu temple, and the place of worship for adherents of Balinese Hinduism in Indonesia. Puras are built in accordance to rules, style, guidance and rituals found in Balinese architecture. Most puras are found on the island o ...
s. Perched nearly 1000 meters up the side of Gunung Agung, it is an extensive complex of 23 separate but related temples with the largest and most important being Pura Penataran Agung. The temple is built on six levels, terraced up the slope. The entrance is marked by a
candi bentar
Candi bentar, or split gateway, is a classical Javanese and Balinese gateway entrance commonly found at the entrance of religious compounds, palaces, or cemeteries in Indonesia. It is basically a candi-like structure split perfectly in two to cr ...
(split gateway), and beyond it the Kori Agung is the gateway to the second courtyard.
[Lonely Planet: Bali and Lombok, April 2009, p 215]
History
The precise origins of the temple are unclear but its importance as a holy site almost certainly dates from prehistoric times. The stone bases of Pura Penataran Agung and several other temples resemble megalithic stepped pyramids, which date back at least 2,000 years.
It was certainly used as a Hindu place of worship from 1284 when the first Javanese conquerors settled in Bali. By the 15th century, Besakih had become a state temple of the powerful
Gelgel dynasty.
Location
The temple is on the southern slopes of
Mount Agung
Mount Agung ( id, Parwata Agung; ban, ᬕᬦ ᬆᬕ) is an active volcano in Bali, Indonesia, southeast of Mount Batur volcano, also in Bali. It is the highest point on Bali, and dominates the surrounding area, influencing the climate, especiall ...
, the principal volcano of Bali.
Architecture
Pura Besakih is a complex made up of twenty-three temples that sit on parallel ridges. It has stepped terraces and flights of stairs which ascend to a number of courtyards and brick gateways that in turn lead up to the main spire or
Meru structure, which is called Pura Penataran Agung. All this is aligned along a single axis and designed to lead the spiritual person upward and closer to the mountain which is considered sacred.
The main sanctuary of the complex is the Pura Penataran Agung. The symbolic center of the main sanctuary is the
lotus throne
In Asian art a lotus throne, sometimes lotus platform, is a stylized lotus flower used as the seat or base for a figure. It is the normal pedestal for divine figures in Buddhist art and Hindu art, and often seen in Jain art. Originating in Indi ...
, or ''
padmasana'', which is therefore the ritual focus of the entire complex. It dates to around the seventeenth century.
A series of eruptions of Mount Agung in 1963, which killed approximately 1,700 people
[
][
]
also threatened Pura Besakih. The lava flows missed the temple complex by mere meters. The saving of the temple is regarded by the
Balinese people
The Balinese people ( id, suku Bali; ban, ᬳᬦᬓ᭄ᬩᬮᬶ, anak Bali) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Bali. The Balinese population of 4.2 million (1.7% of Indonesia's population) live mostly on the ...
as miraculous, and a signal from the gods that they wished to demonstrate their power but not destroy the monument the Balinese faithful had erected.
Festivals
Each year there are at least seventy festivals held at the complex, since almost every shrine celebrates a yearly anniversary. This cycle is based on the 210-day Balinese
Pawukon calendar
The Pawukon is a 210-day calendar that has its origins in the Hindu religion in Bali, Indonesia. The calendar consists of 10 different concurrent weeks of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 days. On the first day of the year it is the first day of ...
year.
It had been nominated as a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
as early as 1995, but was pulled out on 2015.
Visitors
In 2013, foreign visitors accounted for 84,368 persons (77.2 percent of all visitors), while domestic visitors accounted for 24,853 persons (22.8 percent).
Controversy
CNN reported that illegal donations were extorted by local youths from surrounding villages and from visiting tourists.
Gallery
File:Mother Temple of Besakih.jpg, The main temple of Besakih
File:Pura Besakih.JPG, Pura Besakih
File:Besakih01.JPG, Pura Besakih
File:Besakih02.jpg, Pura Besakih
File:PrayerAtBesakih.jpg, A prayer ceremony at Besakih Temple
File:Panorama of Bali from Besakih - Mother temple.jpg, Bali view from Besakih/Mother Temple's main gate
See also
*
Indonesian architecture
The architecture of Indonesia reflects the diversity of cultural, historical and geographic influences that have shaped Indonesia as a whole. Invaders, colonizers, missionaries, merchants and traders brought cultural changes that had a profoun ...
*
Balinese Hinduism
Balinese Hinduism ( id, Agama Hindu Dharma; Agama Tirtha; Agama Air Suci; Agama Hindu Bali) is the form of Hinduism practised by the majority of the population of Bali.McDaniel, June (2013), A Modern Hindu Monotheism: Indonesian Hindus as ‘P ...
Notes
Further reading
* I Nyoman Darma Putra and Michael Hitchcock (2005) ''Pura Besakih: A world heritage site contested'' in ''Indonesia and the Malay World'', Volume 33, Issue 96 July 2005, pages 225 - 238
* Stuart-Fox, David J.(2002) ''Pura Besakih: temple, religion and society in Bali'' KITLV, Original from the University of Michigan (Digitized 5 September 2008 into Google Books) , . 470 pages
External links
*
{{Authority control
Balinese temples
Hindu temples in Indonesia
14th-century Hindu temples
Cultural Properties of Indonesia in Bali
Karangasem Regency