TANAH LOT

From the village of Marga, the trip west returns to the main rout leading to the Tabanan. At the crossroad of Kediri, a side-road branch to the sea, ending on a green hill which slopes down to the beach and to the remarkable temple of Tanah Lot, suspended on a huge rock offshore. Set apart from the land by a stone basin, the rock has been carved by in coming tides. Tanah Lot, with it’ solitary black towers and tuft of foliage spilling over the cliffs, recalls the delicacy of a Chinese painting. If hearsay is to believed, there dwells inside one of the shrines at Tanah Lot huge snake, discreetly left undisturbed by the Balinese.
Although a small sanctuary Tanah Lot is linked to a series of sea temples on the south coast of Bali: Pura Sakenan, Pura Uluwatu, Pura Rambut Siwi, and Pura Petitenget. All these temples are related to the principal mountain sanctuaries: Besakih at Gunung Agung, Pura Batur at Batur and Pura Luhur at Mt. Batukau. The upland temples venerate deities associated with mountains and Mountains Lake, while the sea temples include homage to the guardian spirits of the sea within their ritual. These main temples are often listed with the sad-khayangan the six holy ‘national” temples, which exact tribute from all Balinese.
The chronicles attribute the temple at Tanah Lot to the 16-century priest Nirartha. During his travels along the south coast he saw the rock island’s beautiful setting and rested there. Some fisherman saw him, and bringing gifts, invited him to stay at their hut. Nirartha refused, saying he preferred to spend the night on the little island. That evening he spoke to the fishing folk and advised them the build a shrine on the rock for the left it to be a holy and fitting place to worship God. The villagers kept their promise.
The beaches of the Tanah Lot are ideal for relaxing, especially in the late afternoons, when the temple on the rock dissolves into a striking silhouette against the evening sky.