Bali is a wonderful Island in Indonesia called the “Island of the 1000 Temples” or the “Island of the Gods”, because of the great number of wonderful Hindu temples there are in the Island. It says that Bali has more temples than homes. Each village of Bali has a lot of temples. Besides, each home in the Island has its own small temple. All Bali temples have a special orientation from the mountains and the sea.
Usually the temples of Bali are ornamented with an impressive and intricate set of carvings, mainly on the gateways. Besides, almost always a couple of magnificent stone statues are always saving the temples.
According to the Balinese tradition, the temples are the point of meeting amongst the humans and the gods. The temples are specially considered during some festival days or in the “odalan” (temple anniversaries). In these dates the temples are decorated to praise the gods. The word in Sanskrit for temple is “Pura”, which means “space surrounded by walls”.
In Bali each thing or activity has its own temple, there are village temples, family temples, rice fields temples, temples for animals, etc. Nevertheless the bigger Hindu temples on Bali are used only in special occasions. Most temples of Bali can be classified into these categories: Pura Puseh (origin temples), which are the most important and are reserved to the founders of villages (Balinese are worshipers of their ancestors). Pura Desa dedicated to protector spirits that guard the villagers. Pura Dalem (dead temple), where is venerate Durga the Shiva’s wife and deity of the dark and destruction. Besides, there are several temples dedicated to the spirits that protect the agriculture, these temples are known as Pura Subak
Related posts:
Tags: carvings, indonesia, temple, traditional party
[...] Bali also known as “Island of the Thousand Temples”. There are around 50 largest temples and only some of them are considered the most important of Bali, amongst them are: [...]
[...] love the beaches as a tourist destination. Not for me, but I can understand, since the tourist beaches provide the ability to relax in a way none, and offer opportunities to share family holidays with [...]