Ulun Danu The Lake of Goddes

Ulun Danu Temple is a temple dedicated to the goddess of the lake is Ida Batari Dewi Ulun Danu on the edge of a huge crater. The dominant shrines are Meru’s (top of temple) dedicated to the lake goddess and the gods of Mount Batur and Mount Agung, the largest volcano in Bali.

The temple was built in the 17th century in worship of the main Hindu trinity, Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva, as well as the lake goddess, Dewi Danu. The sight and cool atmosphere of the Bali uplands have made the lake and this temple a favourite sightseeing and recreational spot as well as a frequently photographed site. Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, literally ‘the source temple of Lake Beratan’, is easily the island’s most iconic sanctuary sharing the scenic qualities with the seaside temples of Uluwatu Temple and Tanah Lot Temple. The smooth reflective surface of the lake surrounding most of the temple’s base creates a unique floating impression, while the mountain range of the Bedugul region encircling the lake provides the temple with a scenic backdrop.

Only here can you get holy water of a particular variety. The water is collected from the lake itself, directly in front of the temple. Visitors have to wear a sash and not go near. Bathing is forbidden. The lake is the ultimate source of water for the rivers and springs that irrigate central Bali. It is therefore of the utmost importance. The temple priests say that the lake is fed by springs located at each of the wind directions. Each of the springs is the origin of water for that particular region of central Bali. So, farmers from North Bali collect their holy water from the northern spring of the lake and so on. Ulun Danu Temple lies by the western banks of Lake Bratan in the Bedugul Highlands at a level of 1239m, is one of the most picturesque and most photographed temples in Bali. Ulun Danu is inside the caldera of the now extinct volcano Gunung Catur. It is one of the main sources of irrigation in the Balinese highlands, and so the temple is dedicated to Dewi Danu, the lake goddess.

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