Pura Tirta Water Shrine Temple, Bali

Water shrine, Pura Tirta Empul Temple, Bali. For more than a thousand years, Balinese worshipers have been drawn to Pura Tirta Empul, whose sacred spring is said to have been created by Indra and to have curative properties. The tradition continues almost unchanged at the temple today.

Legend has it that the sacred spring was created by the god Indra. His forces had been poisoned by Mayadanawa, so he pierced the earth to create a fountain of immortality to revive them.

An inscription dates the founding of a temple at the site to 926 AD. Ever since - for more than a thousand years - the Balinese have come to bathe in the sacred waters for healing and spiritual merit. Built around a sacred spring, Tampak Siring. An inscription dates the spring all the way back to 926AD; and there are fine carvings and Garudas on the courtyard buildings. Regular purification ceremonies also take place here.