Clear water rising in the sacred spring pool of Tirta Empul

Hindu

Pura Tirta Empul

“A spring rising for a thousand years, the mind washed beneath the water”

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Photo: Chainwit. · CC BY 4.0

Scenes

A stone figure spouting holy waterChainwit. · CC BY 4.0
An intricately carved temple gatewayChainwit. · CC BY 4.0

Meaning

Clear spring water fills the stone pools, and one by one people step beneath the row of spouts, bowing their heads to let the holy water pour over them.

A holy-spring temple held to have been founded in the 10th century, where the water rising from the ground is regarded as sacred; to this day the purification rite known as melukat continues here.

Field notes

Location
Tampaksiring, Bali · Indonesia · S8.4° · E115.3°
Best time
Early morning, when the purification rite begins
Getting there
About a 30-minute drive from Ubud, in Tampaksiring.
Etiquette
To enter the purification pools, wear the appointed sarong and keep to the order and customs.

Sources

  • · Encyclopaedia Britannica: Bali
  • · Wikipedia: Tirta Empul
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