Tanah Lot Temple

A Hindu sea temple on a rock islet, cut off at high tide and famous for sunsets.

The temple sits on a large offshore rock in Beraban, about 13 kilometres south of Tabanan and 20 kilometres northwest of Denpasar. People can walk to it only at low tide. Its main deity is Dewa Baruna, also called Bhatara Segara, the sea god. According to a 2019 study, it was one of the most visited places in Indonesia, with about 500,000 tourists each year.

Who built the temple?

Tradition says the temple is the work of a 16th-century religious leader named Dang Hyang Nirartha. He traveled widely through Bali, Lombok, and Sumbawa, and he was strongly influenced by Hinduism. It is said he spent a night at this rock. Nirartha is also worshipped here. In local tales, sea snakes guard the temple from evil spirits.

Was the rock repaired?

Yes. In the 1980s the rock face began to crumble, and the area around and inside the temple became dangerous. The Japanese government gave Indonesia a loan to conserve Tanah Lot and other important places around Bali. As a result, more than a third of the rock is now artificial rock that was carefully disguised to blend in with the natural stone, a project that Japan funded and supervised.

On the globe

The model shows a Hindu sea temple on a rock islet, cut off at high tide and famous for its sunsets.