Monday, May 26, 2008

BESAKIH : The Mother Temple



This temple located on the slopes of mount Agung. It is one of the six “supreme holy” temple in Bali. The other supreme holy are, Lempuyang Luhur temple, Gua Lawah temple, Batukaru temple, Pusering Jagad temple, and Uluwatu temple. The Besakih temple is the holiest among those six temple. Not just because it sits over 3000 feet above the ocean, but because it is more sacred to the Balinese. It is said that Besakih is the only classless, castless temple on the island where any Balinese can come to worship. Balinese believe that their gods visits the temple on a particular dates. Festivals to honors the gods are held during this date. Just like most Balinese temples, Besakih is not closed building but it is mostly as open air building.

Besakih is really a collection of temples, sprawling down the hillside. Temples at Besakih are fit into various groups. For examples 5 temples are included in the panca dewata ( the 5 gods of the 4 directions and the center). The Trimurti are made up of 3 temples, Batu Madeg temple representing Vhisnu, the Preserver, Kiduling Kreteg temple representing Brahma, the creator, and Penataran Agung temple representing Shiva, the destroyer.

The largest temple on the area of Besakih is Penataran Agung . Know as the geat temple of the state. It possese of 7 tiered terraces, and over 50 structures including bales, thrones and shrines. The entrance stairway is lined by 7 levels of carved figures.

The temple’s anniversary, odalan, is an excellent day to visit if you are looking for pageantry. But you should expect a crowd of several thousand people. The ceremony is held in the tenth month of the Balinese calendar, usually in April. To avoid the crowd of several thousand people, early morning and late at night is the best time to visit Besakih.

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