My music contract at Bali lasted for several months, and I had a great opportunity to see the most beautiful temples of Bali. One of them is the famous Uluwatu Temple, Bali's maritime Hindu temple.
The temple is unusual because it stands on the edge of a huge rock that looks directly into the sea.
The view from the cliff is very beautiful. You can even see the neighboring island of Java.
The temple is very ancient and was built in the 10th century. It is cut out of black coral. The temple has several levels: there is an inner, outer and middle courtyard.
Until the 20th century, only the royal family was allowed to enter the temple. Since 1985, the entrance is also allowed for tourists, the temple is active and here you can see monks in traditional robes. Only in the temple of Uluwatu the heads of all the gods are turned to the east, because in all other temples the gods look to the west.
You need to climb the steps to the temple, around which there are green bushes.
These bushes are the habitat of local monkeys. The monkeys here are very cunning.
Be sure to hold the bag when you come to the territory of the Uluwatu Temple.
Very often, monkeys take bags out of people’s hands, steal glasses and wallets, and if the monkeys get the bag, it is no longer possible to take it away. You can see here that the monkey took someone's glasses:
Every day, a national performance called Kechak takes place in the Uluwatu Temple.
This is a representation based on the plot of the ancient Indian literary work Ramayana. It takes place in a special amphitheater for 1200 people. Sitting down in the amphitheater is quite dangerous: after all, at the very end of the Kechak performance, a fire show begins.
The performance is very picturesque: a hundred of men in the national Balinese sarong dresses fall into a trance, constantly repeating the same word: ‘’chack’’. They pronounce it long and monotonously. They are in a trance for about an hour.
The second part of the performance is a fire show. Actors in monkey costumes jump over burning coals, and men in sarongs still sing their ‘’chack’’. The actor playing the role of the main monkey throws red-hot coals all over the stage.
If you are at Bali, then you should definitely visit this temple.
Among other things, you can watch a beautiful sunset from the cliff, and the fire show will not leave anyone indifferent.
To be continued.