Ulun Danu Beratan

A Water Temple On Lake Bratan Dedicated To Dewi Danu, Goddess Of The Lakes; Its Tiered Meru Appears On The Fifty Thousand Rupiah Note · Bedugul, Bali

Ulun Danu Beratan is the temple ON THE FIFTY THOUSAND RUPIAH NOTE - a tiered thatched MERU standing on a small island in LAKE BRATAN at twelve hundred metres, with the crater rim behind it and mist coming off the water most mornings. It was founded in 1633 and is DEDICATED TO DEWI DANU, THE GODDESS OF THE LAKES, which is not decorative: Bratan is one of the lakes that feeds the SUBAK irrigation system, and the priests here sit within the same water-temple network that governs who gets water and when across half of Bali. ONE THING CATCHES PEOPLE OUT. THE TEMPLE ONLY APPEARS TO FLOAT WHEN THE LAKE IS HIGH. In dry years the water drops and the meru stands on visibly dry ground, which is the same temple and a completely different photograph. It is COOL UP HERE - strawberries grow at Bedugul, which tells you most of what you need to know about the climate, and why visitors who drive up from Seminyak in beachwear stand shivering by the lakeshore within ten minutes of arriving.

Candikuning, Baturiti, Tabanan Regency, Bali, Bedugul, Bali, Indonesia

OPEN DAILY FROM EARLY MORNING with an entry fee; the complex is laid out as GARDENS AROUND THE LAKESHORE rather than as a single temple, and much of it is open lawn with the meru seen across the water. A SARONG IS EXPECTED at the temple areas. NON-HINDUS DO NOT ENTER THE SHRINE ISLANDS THEMSELVES - the view across the water is the visit, which is also the photograph. MORNINGS ARE CLEAR AND MIST-COVERED; CLOUD AND RAIN ARE ROUTINE FROM MID-MORNING at this altitude, so an early start matters more here than almost anywhere in Bali. LARGE DOMESTIC TOUR GROUPS arrive from about nine. Boats and swan pedalos operate on the lake. The Bali Botanic Garden, the Handara gate and the twin lakes of Buyan and Tamblingan are all within twenty minutes.

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