Pura Ponjok Batu

Overview

Pura Ponjok Batu is a seaside Hindu temple on Bali’s north coast, about 12 kilometres east of Singaraja, where verdant green hills meet a dramatic black-sand shoreline. It is not to be confused with any temple on the Batur caldera - this is a distinct coastal shrine set beside the Bali Sea.

What visitors find / highlights

The temple’s setting is its chief draw: rocky islets just offshore, sweeping sea views and the contrast of dark sand against green ridges. A shrine sits on a rock in the surf, and the grounds are quiet and atmospheric.

History

The temple is tied to the wandering 16th-century priest Danghyang Nirartha, who is said to have stopped here on his travels. Local legend tells of a stranded ship that was miraculously freed - and of a glowing stone - giving the temple, whose name means roughly “stone promontory”, its lasting significance.

Location

On the coastal road roughly 12 km east of Singaraja in Buleleng, northern Bali.

Set close to the shore about 12 kilometres east of Singaraja on Bali’s northern coast, Pura Ponjok Batu backs onto verdant emerald hills that contrast dramatically with the black-sand shoreline. The temple was founded by a holy priest said to have been the first to bring Hindu Dharma to Bali, and a pavilion high on the hilltop lets visitors take in the sweeping blend of mountain and sea.

The name comes from ponjok, meaning a small projection, and batu, meaning stones. In front of the temple, built on a rock just below it, sits a stone edifice in the shape of a ship. Local legend holds that the stone once attracted passing sailors with a golden glow; believing it to be gold, they steered closer, struck the rocks and sank. The priest, meditating nearby, invited the shipwrecked crew to meditate through the night, and by morning they sailed off on a miraculously repaired vessel. People still say a glowing light can be seen near the temple to this day.