Gess Where Travels: Let’s Talk Temples

It would be interesting to know how many temples are on the island of Bali but that would truly be an impossible task to count. Family temples, village temples, Royal temples, water temples, and the list goes on. Bali is about 90% Hindu, although there are more Muslims now than a few years ago. They are very spiritual and almost superstitious in their beliefs. Along with that, there are many gods such as the God of Knowledge that they honor and of course there are special days for all of them. This results in ceremonies for everything. I’m pretty sure there is a ceremony every day in some part of Bali.

On a day to day basis there are offerings everywhere for good luck. As you can see flowers are an important component to theses and we have seen many fields of flowers. These little offerings are placed outside of every house and store every day. Be careful where you walk.

It would be easy to be templed out in Bali so one must carefully pick just a few to visit. Near Ubud is the Holy Springs temple where bathing in the spring water is a regular activity for locals. On one of our outings we stopped at a much smaller version of this popular temple. Not only smaller in size but with colourfully draped gods, locals were blessed without bikini dressed tourists. It is also across the street from a small lake temple.

Although invited to do the water purification, we declined as we had previously had a unique experience and participated in a water purification ceremony performed by the priestess in the hills of East Bali. As she chanted the blessing we were cleansed with the spring water - a first time experience for me!

For me Tahan Lot is one of the most interesting temples as it is located on the shores of Indian Ocean or depending on the tides in the Indian Ocean. It was high tide when we arrived, but people were still walking out to it. Not us - a lovely walk out to get splashed by a wave and then time for lunch in the restaurant with a view.

Taman Ayun Royal Family Temple is a beautiful temple surrounded by a river. It is a peaceful walk around and a look inside over the walls. As in most temples there were some local people there doing a ceremony.