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Bali’s oldest, largest, most impressive and austere temple complex sits one-third the way up the slopes of Gunung Agung. Besakih, actually consisting of three temple compounds, is the Mother Temple of Bali and the most important of the island’s Sad Kahyangan religious shrines. It’s Bali’s supreme holy place, the essence of all Bali’s 20,000 temples, a symbol of religious unity, and the only temple that serves all Balinese. Even though it’s touristy, it’s still spectacular-good energy!
History
Besakih was built on a terraced site where prehistoric rites, ceremonies, and feasts once took place. Perhaps it was here where the spirit of the great, angry mountain, which loomed menacingly above the island, received pagan sacrifices. Certain timeworn megaliths in some of the bale are reminiscent of old Indo-Polynesian structures.
Hindu theologians claim the temple was founded by the 8th century missionary Danghyang Markandeye, a priest credited with introducing the tradition of daily offerings (bebali) and the concept of a single god. His son, Empu Sang Kulputih, was the temple’s first high priest.
The first record of the temple’s existence is a chronogram dated AD 1007, possibly describing the death ritual for King Udayana’s queen, Mahendradatta. This inscription also reveals that Besakih was used as a Buddhist sanctuary. ‘Lontar’ books dating from the Majapahit Kingdom indicate Besakih’s significance during the 14th century, and several 15th-century wood tablets refer to state support of Besakih, confirming its preeminence.
Besakih’s central Pura Penataran Agung, the largest on the island, functioned as a funeral temple for the Gelgel dynasty’s deified kings and as the central state temple for the entire island. Gelgel rulers are today enshrined in their own temple here, the Padharman Dalem. For centuries worship at Besakih was the exclusive privilege of rajas, not commoners, and the difficult trek here in former times reinforced the ardor of the devotional act.
The great 1917 earthquake destroyed the temple complex, but it was subsequently restored by the Dutch to its original form (only two structures survived this quake). Besakih was again heavily damaged on 17 March 1963 by a Gunung Agung eruption. The complex has since been extensively restored and now encompasses a mix of old and new buildings. Because it is a state shrine, the provincial and national governments pay for its upkeep.
Layout and Design
Besakih is a very complex architectural structure venerating the holy Hindu trinity. Via a series of long stairways, the temple group ascends parallel ridges toward Gunung Agung, the honored birthplace of Bali’s deities, tantamount to heaven. The temple is continually enlarged as municipalities, regencies, and wealthy honored Brahman families add more shrines. In fact, each caste and kin group, as well as various sects, artisan guilds, and aristocratic families, maintains its own temple inside the complex.
About 22 separate sanctuaries contain a befuddling array of over 60 temples and 200 distinct structures (a map is posted at the top of the road leading from the parking lot). Given the Balinese passion for covering surfaces with carving or paint, it’s remarkable most of Besakih’s sanctuaries are constructed simply of wood.
The sun god (Bhatara Surya), the god of the sea (Ratu Waruna), and every major figure in the Balinese pantheon is represented here. Each of the island’s nine regencies also maintains its own temple within this complex. Curiously, the small, relatively inconsequential ‘rajadoms’ like Blahbatuh and Sukawati are assigned proportionally large sections, while major regencies like Badung and Gianyar are meagerly represented. The historical importance of the Gelgel kingdom is evident, however, by its assignment to the innermost, central courtyard.
Beyond a great unadorned split gate, a broad terrace leads to a ‘gapura’, which opens onto 50 black, slender, pagoda-like ‘meru’ temples. The more roofs, the higher-ranking the god or deified ancestor to whom the ‘meru’ is dedicated. Long flights of stone steps lead to the main central temple, Pura Penataran Agung, which consists of six rising terraces built on a slope, all connected by gateways. In the third inner court of the central temple is the ’sanggar agung’, a beautifully decorated 17th-century triple lotus stone throne representing the divine triad. This is the ritual center of Besakih. Through the clear, fresh air of the topmost terrace, over 900 meters above sea level, is an unsurpassed view over spectacular rice terraces. Behind, thick white clouds hover over Gunung Agung.
Besakih’s three main temples, which stretch for over a kilometer, are Pura Penataran Agung (in the symbolic center), dedicated to the paramount god Shiva, or Sanghyang Widhi Wasa; Pura Kiduling Kreteg, honoring Brahma; and Pura Batu Medog, dedicated to Vishnu. The longitudinal axis of this complex points directly ‘kaja’, toward Gunung Agung’s peak to the northeast.
Farther up the mountain is another compound, Pura Gelap, the “Thunderbolt Temple.” Highest, in the pine forests of Agung’s southwest slope, is austere Pura Pengabengan.
Ceremonies and Events
Because so many gods, regencies, and old Bali clans are represented here, there’s always something going on. About 70 rituals are held regularly at Besakih’s different shrines, with banners representing each god hung on or near the temple and long lines of women walking up the terraces, their heads piled high with offerings.
A visit to the sanctuaries of Besakih is a special pilgrimage each Balinese must undertake periodically. They return with holy water for use in ceremonies back home. A visit to Besakih is also required to properly consecrate the soul of a dead relative as a family god in the house temple.
Each of Besakih’s temples has its own ‘odalan’, and on the full moon of the 10th lunar month, vast crowds pack the entire compound to celebrate the visit of the gods (turun kabeh); this rite also commemorates Besakih’s founding. During Galungan, enormous throngs of pilgrims turn Besakih into a hive of activity. An important island-wide Water Opening ceremony also occurs here, long-nailed priests dramatically gesticulating, sprinkling holy water, and ringing tinkling bells.
The most majestic event is held only once every 100 years, the spectacular Eka Desa Rudra, a purification ceremony in which harmony and balance in people and nature are restored in all 11 directions. The rite last occurred in March 1963, some 16 years before the proper date, apparently because Sukarno wished to impress a convention of travel agents. Midway through the opulent ceremony, Gunung Agung began to shower the whole area with ash and smoke, finally exploding in its most violent eruption in 600 years. Earthquakes toppled temples, hot ash ignited thatched roofs, volcanic debris rained upon the earth. As the molten lava moved toward them, Hindu priests prayed frantically, hoping to appease the angry gods, assuring worshippers they had nothing to fear. In the end, 1,600 Balinese were killed and 86,000 left homeless.
The Balinese don’t take such extraordinary coincidences lightly; the catastrophe was attributed to the wrath of the god Shiva in his most evil aspect as Rudra. It ultimately became a damning judgment on the entire Sukarno era. Miraculously, the flaming lava flowed around Besakih, sparing most of the temple, though shrouding it with black ash for month.
The ceremony was held again in 1979, this time on a Saka year and with all the proper officiations. The sacrifice of an elephant, a tiger, an eagle, and 77 other animals seemed to do the trick-Eka Desa Rudra was completed without incident, and Besakih reestablished its place as the principal Hindu sanctuary in Indonesia.
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