Rabu, 05 November 2014

Indonesia Trip: Holy Bath Place in Tirta Empul


At the second day in Bali, we visited the holy bath place named Tirta Empul temple located in Gianyar. Our driver said that the it is the place for the Hindu people to do purification.

in front of the signage

At that time, my sister and I was wearing shorts, since it was a holy place, so we were asked to use these cloths. Since my hair was long, the local required me to tie my hair, because you have to look neat when entering the praying place.

When entering the temple, there were two giant ponds with lots of water showers. The source of the water was from the water spring in the higher ground near the praying place. A local guide said, if you're taking a bath there, you should not use the most right water spray in each pool because it's usually used for funeral ceremony.

one of the ponds

After visiting the ponds, we walked to the praying place. During our walk, we could see Tampak Siring Palace besides Tirta Empul temple. Tampak Siring Palace the Indonesian President Palace whenever he visited Bali.

the palace is above there

When arriving at the praying place, I saw a family just arrived at the place and then they prepared for praying. They're all looked matching with the white Bali traditional outfit. Since the place has already become a tourist attraction, there was a line to separate the praying place, so the tourists won't disturb the holy atmosphere of the Hindu peoples who're praying there.

the family were praying together

Finished with the sightseeing, we walked to the exit door of the temple. And just like other famous temple in Indonesia, you had to walked through the long souvenir stalls before you can really exit the place. But since I needed to find a Bali Magnet to be hanged on my office cubicles, then I spent a little time there.

the souvenir stalls

The funny thing was, some of the sellers think that me and my sister came from Malaysia, so they offered us accessories in Malaysian Ringgit. We just laughed and then left with smile.


XOXO,
The Tourist