Tips On Visiting Hindu Temples In Bali

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To visit temples in Bali, there are few rules you need to know. One very common rule is that you need to wear sarong when entering the temple. There are other rules to bear in mind so you can easily enter the temple without any doubt or fear offending the locals. This is also to make sure you will not spoil your holiday in Bali.


Here are the list of rules for entering temples in Bali, (some may sound funny to you).



  • Wear sarong. Some temples, especially those that have lots of visitors, provide sarongs at the entrance. You can put it on before entering the temple. Why sarong? Sarong is meant to cover the "unholy" part of our body, especially under the waist part. (Note: most of the temples in Bali do not provide sarongs, so it could be handy to have it if temple is in your tour itinerary.)

  • Dress properly. It means to cove your shoulder, and all your body.

  • Ladies in period are not allowed to enter the temple.

  • People whose relatives recently passed away and still conducting certain ceremony like cremation ceremony do not have permission to enter the temple.

Well, that’s it. These rules generally apply to all temples in Bali. To visit Besakih, the mother temple, has the same rules of entering village temples. But some temples, again :-), has their own additional rules. Here is a photo of the notice board of Pura Luhur Watukaru, a prominent temple in Tabanan regency, approximately 40 kms west of Denpasar, the capital city of Bali. Here is what the announcement says:


Those who are not allowed to enter the temple are:



  1. Ladies who are pregnant.
  2. Ladies whose first child who have not got their first teeth.
  3. Children who have not got their first teeth fallen out yet.
  4. Ladies during their period.
  5. Dvotees getting impure due to death.
  6. Mad ladies and gentlemen.
  7. Those not properly dressed.

Note: On the list number 5, the devotees is misspelled into ’dvotees’, while number 6 tells mad people not to even think of putting this place of interest in their tour itinerary. ;-)

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