Jacek Piwowarczyk Photography - Indonesia - Bali

BALI

BALI - the sound of this name makes the hearts of travellers and holidaymakers begin to beat stronger. It is not a surprise that this island bewitches people from all over the world. This small piece of land, bathing unceasingly in the warm Indian Ocean waters, offers almost everything: never-ending beaches, a wilderness of evergreen tropical forest, lazily smoking volcano cones, bottomless navy-blue lakes, palm groves, fancifully winding rice paddies, and most of all a unique culture carefully preserved by the unusually friendly inhabitants of the island.


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There is a tiny peninsula Bukit Badung stretching out south of Kuta connected by a narrow strip of land with a the mainland. Its Dutch name is Varkenshoek, which means Pig's Snout. At its southernmost point is the small but charming Uluwatu temple. It stands solitarily on the stone cape, hanging over a wide cliff a few dozen metres above the raging waters of the ocean. Although small it is one of the six most sacred Balinese places and is dedicated to protective sea spirits. We can find here all the features typical of Balinese temples: Candi bentar - a "winged" gate leading to an internal courtyard, numerous altars and shrines, images of Hindu gods, auxiliary pavilions and above all meru multi roofed towers (in this case one triple), distant relatives of pagodas. Meru are always black in colour and have an odd number of roofs. Three are entitled to Dewi Sri - the goodness of fertility and bumper crops, five to Iswara the Siwa reincarnation, seven to Brahma, nine to Vishnu, and finally eleven to Shiva himself.


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A small but charmng temple near Ubud	Planting rice in northern Bali.