Sunset @ Tanah Lot, BALI (March '09)

We missed the sunset at Jimbaran because we had our sunset "session" at Tanah Lot. It will take around 10-15 min walk from the main entrance to Tanah Lot. There were lots of small stalls along the pathway to the beach side. Prices are always negotiable.

Tanah Lot means "Land in the Middle of the sea" in Balinese language. Located in Tabanan, about 20 km from Denpasar, the temple sits on a large offshore rock which has been shaped continuously over the years by the ocean tide.
Tanah Lot is claimed to be the work of the 15th century priest Nirartha. During his travels along the south coast he saw the rock-island's beautiful setting and rested there. Some fishermen saw him, and bought him gifts. Nirartha then spent the night on the little island. Later he spoke to the fishermen and told them to build a shrine on the rock for he felt it to be a holy place to worship the Balinese sea gods.[citation needed]
The Tanah Lot temple was built and has been a part of Balinese mythology for centuries. The temple is one of seven sea temples around the Balinese coast. Each of the sea temples were established within eyesight of the next to form a chain along the south-western coast.
At the base of the rocky island, poisonous sea snakes are believed to guard the temple from evil spirits and intruders. As well as one giant snake which also protects the temple, which was created from Nirartha’s scarf when he established the island.-Wikipedia

Since it was almost sunset, we paced ourselves to the beachside. When we reached there, we saw something quite amazing.



Behold, Tanah Lot....



Everyone crossing over to have a better look at Tanah Lot.



A tourist receiving blessing from the priest.

Amazingly, there were spring water glushing from the top. We need to wash our face with the holy water and then received blessings from the priest. The priest will placed a few grains of rice to the forehead.



Indeed, the sunset here was amazing. Thank god, I managed to take this nicely with Canon 20D. :)





Me and Rachel in front of the Tanah Lot.

This place is another must go place in Bali. Breathtaking sunset view!