Pura Pulaki

Pura Pulaki stands where the coast road squeezes between the hills and the sea, a few kilometres east of Pemuteran. Part of the temple is built beneath an overhang of the cliff, while a more conventional set of courtyards lies near the main entrance.

It is one of a cluster of three temples on this stretch of coast, with Pura Pabean and Pura Melanting close by, and it ranks among the important temples of the island. Pilgrims stop here on long journeys, including the crossing to Java, to pray for safe travel.

The cliff-side shrines are the most atmospheric part of the complex, with offerings tucked into the rock above the courtyard. Long-tailed macaques gather around the entrance, where pilgrims feed them, and they are bold: keep sunglasses, food and loose bags out of reach.

Pura Pabean sits right on the shore. The path that wraps around to its entrance gives good views along the coast, and a large Garuda statue faces east from the top of the temple, visible from outside if you are not dressed to enter.

Pura Melanting, a short way inland, is set on the hillside above the coast. The drive up gives wide views over the sea.

About 15 km further west, on the hill just east of Labuhan Lalang, is the shrine of Jayaprana, Bali’s best-known tragic love story. Jayaprana, a young man raised at the royal court, married the beautiful Layonsari. The king coveted her, sent Jayaprana away on a pretended mission and had him killed by a trusted minister at Teluk Terima, the bay below the hill. Layonsari took her own life rather than marry the king.

The site is revered as Jayaprana’s resting place. A shrine stands at the foot of the hill, and a flight of steps climbs to a walled enclosure at the top, its gates flanked by statues of a man and a woman. Balinese with troubles in love or marriage, or hoping for a child, come here to pray, and tradition says that anyone whose wish is granted should return with an offering. Even without a wish to make, the climb is worth it for the view over West Bali National Park and the bay. Dress as you would for any temple.

The temples lie on the main north-coast road a few kilometres east of Pemuteran, an easy scooter or bicycle ride from the hotels on the bay. They also make a natural stop for anyone driving between Gilimanuk and Lovina. The Jayaprana shrine is on the same road, just east of the Labuhan Lalang jetty for Menjangan Island.

The temple is associated with Dang Hyang Nirartha, the Javanese priest who reshaped Balinese Hinduism in the 16th century. According to local tradition, when Nirartha entered the forest here he was escorted by an army of monkeys, and in gratitude he made them guardians of the temple founded on the spot.

Another legend tells of an invisible village. To protect his family from a hostile ruler, Nirartha is said to have made Pulaki and its people invisible, and Balinese still speak of the wong samar, the unseen people of Pulaki, who are thought to roam the hills along this coast.