Besakih: Bali's Mother Temple                                             Back
 
Besakih: The Mother Temple with a cloud Mt. Batur: notice the Smoke & old lava  
 covered Mt Agung in the background  flow from the 1962 eruption.
 
   I had decided the day before that I needed a break from the business side of my trip. I'd had enough bartering to last quite awhile, (Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the haggling over prices, quality, time, etc.) but after 10 or so days of this I needed a day off.
   I/we decided to take a day and drive up to Mt. Agung so I could see Besakih. I'd heard about the Mother Temple not only from Guild books but also from tourist I'd met. Every one I had talked to about this "Must see place" had nothing but praises for this ancient wonder.
   Besakih sits high on the southwestern slopes of the Volcano Gunung Agung. Besakih is a temple complex made up of 22 Temples spread over more then a half mile & dates back to the 14th century. The Balinese come to Besakih in droves: for temple ceremonies, to get holy water for their own temples, to bring the ashes of cremated loved ones to be purified before burial in the family temple compound and as Nyoman was doing to bring a tourist or group of tourists to visit his/their most holy place.
    The day started out great, Nyoman picked me up at the Puri Rika (My homestay) at about 9:00 a.m., the sun was already fairly high and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The drive took us through some of the most spectacular vistas I'd ever seen. The terraced rice fields climbing down the mountains are a sight to see, deep gorges with rivers running through them, bamboo forests, and all the time the volcanoes in the background.
   We stopped at a little "Farmer's market" to get some fruit for breakfast, all I had so far was coffee (I can't do anything without my coffee in the morning.) and while there I saw a some kids with bananas on their heads and decided it would make a cute photograph but before they would let me take any photo's they made me buy some of their fruit. I also had
 to answer quite a few questions:            

      You Buy Bananas?   

      Where you from?      

       How far Amerika?    

       You ever been N. Y.?   

       You stay Bali long?   

        O.K. Now take    Picture.
"Where you from? You stay Bali long?
How far to America? You ever see 
snow? You been New York?" 
Luckily, (I flew out of New York.) we 
had gone up early and spent the day 
before I left showing Tiffany & 
Melanie the city, during that visit we 
took the girls to the top of the Empire 
State Building where I took almost a
roll of film, which I had processed
upon reaching Bali and I had the photo's with me. Photo's of the States are great ice breakers. I showed them the photo's and they couldn't believe how high we were or the size of the city. Anyway I ate bananas almost all day.
   We left the little market and continued climbing into the clouds, which now partially covered the mountain peaks. Our next stop was at a temple over looking a village in the valley under Mt. Batur. (5,665 feet) This volcano is still smoking from a fissure on the south side. The last major eruption of Mt. Batur was in 1963 when it consumed the original village of Batur. The temple seemed old but still had the grandeur that almost all of the temples of Bali have. 
  The main problem with this area is the hawker's who seem to sprout out of the ground, I did get some real bargains on Ikat & wooden chess sets but it took some hard bargaining and you had better know something about the products they are selling.
   After spending sometime looking around we headed on to Besakih, stopping at a really nice place to eat the  Lakeview Restarant was about three or four miles from our destination. On the way in we ran into an old man playing the Tingklik (A form of Bamboo Xylophone) We got to talking and he told me that during the 2nd World War he was with the resistance and they had hid in tunnels in the jungles and fought the Japanese. The Japanese took many prisoners of war from Indonesia and other Asians countries to help with construction for the war effort. (Including the famous Bridge over the River Kwai in Thailand, The Burma Road in what  is now Myanmar & many other Roads, Rail lines, etc.) He was a great old fellow who had worked all his life and was still at it. He took time trying to teaching me to play the Tinghkik to no avail.  Then as we were going to our table on a patio from where we could see both Mt.Batur and Gunung Agung, he started pointing 
at my hand, in which I held my camera.  After having my palm read I  tipped this great old guy Rp20,000 about U.S. $2.00. He was thrilled.
    Thinking he wanted to see the camera 
or was offering to take a photo of me & 
Nyoman together I offered him my 
camera, he waved me off, still pointing
at my hand. He wanted to read my palm.
   He said I had a long life line and a
good strong heart line, was very healthy and had a good love life. I have no knowledge of  palmistry but I do know that I have type 2 diabetes, I'm on heart medication, and lost the love of my life years before to another guy. Oh, well! he tried. 
   When I went back a year later I was saddened to hear from the owner of the restaurant that he had died,
   After a fantastic meal, (Almost all my meals while I was in Bali were superb.) we continued on to Besakih. When we reached the Temple grounds we walked through a beehive of venders selling everything from soft drinks to wild songbirds. "T" shirts to postcards. You may have noticed by now that everywhere on Bali, where a crowd gathers there will be venders.  
   We finally made it to the stairs and started up to the first compound. "You come see Besakih, It Mother Temple, very old. You come me, I show you lotus throne, it for Brahma, Siwa and Wisnu (The Hindu Gods.) I official guide." He wasn't & I knew it even before Nyoman pulled me aside.  "He not guide, Besakih no have guide, he just want tip but he know Besakih, you maybe give him Rp.10,000" (U.S. 85c) So I agreed and Made turned out to be very knowledgeable about the history of Besakih and the Hindu Religion.
   We went into the first compound & I received my first blessing from a Hindu Priest. He placed wet rice on my forehead and sprinkled me with holy water while I held flower petals between my fingers in a prayer motion and bowed my head.
   Afterwards we explored the area and headed back to Ubud. Nyoman wanted to make it home in time for dinner so I just let him drop me off at the Pura Rika & after showering & a dip in the pool, walked into Ubud for dinner. Later that night I met a young couple from Great Britain but that's another story.
Visit Besakih Here