Batur Temple Bali

Pura Ulun Danu Batur is a temple on the scenic Cintamani plateau, looking down over the caldera between Mt. Batur and Mt. Agung. Pura Ulun Danu Batur enshrines the goddess Ida Batara Dewi Ulun Danu (Dewi Ulun Danu) who rules the water supply -- she is represented as a Hindu/Buddhist goddess holding an urn from which the waters issue. Batur and Agung trap the moisture rich winds from the west, the land to their east is barren; the waters to the west course down the mountains, so their symbolic importance as the sources that nourish the rice is immense.

Jaya Bangus was a local king in the 11th century. He lived with his wife Dewi Danu and son Mayadenawa. The high-priest Rim and nun Kan Ten Wi came from China to Bali. As the king grew old, a schism appeared between him and his son Mayadenawa, since the latter wanted to convert to Hinayana Buddhism. The old king banished Mayadenawa, who went to the southern part of the island, and built his own castles and estates. The power of Mayadenawa expanded every year, and eventually deprived the territory of Jaya Bangus. (See the video on Tirtha Empul for more.) Dewi Danu died of anxiety. Afterwards, Jaya Bangus married the nun Kan Ten Wi who he had secretly loved. No longer a priests' apprentice but now a queen, Kan wanted a child, but failed to conceive one. She entreated Jaya Bangus to build a temple and Buddha-shrine on the slopes of Mt. Batur so that her pleas for motherhood might be answered.

The temple was originally in on the south slope, and as a result got buried in ash after eruptions (1917, 1926). Eventually the villagers decided to move the shrine from the side of the volcano to an overlook on the Cintamani plateau. A lot of Hindus visit the shrine as a temple to the Hindu Buddha. There is also an associated fertility cult. Ulun Danu roughly means "Top Lake".

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[rocknriggar]

Very powerful symbolic place! Great intro

[TheTorri98]

Beautiful art..