The temple of the deveated Mengwi kingdom...

To be honest, I did not plan to stop at Mengwi and visit the Pura Taman Ayun. I happened to drive by when I was on my way from Lovina to Ubud.

The temple is located on a main road and from this angle it looked really beautiful, so I stopped to have a look...

 

The beautiful surroundings of the temple

 

It is said that this is one of Balinese most beautiful temples. I know that this is said for almost all temples in Bali, but this temple is beautiful because it looks as if it is set on an island.

It has been renovated and its condition is really good. So I agree...it is one of the most beautiful.

The temple ground is surrounded by water, so you have to cross a small bridge to reach it. Around the temple there is a huge garden and a lot of lotus ponds that add a beautiful colour to the backdrop of stone temples.

Taman Ayun means ‘beautiful flower garden’, so you can imagine where it gets its name from.

 

 

The state temple was built in 1634 during the powerful Mengwi kingdom. Together with the high priests, the rajas (kings) of Mengwi conducted offering ceremonies in the temple to maintain the balance between the ‘creator’ and the ‘destroyer’.

Nonethless the Kingdom ended in 1891 when it was overthrown and divided among the kingdoms of Klungklung, Badung, Tabanan and Bangli.

The 4 kingdoms were after the prosperous area located in the Mengwi Kingdom as it was rich with rice fields, coffee plantations and, most importantly, opium.

 

The holy courtyard can be admired when glancing over the wall

 

If you visit the temple you will see that it is divided into several courtyards. As a visitor, you are only allowed to enter the first two and peek over the wall to see the third courtyard.

The first two courtyards were used for gatherings and dance performances. In the corner, on the left hand side is a tower in which you can climb to admire the nice view.

The tower was used to place the drums which called the people together on the temple grounds.

 

Pura Taman Ayun is very busy during important days

 

The inner courtyard, "jeroan" is the most sacred area of the temple. From over the wall you can clearly see several pavilions and a stone lotus shrine which is dedicated to the gods Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the protector) and Shiva (the destroyer).

On the east side there are a number of temples with various numbers of merus (temple roofs).

The three highest temples are dedicated to the mountain gods: 9 merus are for the God of the Bratan Lake, 11 for the God of Mount Agung and the temple with 9 merus is dedicated to the God of Batur Mountain.

 

The row of merus in the inner courtyard

 

The other temples that have 11 merus are dedicated to the rice goddess Dewi Sri and the God of Batukau Mountain.

If you plan to visit Pura Taman Ayun, go early in the morning before it gets too hot to wander around the garden and before the bus loads of tourists arrive.