Among the Gods of Bali

As we stood at Lempuyang, high on the slopes of eastern Bali, we felt that we were standing before something much older than the temple itself. In Balinese Hindu belief, Lempuyang is one of the sacred temples that protects Bali from the east, while Mount Agung rises like a great spiritual anchor at the heart of the island. Looking towards the mountain through the split gateway, we began to understand why these places are not merely monuments for Balinese Hindus. The mountains, temples and directions form an invisible sacred landscape in which the island itself is protected by the gods. What struck us most was how familiar the idea felt—an ancient Indian Hindu concept travelling across the sea and taking root in Bali, yet becoming distinctly Balinese. Lempuyang seemed to me less like a temple we had come to visit and more like a guardian we had come to meet.

We came to Lempuyang for the famous Gates of Heaven, but the climb made us realise it was much more than a photograph. The long staircase felt like a test of patience, with every step taking us closer to the sacred. When we finally stood before the split gate and saw Mount Agung rising majestically beyond it, we paused. For a moment, the camera didn’t matter—the mountain, the temple and the silence made us feel as though we had stepped from the ordinary world into something sacred.

On our way back to Ubud after a day trip to Lempuyang, we unexpectedly came across an Odalan ceremony at a Balinese temple. The temple was beautifully decorated with flowers and elaborate offerings, while families in traditional dress gathered for prayers, music and celebrations. We soon learnt that Odalan is the temple’s birthday, celebrated according to the Balinese calendar. What touched us was that this was not a performance for tourists, but a living tradition bringing the entire community together. After a day of visiting temples, this unexpected encounter felt like a glimpse into the living soul of Bali.

During an Odalan ceremony, we noticed something that made the celebration feel very different from an ordinary temple visit. The Balinese believe that during the temple’s anniversary, the deities are invited to return and receive the devotion of the community. Everywhere we looked there were offerings, incense, flowers, music and people dressed in their finest traditional clothes. The atmosphere was festive, yet deeply spiritual. We stood quietly watching families pray together and wondered how an ancient Hindu tradition had travelled so far from India and found such a distinctive expression in Bali. The gods had not simply travelled across the ocean; they had, in a sense, found a new home.