Tanah Lot
A Sea Temple Built On A Rock Offshore, Cut Off By Every High Tide; One Of A Chain Of Temples Along Bali'S South West Coast, Each Sited Within Sight Of The Next · Beraban, Bali
Tanah Lot is a temple built on a rock in the sea, CUT OFF BY EVERY HIGH TIDE and reachable on foot only at low water - and it is probably the most photographed thing in Bali. It belongs to a chain of SEA TEMPLES ALONG THE SOUTH-WEST COAST, each sited within sight of the next, built to guard the island from what comes off the ocean. AT THE BASE OF THE ROCK IS A CAVE HOLDING SEA SNAKES that are said to guard the temple, and a spring where a priest gives a blessing with holy water. TWO THINGS ARE WORTH KNOWING BEFORE YOU GO. NON-HINDUS CANNOT ENTER THE TEMPLE ITSELF - you cross to the base of the rock and no further. And ABOUT A THIRD OF THE ROCK IS ARTIFICIAL, rebuilt in the 1990s with Japanese funding after erosion threatened to take the whole thing into the sea. That is not a deception being covered up - it is the only reason the temple is still standing for anyone at all to photograph it today.
Beraban, Kediri, Tabanan Regency, Bali, Beraban, Bali, Indonesia
OPEN DAILY FROM EARLY MORNING UNTIL AFTER SUNSET, with an entry fee and a separate parking charge; you walk through a LARGE COMMERCIAL ARCADE OF SHOPS to reach the shore, which is unavoidable. THE TIDE GOVERNS EVERYTHING: the causeway to the rock is only passable at LOW TIDE, and at high water you can only look from the clifftop path. CHECK A TIDE TABLE, because a low tide at sunset is the ideal and does not happen every day. NON-HINDUS MAY CROSS TO THE BASE OF THE ROCK BUT NOT ENTER THE TEMPLE. The blessing at the spring is offered to anyone and a donation is expected. SUNSET IS EXTREMELY CROWDED - thousands of people on a small stretch of coast. Ceremonies, particularly the temple's odalan, close sections and take precedence.