Contexts - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 463

The temples
The focus of every community's spiritual activity is the temple , or pura , a temporary abode
for the gods that's open and unroofed to invite easy access between heaven and earth.
To outsiders, Balinese temples can seem confusing, even unimpressive: open-roofed com-
pounds scattered with shrines and altars, built mainly of limestone and red brick, and with no
paintings or treasures to focus on. But there are at least twenty thousand temples on the island
and many do reward closer examination. Every structure within a temple complex is charged
with great symbolic significance, often with entertaining legends attached, and many of the
walls and gateways are carved with an ebullience of mythical figures, demonic spirits and
even secular scenes. Note that when visiting a temple , you must be appropriately dressed
(see Religious etiquette ), even if there's no one else in the vicinity.
Every banjar , or neighbourhood, in Bali is obliged to build at least three temples. At the
top of the village - the kaja , or holiest end - stands the pura puseh , the temple of origin,
dedicated to the community's founders. For everyday spiritual activities, villagers worship at
the pura desa , the village temple, which always stands at the heart of the village. (In some
communities, the pura puseh and the pura desa are combined within a single compound.)
The trio is completed by the pura dalem , or temple of the dead, at the kelod (unclean) end of
the village, which is usually dedicated either to Siwa or to the widow-witch Rangda.
Bali also has nine directional temples, or kayangan jagat , which protect the entire island
and all its people. They're located at strategic points across Bali, especially on high mountain
slopes, rugged cliff faces and lakeside shores: Pura Ulun Danu Batur is on the shores of
Danau Batur (north); Pura Pasar Agung on Gunung Agung (northeast); Pura Lempuyang
Luhur on Gunung Lempuyang (east); Goa Lawah near Candidasa (southeast); Pura Masceti
near Lebih (south); Pura Luhur Uluwatu on the Bukit (southwest); Pura Luhur Batukaru on
Gunung Batukaru (west); Pura Ulun Danu Bratan on the shores of Danau Bratan (northwest);
and Besakih on Gunung Agung (centre). The most important of these is Besakih - the moth-
er temple - as it occupies the crucial position on Bali's holiest and highest mountain, Gunung
Agung; the others are all of equal status, and islanders are expected to attend the anniversary
celebrations ( odalan ) of the one situated closest to their home.
Temple layout
Whatever the size, status or particular function of a temple, it follows a prescribed layout. All
Balinese temples are oriented kaja-kelod , and are designed around two or three courtyards,
each section divided from the next by a low wall punctuated by a huge, and usually ornate,
“split” gateway, the candi bentar .
In many temples, particularly in north Bali, the outer courtyard ( jaba ) and middle court-
yard ( jaba tengah ) are merged into one. These courtyards represent the transition zone
between the human and the divine worlds, containing thatched pavilions or bale (pronounced