Pura Goa Lawah Bali Bat Cave Temple
16 September 2013When you are planning to go for holiday to Bali, it is very exciting to explore Bali Island with your own itinerary. Rent a car for self drive of with driver. Plan the itinerary for discovery the hidden tract or country side of Bali. See the picturesque of panorama with beautiful beach, lush tropical rice paddy with its terrace, chatting with local people, it is amazing experience.
Discovery the beauty of Eastern Bali is the itinerary recommended to explore beach and some tourist spot. Continuing around the coast of Bali through Ida Bagus Mantra Street, one will eventually come to Pura Goa Lawah, which translates directly as the Bat Cave Temple’! The Bat Cave temple located in Kusamba Village, Klungkung Regency take about 1 hours 30 minutes from Kuta or Denpasar area. The road condition is very good as Bali government just already finished the road construction. The traffic look so busy as this road toward to Padang Bay Harbour which is connecting Bali Island with Lombok Island by ferry.
About Bat Cave Temple, no prizes for guessing which animal lurks, in their thousands, in the depths of this cave. The story goes that in the 1 7th centuries, a dispute ensued between two descendants of the King of Mengwi, one claimed that the other was not a true descendant, the other claimed that he was.
They took their argument to the king of Klungklung to decide if the man, whose name was I Gusti Ketut Agung, was who he claimed to be. The King ordered I Gusti Ketut Agung to be put in the bat cave, which in those days was full of snakes and wild animals as well as the omnipresent bats. If he came out alive he was telling the truth, if he didn’t come out, he was lying (and obviously, dead!). I Gusti Ketut Agung complied, entered the cave and after many adventures underground arrived 12 kilometres away in Besakih. He was accepted as being part of the King of Mengwi’s family and later even became King himself, at which time he added Besakih to his name. One small post script to the story, apparently after his escapade in the cave he went completely deaf as a result of the roaring of the wild animals.
The snakes and animals are gone today, only the bats remain, but it is taboo to go into the cave so no one knows how far back it really goes, some say to Besakih and others, that there is an underground tunnel all the way to Nusa Penida. Quite possibly both are true!
