Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CEREMONIES AT BESAKIH
Every temple in Besakih has its timetable of
ceremonies
; see
tour-
ism.karangasemkab.go.id
for exact dates. The most important annual ceremony is the
Bhatar Turun Kabeh (The Gods Descend Together), which takes place in March or April
and lasts a month, with the high point on the full moon of the tenth lunar month. At this
time, the gods of all the shrines are believed to come and dwell in Besakih, drawing wor-
shippers from all over the island. Besakih's biggest ceremony is
Eka Dasa Rudra
, held
every hundred years. The Panca Wali Krama occurs every ten years and involves a 42km-
long, three-day procession from the coast to the temple.
Brief history
It's likely that Besakih was a religious site long before the start of recorded history. Pura Batu
Madeg (Temple of the Standing Stone), in the north of the complex, suggests megalithic con-
nections through its ancient terraced structure based around a central stone. However, Be-
sakih's founder is generally believed to be
Sri Markandeya
, a priest who came from east-
ern Java at the end of the eighth century. An important ceremony occurred in 1007, widely
thought to be the cremation rites of
Queen Mahendratta
, origin of the
Rangda
legend.
Already an important temple by the time of the
Majapahit
conquest of Bali in 1343, Besa-
kih then became the
state temple
of the powerful Gelgel and Semarapura courts. An
earth-
quake
damaged the buildings in 1917 and
renovations
were needed after the 1963 eruption
of Gunung Agung. As a result, the temples are a mix of old and new, and restoration work is
always ongoing.
