Besakih, Pura Besakih is the most important Hindu sanctuary in Indonesia and the “mother temple” of all Balinese temples. The temple was probably founded in the 8th century and is located at 950 meters above sea level, on the southwestern slope of the still active volcano Gunung Agung. The entire complex consists of more than 200 buildings. There are different districts for all the princesses of the sanctuary. All communities have their own temples or shrines within the terrain, surrounded by a wall. The most sacred temple in the center is the Pura Panataran Agung Besakih, where the god Sanghyang Widhi Wasa is honored according to the Indian terminology as Trimurti – the Hindu goddess Trinity Brahma-Shiva-Vishnu.
Once a year, a large festival takes place in this temple complex at full moon and is attended by many Balinese religious people. Every hundred years, the “Eka Dasa Rudra” is celebrated, which means a symbolic cleaning of the universe. On the last Eka Dasa Rudra on the 8th of March 1963, the Gunung Agung volcano broke out symbolically. A large amount of land was covered with lava, 1.600 people died and 86.000 turned homeless. A lava flow was also moving towards the mother temple, but right before the complex, the stream stopped and the temple complex was spared.
