Tanah Lot

From the village of Marga, the trip west return to the main route leading to Tabanan. At the crossroad of Kediri, a side-road branches to the sea, ending on a green hill which slopes down to the beach and to the markable tample of tanah Lot, suspended on a huge rock offshore. Set apart from the land by stone basin, the rock has been carved by incoming tides. Tanah Lot, with its solitary black towers and tufts of foliage spilling over the cliffs, recalls the delicacy of a chinese painting. If hearsay is to be believed, there dwells inside one of the shrines at Tanah Lot a huge snake, discreetly left undisturbed by the Balinese.
Although a small sanctuary,Tanah Lot is linked to a series of a temples on the south coast of Bali: Pura Sakenan, Pura Ulu Watu, Pura Rambut Siwi and Pura Peti Trenget. All these temples are related to the principal mountain sanctuaries: Besakih at Gunung Agung, Pura Batur at Batur and Pura Luhur at Mountain Batukau. The upland temples include homage to the guardian spirits of the the sea within their ritual. These main temples are often listed with the sad kahyangan the six holy "national" temples, which exact tribute from all Balinese. The chronicles attribute the temple at Tanah Lot to the 16th century priest Nirartha.