Bali sights
Tirta Empul (Holy Spring Temple)
A water temple built more than 1,000 years ago around a sacred spring, where Balinese Hindus perform the melukat purification ritual beneath a row of more than 30 carved fountains. Visitors can take part respectfully.
About
Tirta Empul, founded around 960 AD, is built around a natural spring that the Balinese believe was created by the god Indra and imbued with amrita, the elixir of immortality. For over a thousand years pilgrims have come to perform melukat, a purification ritual in which they move along a row of more than thirty water spouts feeding a series of stone bathing pools, pausing to bow their heads under each in turn to cleanse body and spirit. Visitors are welcome to join the ritual respectfully — wearing a sarong, renting a change of clothes, and following the proper order of the fountains (a couple are reserved for funeral rites and are skipped). Beyond the pools, the temple's mossy courtyards and the crystal-clear spring bubbling up through black sand are beautiful in their own right. It sits just below a former presidential palace on the hill above.
Good to know
Opening hours and entry fees vary by season — check before you visit.