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Mount Agung slopes, Bali · -8.3739°, 115.4517°
The Mother Temple of Bali: 23 linked puras on Mount Agung's slope, axis of the island's mandala of temples, where every Balinese clan and kingdom keeps a shrine. The Eka Dasa Rudra — the once-a-century purification of the universe — was underway in 1963 when Agung erupted catastrophically; lava spared the temple by metres, read across Bali as the gods' own testimony.
The sage Markandeya, guided by a vision, buried the panca datu — five sacred metals — here to still the island's unquiet forces; on that buried offering the whole thousand-year edifice of Balinese Hinduism literally stands.
Besakih village sits at about 900 m on the western slopes of Mount Agung in eastern Bali, roughly 25 km by car from north Denpasar and some 20 km north of Klungkung town. From Kuta the drive takes about two hours — east towards Sanur, along the coastal route to the Kusamba bypass at Tohpati, then north to the signed Besakih turn; from Karangasem an inland road meets the Besakih–Klungkung crossroad at Rendang. Public bemos serve the route with a change at Rendang.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Gelgel/Klungkung