Pura Taman Ayun, Mengwi, Bali, Indonesia
Whoa! It’s March already! 2017 seems like only yesterday!?! Chinese New Year’s come and gone, but March is also a season of New Years and festivals, haha, thanks to the diversity of humankind! Thank you God, for coming in so many different ways, and for making us with so many varieties of traditions and believes! The world would be so dull if everyone was of one race and one belief.
Here’re pictures of a temple in Bali, Pura Taman Ayun. Pura is the Balinese word for temple. I dunno what Taman Ayun is in Balinese, but in Malay ‘taman’ means ‘garden’ and ‘ayun’ means ‘to swing.’ I’ve no idea why it’s called ‘swing garden’, I didn’t see one swing in the whole place, or anything swinging, except for the tree branches, when there’s a breeze.
Anyway, Bali celebrates its biggest festival, its New Year, in March, a day of silence, called Nyepi. This is the day that no one’s allowed on the streets or beaches, and even the airport (and there’s only one in Bali) is CLOSED!! (Talk about extreme!) No, we weren’t in Bali on Nyepi. We arrived about 2 weeks after Nyepi in 2016, …fortunately.
By the way, Nyepi falls on the same day as the New Years of some Hindu communities in India, for example, Maharashtrian New Year, Gudi Padwa and Telugu New Year, Ugadi.
Enjoy!
A Gateway at Mengwi Town, Badung Regency, Bali
Family picture, Taman Ayun, Mengwi, Bali
Taman Ayun Temple, Mengwi, Badung Regency, Bali
The gardens around Pura Taman Ayun
Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest – What the heck, I might as well put this in. Alas Kedaton isn’t part of Taman Ayun. Heck, it ain’t even in the same Badung Regency, but it is nearby, just about 7km away. It’s filled with monkeys, and bats, if you like that sort of thing. I dunno what it is with monkey forests!?! They’re all over Bali. The locals (or maybe it’s the tourists) must really love monkeys…
Alas Kedaton Temple, Tabanan Regency, Bali, Indonesia
Justin and the bats, c’mon, go nearer, they don’t bite, …or do they? Alas Kedaton, Bali
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