Wonderful Indonesia: Into the world of amazing Ubud temples
Our last leg of Indonesia tour was in the delightful destination of Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali. Best-known as the Island of Gods, Bali has some 1,600 Hindu temples some of which are highly popular among tourists. At a distance of about 25 km from Denpasar lies Ubud and we devoted the full day visiting the ancient Hindu shrines of Ubud flaunting splendid Balinese architecture. Our initial stopover was at the grand Desa temple in the hamlet of Batuan, barely at a distance of 11 km from Denpasar.
Desa Temple
Here it was time for history hopping and we came to know that the temple, honouring Brahma and Vishnu was built in 15th century by King Udayana. We went to the inner courtyard, the most sacred place in the temple while the outer courtyard is quite spacious. This incidentally is the only temple where tourists can enter inside. One can get to play Gamlan-the Balinese orchestra. It took sometime for us to gape at the marvellous, classic Balinese architecture of the temple. We then travelled to Ubud and took the long river Campuhan Ridge walk. In Balinese, Campuhan conveys the confluence of two rivers and is considered as a holy place for centuries. The holy waters of river Campuhan is used for all rituals. We could get scenic mountain views from river Campuhan.
Campuhan river
Close to river Campuhan is the widely known Saraswati temple lying amid a huge, scenic lotus pond in the hub of Ubud. Built in 1955 by I Gusti Nyoman Lempad and commissioned by the Prince of Ubud, the temple is in the honour of the goddess of learning and art.
Saraswati Temple
From the Saraswati temple, our next exploration sight was the Royal Ubud Palace, the landmark of Ubud and one-of-its kind. The palace came up sometime between 1800-1823 and is well-maintained by the descendants of the royal family of Ubud.
Royal Ubud Palace
Our ultimate sightseeing stoppage was Taman Ayun Royal temple in the Balinese hamlet of Mengwi about 18 km from Denpasar. The history of the temple bears close association with the kingdom of Mengwi dating back to 1627 BC. It was during the reign of the first king of Mengwi- I Gusti Agung Ngurah Made Agung, the temple sprawling across 4 hectares of land was built in 1634 AD with a view to ensure that the kingdom and its people would be able to share the prosperity and perils of the nation and to protect the rice fields from the pests. The entrance of the temple has a large pond. The temple was hit by a massive earthquake in 1917 and was partially damaged but was later restored.
Entrance of Taman Ayun Royal Temple
The temple is devoted to the royal ancestors of Mengwi. Like all Balinese temples, Taman Ayun Royal temple has three divisions- the innermost sanctum (Utama Mandala), the middle yard (Madia Mandala) and the outer yard (Nista Mandala).
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