Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot is a sea temple located in the Beraban village, 30km from Denpasar, the capital city of Bali. It is one of the unique temples in Bali. The temple stands on a big offshore rock. In Balinese language, Tanah Lot means 'land in the middle of the sea'. Some call this place as Tanah Let, meaning 'the ancient land' or Tanah Lod, meaning 'the land to the south'
The temple is one of seven sea temples. The seven sea temples formed a temple chain along the Bali south-western coast.

There is a story related to this place. Back to the 15th century, there was a Hindu priest, Dang Hyang Nirartha, who came to Beraban village. He preached and had many disciples from the village. Then, the villagers abandoned their village priest, Bendesa Beraban. When Nirartha walked along the south coast, he found this beautiful huge rock and started to meditate on the rock and pray to the God of the sea. Bendesa was irritated because he lost lots of his followers, then he disturbed Nirartha's pray and meditation. To avoid Bendesa, Nirartha moved the rock into the sea with his spiritual power. It is believed that he also created lots of snakes and one big giant snakes from his scarf to protect and guard the temple from evil spirits and intruders. It is also believed that the snakes are still there until now and they reside in the caves nearby the temple to guard the temple.


The temple

The temple is only accessible when the tide is low. When the tide is coming in, the rock looks like a large boat floating in the middle of the sea. If you visit Tanah Lot, it is best to come in the afternoon just before sunset, so you can see the temple and take the picture clearly before sunset and also enjoy the beautiful sunset view in Tanah Lot.