A Balinese temple, or pura, is not a single building but a walled open-air compound divided into courtyards of rising sanctity. The usual plan has three: the nista mandala, the outer courtyard; the madya mandala, the middle courtyard; and the utama mandala, the innermost and holiest space. The temple is aligned along the axis between the mountain and the sea, with the holiest area closest to the mountain.
Each zone has its role. The outer courtyard links the temple with the everyday world and is used for gatherings, performances and preparations. The middle courtyard holds pavilions for gamelan, a tower for the wooden slit drum called kulkul and the temple kitchen. The inner courtyard contains the shrines themselves, including meru towers and the padmasana. Passing from one to the next is a gradual move from worldly to divine.
The gates mark the thresholds. Visitors usually enter through the candi bentar, a split gate that looks like a single tower cut cleanly in two. Deeper inside stands the kori agung, also called paduraksa, a roofed gateway often crowned with a carved guardian face. Walking through these gates, with their steep steps and narrow openings, you feel the temple's careful choreography of space.
Highlights
- Candi bentar split gates
- Kori agung roofed inner gateways
- Bale kulkul drum towers
- Shrine-filled inner courtyards
Good to know
- Use the central opening of a kori agung only if locals do; side doors are often used instead.
- If the inner courtyard is closed, you can usually view the shrines from the middle courtyard.
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