Big day today! We are off to Pura Tirta Empul, the holy water temple, and I am going to do the purification ritual and collect holy water to take home.
Made tells me that I can go in the water in my sarong and T-shirt, so I packed extra clothes and a towel for afterwards, and got my bottles to collect water in. You must use clean containers. Water bottles are okay to use, but they must not have been drunk out of.
Along the way, we stopped in Tampaksiring to visit a shop that specializes in body jewelry to pick up some plugs for Jake's ears. This place has a website, and I expect they do most of their business online. This was another hidden, off the road place that doesn't have street frontage. When we walked in everybody hopped up and quickly converted the house to a shop. They had some beautiful earrings and other items for piercings. The plug size we were looking for is apparently not a popular one. They brought out a bag full of stock and dug through it until they found all they had of that size. We bought 4 of the 6 pairs they had and got back in the car.
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| Made making the offerings |
Just a short drive from there we entered the temple grounds. Made found a place to park (it was packed), we avoided the lady selling bananas, and headed into the temple. Tickets for tourists are 50,000 each. Sarongs and temple sashes are required; they can be borrowed (rented?) at the entrance. We made our way through into the main courtyard where Made made offerings, then proceeded into the area where the purification takes place. I felt a little out of place, as I was the only person there who wasn't wearing the rented sarong and sash. After instruction from Made, I made my way to the steps to enter the water. The steps are quite tall and not easy to use when wearing a sarong, but luckily the man ahead of me helped me get in.
It used to be that cameras were forbidden in this area, since many Balinese would perform the ritual in the nude. But now, there are temple staff waiting as you enter and offering to take your picture.
The purification ritual consists of meditation and/or prayer in front of 11 separate spouts pouring water from the holy spring. After your prayer, place your hands on the spout, and duck your head into the water pouring out. This is done two or three times at each position.
On this day, the pool was full of people and I had about 6 people ahead of me at each position. The bottom of the pool is covered in large pebbles, with larger stones here and there. Watch out for these, as it is quite uncomfortable to discover one with your toe - they do not move. Also, large fish are swimming through the pool, but they didn't bother me. The water is icy cold and you can't just submerge yourself to adjust like you would in a swimming pool. It took until the third spout for me to really adjust.
After completing the ritual and collecting my holy water, I proceeded to the steps leading out of the pool. Once again, the man ahead of me had to help me. These steps are very tall - about knee-high - and VERY slippery.
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| Purified and cleansed |
When he was ready, we went back to the main courtyard so that I could go change. The locker area was packed with people all getting changed so that they could enter the water. I just needed a place to strip, dry off, and get into dry clothes. I managed to find a ladies' changing area that wasn't too crowded. I went in, closed the curtain behind me and claimed a spot on the bench so I could keep my stuff clean and dry. I was facing the wall and trying not to completely expose myself to everyone else while also getting completely naked. Doing this as quickly as I could, I managed to get into dry clothes. I gathered up my stuff and turned around to leave, only to discover that at some point, someone had gone through the curtain and left it wide
open, exposing my naked backside to an entire room full of strangers. Oh well!
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