Tanah Lot Temple

To many people, Tanah Lot epitomizes the romantic island of Bali. Tanah Lot means Land in The Sea, a perfectly fit name for its unique offshore settings. The silhouette of Pura Tanah Lot is one of the most popular iconic features of Bali. Imagine the image of a Balinese temple (pura) perched high on the rock, facing the wide open ocean. With the crashing waves below and the dramatic colors of the dusk sky as background, lit by the slowly disappearing sun.

Tanah Lot is located in Tabanan, only around 30 km away from Denpasar. The temple is located some 300 meters offshore. The history of Tanah Lot temple was believed to date back to the 16th century, by Dang Hyang Nirartha, a respected religious figure in Bali.

Dang Hyang Nirartha was said to be the one who created a three-temple system in Balinese villages. Setting the site plan that the temple built in the northern area of the village would be for Brahma, middle area for Vishnu and the southern side for Shiva. While traveling along the southern coast of Bali, he saw the little rock-island and decided to spend the night.

The rock was known as Gili Beo, which means a bird-shaped rock, located in Beraban village. He then felt an enlightenment, that this was a holy place to build a shrine. The leader of Beraban was angry and order people to banish Nirartha from Gili Beo.

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In Balinese mythology, Dang Hyang Nirartha was known as a man of mighty supernatural power. So he moves the whole rock island to the sea, builds a temple and named it Tanah Lot. The whole Beraban village were astounded and later join to follow he believes. Tanah Lot temple was built to worship Bhatara Segara, or the sea God. To protect the temple, with his mighty power, he created a poisonous snake from his sash. The sea snake is believed to be living at the base of this rocky island, to guard the temple from evil intruders.

How To Get There :

Tanah Lot is located around 30 km away from Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar. Coming from Denpasar on the main highway and arriving in the town of Kediri, you will certainly not miss the large sign at the main intersection announcing the southwest turn to Pura Tanah Lot. To reach the temple of Tanah Lot you will need to cross some dry land then climb a hill to reach the site of the temple.

Inside the temple area, you can just walk around and explore its photogenic surroundings. Although famous for its sunset view, you may also want to try coming at really early in the morning, so that there will be less crowd and higher chance to have a serene image of the temple. There are also several temples that you can visit around Tanah Lot. They are Pura Pekendungan, Pura Batu Bolong, Pura Jero Kandang, Pura Enjung Galuh, and Pura Batu Mejan.

These temples have a variety of legends and myths surrounding their historical roots. When Nirartha left Beraban village, he bestows a special keris -a blade like a traditional weapon- to the Beraban leaders. The Ki Batu Gajah keris was said to possess the ability to repel plant diseases from crops. This keris was kept in Pura Pekendungan, before it is now safely stored in Puri Kediri. But on Odalan day, Ki Batu Gajah keris is always involved in the ceremonies.