Pura Besakih, high on the slopes of Mount Agung, is the Mother Temple of Bali, the most important temple complex on the island. It has developed for more than a thousand years into a great complex of 22 separate temples, the largest and central being Pura Penataran Agung. The annual cycle of more than 70 rituals, which symbolically link the temples into a whole, culminates in the centenary ceremony called Ekadasa Rudra, last held in 1979. The temple complex, state-supported since the 15th century, has undergone a series of architectural and ritual changes.
The Besakih’s name comes from the word of Basuki, the old language from Sanskrit Wasuki, and means congratulation. In the mythology of Samudramanthana, Basuki is mentioned as a dragon that twines the Mount Mandara. The Besakih Temple complex is built pursuant to cosmos balance. It is based on the nature conception which is disseminating the fundamental temple complex that is arranged to pursuant of the way direction. So, this building can deputize nature as symbolic of the world balance existence. These are all facts, but the view and atmosphere cannot be explained in writing it has to be experienced personally.
