Evening Symphony
There is nothing is more musical than a sunset - Claude Debussy.
To many people, Tanah Lot epitomizes the romantic island of Bali. Tanah Lot means Land in The Sea, a perfectly fit name for its unique offshore settings. The silhouette of Pura Tanah Lot is one of the most popular iconic features of Bali.
The history of Tanah Lot temple was believed to date back to the 16th century, by Dang Hyang Nirartha, a respected religious figure in Bali. Dang Hyang Nirartha was said to be the one who created a three-temple system in Balinese villages. Setting the site plan that the temple built in the northern area of the village would be for Brahma, middle area for Vishnu and the southern side for Shiva. While traveling along the southern coast of Bali, he saw the little rock-island and decided to spend the night. The rock was known as Gili Beo, which means a bird-shaped rock, located in Beraban village. He then felt an enlightenment, that this was a holy place to build a shrine. The leader of Beraban was angry and order people to banish Nirartha from Gili Beo.
In Balinese mythology, Dang Hyang Nirartha was known as a man of mighty supernatural power. So he moves the whole rock island to the sea, builds a temple and named it Tanah Lot. The whole Beraban village were astounded and later join to follow he believes. Tanah Lot temple was built to worship Bhatara Segara, or the sea God. To protect the temple, with his mighty power, he created a poisonous snake from his sash. The sea snake is believed to be living at the base of this rocky island, to guard the temple from evil intruders.
