Tanah lot

Tanah lot is a famous rock formation off the Indonesian island of bali . it means ”land in the middle of the sea “ in Balinese language . there lie two hindus temples . one is on top of a big rock and the other is on top of a cliff . tanah lot temple is a part of sad kahyangan temple seven sea temples which are said to be the joints of bali island . it is the place to worship the gods , guardians of the sea .

Located in beraban about 13 kms west of tabanan and about 20 kms from denpasar . the temple is one seven sea temples around the Balinese coest . it was said that each of the sea temples was to be within eyesight of the next so that they formed a chain along the south – western coast .

Tanah lot is said to be the work of the 15^th century priest nirartha the eanah lot temple was then built and has been an important part of Balinese mythological history of centuries . at the base of the rocky island , poisonous sea snakes are believe to guard the temple from evil spirits and intruders . there is said to be one giant snake which also protects the temple . it is believed that this snake was created from niartha’s scraf when he established the big rock . tanah lot is well know for its sunset view . lots of tourists come in the afternoon to see the beautiful sunset view .

In 1980 the temple’s rock face was starting to crumble and the area around and inside the temple started to become dangerous . the Japanese government then provided a loan to the Indonesia government to conserve the historic temple and other beach locations around the island of bali . as a result , over one third of the rock which can be seen is artificial rock created under the Japanese upgrade works .