Morning Trips To Besakih

Like most Balinese temples, Besakih is not a closed building but a mostly open-air affair. It's made up of courtyards with altars and shrines. The Balinese believe that the gods visit a temple on particular dates, and on those dates the locals hold festivals to honor (or placate) same. Of all the temples on Bali 6 are "supremely holy:" Pura Besakih, Pura Lempuyang Luhur, Pura Gua Lawah, Pura Batukaru, Pura Pusering Jagat, and Pura Uluwatu. Of these, Besakih stands higher than the others (not because it sits some 3000 or so feet above the ocean on the mountain's side, but because it is more sacred to the Balinese). It is said to be the only classless, casteless temple on the island where any Balinese Hindu can come to worship. If you can only go one place in your life, you'd be insane to go anywhere but Bali.