Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Taman Tirtagangga Water Palace
Daily 7am-7pm • Rp10,000 •
tirtagangga.com
Tirtagangga's only real sight,
Taman Tirtagangga Water Palace
was built in 1946 by Anak
Agung Anglurah, the last raja of Karangasem, and is the finest manifestation of his obses-
sion with pools, moats and fountains. Constructed on the site of a holy spring just off the
main road, it's actually a water
garden
rather than a palace, a confection of terraced ponds,
pretty shrubs and water burbling from the mouths of sculpted water buffaloes and nymphs,
the pools flashing orange with very well-fed carp. Two of the upper-level pools are open to
the public for
swimming
(Rp6000, children Rp4000), though it's mostly local kids who use
them.
Pura Lempuyang Luhur
Gunung Lempuyang • Daily 7am-7pm • Donation • The temple car park is 8km from Abang, itself 3.5km north
of Tirtagangga on the Culik road; bemos only cover the 2km from Abang to Ngis Tista, but go all the way dur-
ing festivals
Visible to the northeast from Tirtagangga, less than 12km away,
Gunung Lempuyang
is a
sacred peak and site of
Pura Lempuyang Luhur
, one of the
kayangan jagat
or directional
temples of Bali, giving spiritual protection from the east. The temple gleams white on the
mountain slopes and offers exceptional views. A daunting two-hour climb, up 1700 steps
from the car park, will get you to the principal temple, which is believed to be the dwelling
place of the god Genijaya, but the vistas, including of Gunung Agung perfectly framed in the
temple gateway, make it all worthwhile. The
courtyard
contains a stand of bamboo, and on
festival days the priest makes a cut in the bamboo to release holy water. From the temple, a
ninety-minute climb up another staircase brings you to the
summit
of Gunung Lempuyang
(1058m), where there's another temple.
