Saturday, April 12, 2014

Bali Trip 2014 - Day 3 - Tirta Empul Temple

Our next stop is visit to Tirta Empul Temple.

We need to pay our own entrance ticket as our tour package is only for driver and car. The admission ticket is RP15,000 for adult and RP7,500 for child and is free for the locals.

As if was a day after Nyepi Day, the temple was filled with many locals there, praying for a good year ahead with offerings of fruits and food. On other days, the temple is not so crowded.

The statue of God Indra

Please note that visitors to the temple must wear decent clothes to enter and cannot wear shorts. If you are wearing shorts, you need to cover up by wearing their sarong (loan from the counter free of charge) and we need to tie a yellow cloth around our waist when entering the holy grounds.

Very interesting to watch and learn how the locals perform the prayers.

The offerings in the basket consisted mainly of rice, fruits,etc and bottles of spring water collected from the holy pool.

The Balinese people come to this place to bathe in the sacred waters for healing and to cleanse themselves spiritually.

Short video showing how the locals are so patience in waiting for their turn to bath in the holy water.

The water is considered to be the holiest water on the island. The springs are also a source of Pakrisan River, which rushes by Mount Kawi, one km away. The springs bubble up into a large, crystal clear tank within the temple and flow out through the waterspouts into a bathing pool, the water is fresh and cold. You can read more from source.

Dont forget to visit the fish pond, the huge koi is really attractive.

On the hilltop above Tirta Empul sits the palace of Indonesia’s first president, Soekarno, the Istana Negara Palace.

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