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Batur Temple
Batur temple or commonly called Ulun
Danu Temple is situated at 900 meters
above sea level of Kalanganyar, Batur
village, Kintamani District on the eastern
side of the main road leading to Denpasar
or Singaraja Via Bangli.
The temple faced west
ward where mount Batur and remains of
its solidified black laves serve as
backdrop and lake Batur stretches far
down the slope, enchased the beauty
to nature around the temple.
Formerly,
before it is in its present location
Batur temple is located on the south
western slope of mount Batur.
Since the devastating eruption in 1917
which destroyed everything, including
the temple its self, then initiated
by the head of the village along with
other prominent figures, they brought
the surviving shrines with them and
rebuilt Batur temple to the higher place
at Kalanganyar on its present location.
The ceremony in this temple is held
annually commonly called Ngusaba ke
Dasa
In
1927,the people of Batur began rebuilding
Pura Ulun Danu, the temple which once
lay at the foot of the volcano. It was
an ambitious project. The majority of
the 285 planned shrines are yet to be
completed. At present, the temple is
finely and simply designed. Two august
gateways, severe in
contrast to the elaborate split gates
of South Bali, open onto spacious courtyards
laid with black gravel.
Rows
of meru towers silhouette against
the sky in full view of the smoking
volcano. The bale gedong, a storehouse
of precious relics, contains a bell
of solid gold. As the story goes, the
bell was presented to the treasury of
the temple by a king of Singaraja
in atonement for his having insulted
the deities. The ritual in this temple
is closely linked with the veneration
of Lake Batur and supplication for the
blessing of irrigation water. The mountain,
lakes help regulate the flow of
water to he fields find villages through
the many natural springs lower down
the slopes.
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