| The
famous sea side temple. Tanah means earth. and Lot (lod)
means south or sea. Thus something like "temple
of the earth in the sea". Like so many other temple
in Bali, Tanah Lot is connected with the famous Brahman
Priest, Danghyang Nirarta, who wandered from Java to
Bali inthe 16th century. On one of his journeys he decided
to sleep in this beautiful spot and than afterwards
the Balinese to erect a temple here. This is one of
the six most holy temples for all of Bali. Many Balinese
love to sit on the beach overlooking the temple in the
late afternoon, watching the tides change and enjoying
the silhouettes of the temple mere against the brilliant
setting sun.
Carved out of the landscape by tides wind and rain,
the huge offshore sentinel rock of Tanah Lot is the
site of a picturesque sea temple. There is a bridge
connecting the mainland and below the Water line there
are reputed to be large caves, the guardians of the
temple.
The temple as a whole is dedicated to the god of the
sea. Fishermen pray to get fish and prosperity. A story
mentions that one of the shrine at Batukaru temple was
lost, and was found here standing at Tanah Lot temple
complex. It was very probable that the temple was built
by Mengwi kingdom as the sea temple. A kingdom in Bali
normally had 3 main temples, one located near the sea,
one in the city or near the palace, and one on the mountain
or near the mountain. This concept of 3 temples has
also influenced the smaller unit of Balinese settlement
in the level called " Banjar ". Every Banjar
in Bali has also 3 main temples dedicated to different
way of worshipping the gods and ancestor's spirits.
Now only 3 villages that responsible for the temple
those are all nearby villages of Braban, Kelating, and
Tibu Biyu, and still as the temple for Mengwi palace.
The ceremony is performed every 6 month, based on Hindu-Java
calendar which is already printed out during November
every year.
For tourists, it is not only the traditional magic of
the temple is interested, but the location in the natural
setting, especially during the sunset, the temple changes
into silhouette against the sunsets above Indonesian
ocean. |
