Besakih Mother Temple and Lempuyang Gates of Heaven Tour Bali

Lempuyang Temple and the Gates of Heaven

Pura Lempuyang stands on the slopes of Mount Lempuyang in far east Bali and is counted among the directional temples that guard the island, which makes it one of the holiest places for Balinese Hindus. At its lower level, Penataran Agung Lempuyang, a tall white candi bentar split gate opens onto the sky, and on a clear morning the perfect cone of Mount Agung fills the space between its two halves. This is the view known worldwide as the Gates of Heaven.

A Lempuyang Temple tour starts with a short local shuttle up the steep road from the car park, then sarongs are worn before entering. Photos at the gate are taken in turn, and in busy seasons the wait can be long, so your guide uses the time to show you the dragon staircases and inner courtyards. The famous reflection in the pictures comes from a small mirror held under the camera, not from water.

Mount Agung, the sacred volcano of Bali

Mount Agung is the highest peak in Bali at just over 3,000 metres and the island's most sacred mountain, believed to be the seat of the gods. Every major temple on this tour is oriented towards it. The volcano is still active: its great eruption of 1963 sent lava flows down the slopes past Besakih, and it rumbled again between 2017 and 2019, after which life in the villages around it returned to normal.

You see Agung from almost every stop on this tour: framed in the Lempuyang gate, rising above the rice terraces of Karangasem on the road, and towering directly behind the courtyards of Besakih. The best time to visit is the dry season from April to October, and the early start helps, because the summit is usually clearest in the morning before clouds gather in the afternoon.

Tirta Gangga Water Palace

Tirta Gangga, meaning water from the Ganges, is a former royal water garden built in the middle of the twentieth century by the last king of Karangasem. Fed by a sacred spring, it is laid out in terraces of ponds full of large koi carp, with stone stepping pads that let you walk across the water among statues of guardians and mythical creatures. The centrepiece is a tall tiered fountain, and the gardens are framed by rice fields and green hills.

The palace was badly damaged in the 1963 eruption and later restored, and it remains one of the most photogenic stops in East Bali. On this tour you spend about an hour here, which is enough to cross the stepping stones, feed the fish and explore the upper pools. Many visitors searching for Tirta Gangga tickets do not realise they are included in this option, so there is nothing to pay at the gate.

Besakih, the Mother Temple of Bali

Pura Besakih, the Mother Temple, is the largest and most important temple complex on the island, set at around 1,000 metres on the south-west slope of Mount Agung. Dozens of temples climb the hillside in terraces, with Pura Penataran Agung at the centre, its split gates and black-thatched meru towers rising in odd numbers of roofs. Its origins go back many centuries, and during the 1963 eruption the lava stopped just short of the complex, which Balinese saw as a sign of divine protection.

A Besakih Temple tour lets you walk the stairways between courtyards, watch families arrive in white ceremonial dress with offerings and look back over the valleys towards the south coast. Visitors may not enter the innermost shrines, but your guide explains what happens in each courtyard. Plan about an hour and a half here; the entry ticket is included, and sarongs are required.

The road through Karangasem

Karangasem, the easternmost regency of Bali, is quieter and more rural than the south. The drive from Ubud or the coast takes about two to two and a half hours each way and passes rice terraces, salak palm groves, small market towns and village temples decorated for ceremonies. On a clear day you see Agung and the smaller Lempuyang peak long before you arrive.

Seeing Lempuyang, Tirta Gangga and Besakih on one trip is the most efficient way to explore the east, since all three sit within an hour of each other. Our guide plans the order around crowds and light, usually Lempuyang first for the best chance of a clear sky behind the gate, and keeps the pace relaxed so there is time for photos and questions at every stop.