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Three Temples

October 2008

People at home may remember October 8 as the day of the lunar eclipse. In Bali, that full moon (which is the subject of a ceremony each month) and its eclipse happened to coincide with an annual holiday, Pagerwesi, during with Balinese people focus on strengthening their minds and souls against the forces of evil and disorder in life. When we heard about that conjunction of events, we knew it would be a perfect time to visit a complex of three temples just outside Pemuteran.

One temple is set at the base of a cliff and is commonly visited by wild monkeys. Across the road, a second temple is built on a rocky outcropping over the shore. It's a beautiful place to watch the sun setting over the ocean and the mountains of Java. At the base of the second temple, on the beach, is a third holy site. It consists of some very old rock formations or statues thought to depict human figures. With the sea at a very low full-moon tide, we were able to get right up to them. (We didn't stay at the temples long enough to see the moon rise or the eclipse, but we got a nice view, though no photos, of that while at dinner back in town.)

A statue outside the monkey temple honors some of the local inhabitants

People coming to pray at the temple first perform a ritual in this outside area, caged to keep the monkeys out

Cat statues guard the entrance to the temple

A decorated pavillion in the temple's outer courtyard

Why you don't want to leave your bags or boxes of offerings where the monkeys can get them

Waiting to enter the gates to the inner temple (they were letting people in in groups to keep the numbers under control)

A monkey on the steps keeps children enthralled

Sarong styles are different here than we've seen elsewhere, and offerings are more likely to be carried in woven boxes rather than in baskets

They can look so innocent

But they can untie almost anything

A Balinese man who loves Alaska (he works on Carnival cruise ships and has been all around North America but likes the weather in Alaska best)

Across the street from the monkey temple is another temple perched on the rocks above the seashore

Great dragons face the sea

At the base of the temple, on the beach, are these old stone pillars that are considered to be ancient holy figures

Boys flee the service in the temple to poke around on the beach

The beach temples are a great place to watch the sun set

The alters here on Bali's northwestern coast show much more Chinese influence than do the temples farther south

Waiting for the twilight service to begin

Part of temple rituals involves a blessing with grains of rice on the forehead

Melissa loves the offering boxes used in this area

As the sun set over volcanoes on the neighboring island of Java, the sky and the sea turned into paintings