Tirta Empul Temple

Tirta Empul Holy Water Temple is located in Manukaya village, near Tampaksiring town, about 30 minutes by car from Ubud. The temple is located just below the Tampaksiring Presidential Palace. Built in 1957 by Indonesia's first president, Soekarno, the beautifully constructed palace is also an important landmark of the island and the country.

Tirta Empul, which means "holy spring", is actually the name of a water source located in the temple. The stream offers numerous purification baths, pools and fish ponds around the outer perimeter, all of which flow into the Tukad Pakerisan River. Various sites throughout the region and many other archaeological sites relate to local myths and legends.

Tirta Empul temple complex consists of 3 main subdivisions: front yard, side yard and inner courtyard. Visitors to Tirta Empul will find lush gardens and paths decorated with statues and tropical plants leading to the entrance. After entering through the large stone Bali gate (locally called Candi Bentar), visitors will enter the temple's outer courtyard. This area is called “Jaba Pura”. At the end of the courtyard is another Candi Bentar gate built into the wall that leads to the central courtyard. This gate is guarded by elaborately carved giant statues of two Dwarapala (guardians) covered in golden color. On the top of the gate is a Kala carving which is quite different from other Kala carvings as it has protruding fangs and an extended pair of hands.

Entering the courtyard is the “Jaba Tengah”, the main area of the temple. The sacred springs here flow into a large, crystal clear pool inside the temple and flow through 30 wells into two sacred purification pools. Devoted Hindu locals and pilgrims lined up in the pools to wait for a dip under the tap in a purification ritual known as "melukat". Bathers start in the pool on the left side, standing in the waist-deep pool under the first faucet. Once they have cleaned themselves under the first faucet, they will move on to the next faucet. This process continued until they cleaned themselves under each pipe up to the 11th water pipe. Water from the last 2 of the 13 faucets was used only for purification purposes during the funeral rites. to cleanse the dead.

Behind the purification lake is the final section of the Tirta Empul Holy Water Temple, known as Jeroan. This part is often overlooked by tourists, but it is a pleasant place to relax after the hustle and bustle at the filter pools. This is where people come to pray. The front part of the courtyard is dominated by a large spring that feeds the filtration tanks. In spring, the stream is filled with green algae and small fish swim among the reeds. Behind the springs are large Hindu temples. The temples are brightly decorated, contrasting with the starry white clothes of the Balinese who come here to pray.

Address: Jl. Tirta, Manukaya, Tampaksiring, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80552

Opening hours: daily 08:00 - 18:00