THE GATES OF HEAVEN

Mt. Agung is the highest point in Bali while Pura Lempuyang is one of Bali's six holiest places of prayer.

Balinese Hindus consider Mt. Agung as a representation of Mt. Meru, the spiritual central axis of the universe of three beliefs, and is therefore the equivalent of heaven. 

Pura Lempuyang's candi bentar or split gateway is actually the entrance to the middle zone of the temple that leads to the most sacred and holiest zone which directly faces Mt. Agung.

From the viewpoint of the holiest of holies, the candi bentar appears to be a portal to Mt. Agung and tourists who were mesmerized by this amazing panorama eventually referred to it as the Gate of Heaven.

We were Number 122 in the photo queue that took a 3-hour early morning trip from Seminyak and another 3-hour wait but we nailed the Gate of Heaven although she who really wanted it was not with us and that is so sad and disappointing.       

It was not our first gate of heaven though. 

Thieving monkeys distracted us in Pura Uluwatu but on the day after Christmas, we followed two Japanese ladies to the candi bentar of Pura Taman Ayun that leads to the paduraksa, the locked gate to the most sacred main sanctum where meru towers of different heights reach to the heavens.  

Pura Taman Ayun or the "Temple of the Floating Garden" was established in the 17th century and is exlusive to Bali royalty.  

It is part of an ancient subak irrigation system that has been declared as a cultural landscape of Bali and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012. 

Some 34 kilometers from this part of heaven is Pura Ulun Danu, a water temple along the shores of Lake Beratan that is 1,500 meters above sea level in the Bedugul Highlands where we were entertained with a traditional Balinese dance after passing through its candi bentar. 

In Balinese Hindu temples, the height of the meru towers is determined by the importance of the gods who are believed to temporarily reside in them. 

Meru towers are representations of Mt. Meru that is replicated as Mt. Agung in Bali and are therefore symbolical heavens.

At more than 600 hectares, the Jatiluwih Rice Terraces is the biggest of Bali's declared cultural landscape --- the traditional subak irrigation system that is directly linked to two water temples one of which is Pura Ulun Danu. 

It's not as huge and aestheticaly alluring as our Ifugao rice terraces but again, the amazing story here is the irrigation and not the terraces. 

Finally, Pura Tanah Lot or the "Temple of the Land in the Sea", so called because it was built in an off-shore rock in the 16th century and the most famous of Bali's seven sea temples. 

We are supposed to watch its beautiful sunset but we were early, we were bathing in sweat and we were tired so opted instead for a blessing of its sacred spring water that came with rice kernels pressed in our foreheads, and flowers tucked behind our ears.

There are too many curious people and the market overshadowed the two candi bentar that leads out to the subdued meru of the sacred islet that is said to be protected by venomous sea snakes who talked with us in parseltongue.

We should take off now to beat the Bali rush hour traffic they said, which we did and got caught up with. 

Pura Lempuyang's Gate of Heaven is the climax of these mini-heavens that was initially planned to be punctuated with a piligrimage to Pura Besakih, the "mother temple" of Balinese Hinduism perched 1,000 meters above sea level in the slopes of Mt. Agung.

But first, a short visit to Tirta Gangga, a former royal palace that was built in 1946 and named after the Ganges River that turned out to be a dud and that is where temple fatigue set in. 

Bli Newa informed us that it will take 1.5 hours to reach Pura Besaki and another 1.5 hours to Ubod.

That and the reported extortion of tourists by local gangs made us decide to skip Pura Besakih --- the most important, largest and holiest Hindu temple in Bali --- and go for a famous swing in Ubud instead.