Revamped facilities for Bali’s Besakih Temple to include a new visitor center

Governor Wayan Koster’s 2019 protection plan for Besakih Temple will incorporate a visitor center with a cinema to screen films about the history and religious significance of the site. Visitors will be invited to watch a short documentary outlining when Besakih was built, by whom, and why it’s Bali’s most sacred place of worship before viewing the real thing.

Besakih, known as the ‘mother temple,’ is the largest Hindu temple complex on the island, featuring 23 separate structures sitting around 1000 meters up the slopes of Mount Agung. Despite the mountain’s recent volcanic rumblings, the temple grounds have remained open as the attraction is still a kilometer or two outside the designated “danger zone.”

The plan to build a cinema in the temple’s vicinity is just one part of Governor Koster’s protection program for the holy site. Improving infrastructure and roads leading to the attraction, as well as building a new parking lot, creating green spaces, and facilitating local food vendors, is also on the cards, according to an article by Antara News.

Koster’s scheme has been positively welcomed by government officials like I Nengah Tamba, Chairman of Commission III of the Regional Legislative Council. “We have talked before about the importance of road access to Besakih Temple, because we don’t want congested roads every time there is a big ceremony,” he said to Bali Post.

Limiting tourist access to the inner temple grounds is another part of the cultural initiative. “In the future, a special viewpoint will be erected to allow tourists to see the atmosphere of the temple from a number of points,” said Koster to Antara News. “The temple is a sacred and holy place, we mustn’t continue to let it be disrupted by uncontrolled numbers of tourists entering the place,” he continued. This move is no doubt in response to several incidences of visitors posing inappropriately at the religious site. 

The Besakih preservation scheme is a part of Koster’s long-term objective to promote and protect Bali’s unique culture and nature.