1) If we translate Tirta Empul, it means something like “Crystal Clear Stream“. It was built in the year 926 by the Warmadewa dynasty.
Tradition has it that the water from the springs has mysterious medicinal powers, since according to the Hindu religion, Indra, king of the gods, managed to heal his faithful with this magical water, after being poisoned.
The main attraction of the temple is a large rectangular stone pool. The water comes from the nearby Pakrisan River, flows into a pool of volcanic heat, and then flows through 12 fountains that feed the huge pool.
What makes the Tirta Empul Temple so unique is not the temple itself, since there are other similar ones in Bali, but the thousands of faithful who come to it to purify themselves, from all corners of the island.
After making an offering in the temple, adults and children submerge themselves under the sacred waters to pray and as a sign of emotional healing.
The ritual consists of wetting your face 3 times, drinking water 3 times (or rinsing your mouth, failing that...) and immersing your head under the stream. This ritual must be performed in 10 of the water pipes that are along the pool.
And you will ask yourself... why do you have to do the ritual only in 10 of the pipes, if there are 12 in total?
The reason is because 2 of them are reserved for offerings to the dead. Nobody gets into these 2 water jets. Only a family member if they are going to leave an offering to their deceased relative.
These two sources are marked with the symbol of an inverted swastika, a Hindu concept of Samsara or reincarnation.
You cannot take water directly from these two sources, but it can be collected in bottles or jugs by relatives. It will later be poured out on the funeral pyre where the deceased has been cremated.
Prayers, rites and offerings is what this crowded temple offers us.
People from all over Bali flock here to hold ceremonies, especially during the full moon.
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