Meru towers (pelinggih) of the inner sanctum of the Ulun Danu Batur temple. Bali, Indonesia.
Wikipedia: Pura Ulun Danu Batur (also known as "Pura Batur" or "Pura Ulun Danu") is a Hindu Balinese temple located in the island of Bali, Indonesia. As one of the Pura Kahyangan Jagat, Pura Ulun Danu Batur is one of the most important temples in Bali which acted as the maintainer of harmony and stability of the entire island. Pura Ulun Danu Batur represents the direction of North and is dedicated to the god Vishnu and the local goddess Dewi Danu, goddess of Lake Batur, the largest lake in Bali. Following the destruction of the original temple compound, the temple was relocated and rebuilt in 1926. The temple, along with 3 other sites in Bali, form the Cultural Landscape of Bali Province which was inscribed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2012. Pura Batur or Pura Ulun Danu was first established in the 17th-century. The temple was dedicated to the god Vishnu and to the goddess of the lake Dewi Danu. The Lake Batur, the largest lake in Bali, is considered to be of utmost importance in the island of Bali as the primary water source for the agricultural activities in Bali. The word Pura means "temple", while the two words ulun ("head" or "source") and danu ("lake", referring to Lake Batur) is translated as "lake source"; and so the temple name literally means "Lake Source Temple". The word batur, after the village of Batur where the temple is located, means "pure" or "spiritually clean". The definition of Pura Ulun Danu illustrates the significance of the water for the prosperity of the villagers of Batur and for the entire Bali's Hindu community, especially in watering the island's rice paddy fields. Pura Ulun Danu Batur was mentioned several times in several ancient lontars as one of the sad kahyangan, the six group of universal Pura. Before the eruption of Mount Batur in 1917, Pura Batur and the original village (then known as Karang Anyar, meaning "New Area") were located at the southwest base of Mount Batur itself. The lava flow of the 1917 eruption cau
Size: 6000px × 4000px
Location: Kintamani, Pura Ulun Danu Batur , Bali, Indonesia
Photo credit: © Bert de Ruiter / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: architecture, backlight, bali, balinese, batur, bert, cultural, danu, de, dewi, god, goddess, hindu, hinduism, horizontal, indonesia, indonesian, kintamani, lake, landscape, meru, pura, religion, religious, ruiter, sanctum, structure, temple, towers, travel, ulun, vishnu
