Exploring Pura Taman Ayun, the royal palace at Mengwi Bali

There are some magnificent temples in Bali some massive like Pura Besakih, the Mother temple, others uniquely situated like Pura Tanah Lot on an outcrop in the ocean.

One of the magnificent looking temples I had never seen was Pura Taman Ayun, the royal palace at Mengwi.

Barrie is an expert on the history of the temple and also the particular significance of its shrines and statues. I’ll give a brief overview. Pura Taman Ayun was built in 1634 by the the Raja, I Gusti Agung Anom. The kingdom of Mengwi was powerful enough to control large parts of Badung, Tabanan and Gianyar from the first part of the 17th Century to the latter part of the 19th Century. Approaching the temple on the street we saw the usual set up of food and drink vendors. On this occasion there was and event inside to offer respects to the new government and outside extra police lounged in the shade.

The temple is surrounded by a massive moat which look lovely and is set on 3 different levels, the inner courtyard at the top having its own moat. Entrance to the temple was 3,300rp.

Walking up the pathway leading to the inner courtyard I was impressed by the size of the place, everything from the large kul- kul tower to the number of meru (tiered roofs).

Barrie talked to a preist at the entrance to the inner courtyard about letting us in. He mentioned Baliblog and got into a prolonged discussion about the word ‘blog’ since ‘belog’ means ’stupid’ in Balinese.

The inner compound is complete with magnificent meru’s, bales and shrines. As many people know the higher the meru the more important it is. The number of roofs is always an odd number with the maximum possible 13. There are 3 very important merus honoring the 3 most important mountains in Bali, with an 11 tiered meru representing Gunung Agung and Gunung Batkaru and a 9 roofed meru represents Gunung Batur.

It is possible to visit the temple at a leisurely pace in an hour or less.

The temple backs on to a river and Barrie told me the royal barge would take the Raja and his escorts up and down the river to visit other temples and towns. Must have been a lovely peaceful existence.

One guide book I read says the Pura Taman Alun doesn’t warrant a special trip for people staying in Kuta. Maybe not but if you combine a visit with some of the other things in the area (the Monkey Forest at Sanggeh, Ubud and the silver smiths of Celuk) you could have a nice day out.

If you are taking a ‘bemo’ bus to get to Mengwi you need to get to the Ubung terminal in NW Denpasar from Kuta. I don’t really like using bemos but for people who don’t want to drive and feel a driver is too expensive you might go this route, time and comfort being the expendable factors.