Haanism

Tanah Lot is a very famous and not-to-be-missed destination to be visited in Bali with spectacular view of sunset.

We visited the place on our third day in Bali. The driver, Nyoman, who is Putu's friend, picked us from Simpang Inn in the morning, and Tanah Lot was our first destination on the day.

According to our itinerary, we were not able to visit Tanah Lot during the dusk.

Again, please do not ask me what car is this. I really can't answer.

Tanah Lot means "Temple of Land in the Middle of the Sea". The temple is suspended on a huge rock offshore, and sits on a large offshore rock which has been shaped continuously over the years by the ocean tide.


The chronicles attribute the temple at Tanah Lot to the 16th century priest Nirartha, one of the last priests going to Bali from Java:

During Nirartha's travels along the south coast, he saw the rock-island's beautiful setting and rested there. Some fishermen saw him, and bringing gifts, invited him to stay at their hut. Nirartha refused, saying he preferred to spend the night on the little island.

That evening, he spoke to the fishing folk and advised them to build a shrine on the rock, for he felt it to be a holy and fitting place to worship God. The villagers kept their promise.

The Tanah Lot temple was built and has been a part of Balinese mythology for centuries. The temple is one of seven sea temples around the Balinese coast. Each of the sea temples were established within eyesight of the next to form a chain along the south-western coast.

The temple is built on the rock with 3 acre size and reachable in a few minute by walk...

... because it is just 20 meters from the coastal lip.

Tanah Lot is dedicated to the guardian spirits of the sea.

The temple itself is said to be guarded from evil by the sea snakes that inhabit the caves below.

When the tide is low, people can walk to the temple. It looks like a floating one if the tide is high.

I was curious seeing people queuing up at one side... what are they doing?

Oh, they were queuing up for the holy spring water.

They would be given a flower after they become "holy". I didn't go for it.

The function of this temple can be realized from the function of the main temple building which is located in the temple main area. There is a main temple to worship the god in the form of Dewa Baruna or Bhatara Segara, the sea power.

In 1980, the temple’s rock face started to crumble and the area around and inside the temple started to become dangerous. The Japanese government provided a loan of Rp. 800 billion to the Indonesia government to conserve the historic temple and other beach locations around the island of Bali.

As a result, over 1/3 of the rocks are artificial rocks created under the Japanese upgrade work.