The Rock that Moved to the Sea!

It all began in the early 16th century when the once mighty Majapahit empire in Indonesia was crumbling due to internal power struggles as well as the invasion by the Sultan of Demak. The Javanese Hindus fleeing from the invading armies scattered all over the Indonesian archipelago.

One of them, a revered sage Dang Hyang Nirartha or Dang Hyang DwiJendra came to the island of Bali and became the counselor to the King of Gelgel province - King Dalem Waturenggong. He was instrumental in the reformulation and entrenchment of Hindu religion in Bali as well as the founding of many temples which still stand today.

He created the three temple system - Brahma in the south, Shiva in the center and Vishnu in the north - still found in many villages. He is also credited with the dominant style of architecture (called the Padmasana architecture) that you will find in most temples of Bali. The central feature of which is an empty throne (the Padmasana) in place of the alter.

This much is history. But not surprisingly, his story is largely shrouded in myths and legends. It is said that he traveled to Bali in a pumpkin! Therefore eating of pumpkins is taboo in many families in Bali. It is said that when he came to Bali, Bali was in the grip of killer plagues. He gave his hair to the king using which the king was able to end all the plagues. It is said he sensed divine rays coming from the southern coast of Bali and when he went in search of them, it angered the local chieftain in the village of Beraban who was a follower of a monotheistic religion. But when the chieftain went to drive Dwijendra out as he sat meditating on a rock, the rock moved out to the sea, convincing the chieftain of Dwijendra's holiness.

But legends apart, Dwijendra's visit to the village of Beraban resulted in the creation of two spectacular temples on the south-western coast of Bali - Tannah Lot (the rock that moved out into the sea) and Batu Bolong.

The locations of both temples are simply breathtaking, especially Batu Bolong. Tannah Lot in fact is one the seven "Sea" temples established by Dwijendra along the coast of Bali. Tannah Lot is dedicated to Dewa Baruna (Varun in the Hiindu pantheon?) - the lord of the seas. Batu Bolong contains shrines dedicated to Lakshaman, Ram, Vali and Sugreev - clearly inspired the epic - Ramayana.

The layout and style of Tannah Lot follows the time-honored, traditional architecture reflecting the spiritual/philosophical thought at the center of Balinese Hindu beliefs. Firstly, most Balinese temples (unlike temples elsewhere like Cambodia or Thailand or even India) are not ONE huge, imposing building which houses the shrines. Balinese temples are designed mostly as open air places of worship. Most spaces inside the temple walls are courtyards open to the sky, dotted by smaller covered shrines which may contain specific deities. These smaller shrines have roofs but many will have no walls.

Even the "arches" which usually dominate the entry/exit paths are not really arches - they are more like an arch with the top part missing.

The spatial division of the area inside the temple walls follows the Tri-Mandala principle - Nista mandala: The outer/lower courtyard which is not as sacred as the rest of the area and usually will be a gathering place but where sacred rituals will not be performed, Madya Mandala: The Central courtyard, and Utama Mandala: Inner or the most holy/sacred part of the temple, entry here may be restricted to only those who wish perform specific rituals.

Where there are roofs - they all are designed in a unique style. They are usually thatched, and shaped like a 4 cornered pyramid and can be multi-layered making a tall tower. These are supposed to represent Mount Meru - the mythical mountain at the center of the universe in Hindu, Buddhist or Jain beliefs.

The Tannah Lot (and Batu Bolong as well) temple too is built adhering to these principles but with liberties taken necessitated by the limited and constrained space available on the rocks on which they have been built. It is believed that across from the temple are caves which are home to a particular species of black and white striped poisonous Sea Snakes which are the guardians of this temple. People claim to have seen these snakes in the vicinity (I did not see any when I was there!) so the first part of the sentence above may actually be true! Tannah Lot and also Batu Bolong both are practically in the middle of the sea (at rare times when the tides are at the their highest, the rocky path that connects Tannah Lot to the land gets fully submerged turning it into an inaccessible island for a short time).

And yet within both there is a fresh water spring - miracle of nature (and when you see the photos especially of Batu Bolong, you will appreciate just how much of a miracle). Naturally that is considered holy water!!! I did see this in the Tannah Lot temple but not in Batu Bolong because by the time we crossed the narrow causeway (see the photo) the sun had started setting and I wanted to get some sun-set photos of this spectacular place before it became too dark. So we turned back hurriedly to a better vantage point

All the photos are from my trip in August 2014!