Pura Goa Lawah (Bat Cave Temple)
Pesinggahan village, Dawan, Klungkung Regency, Bali, Indonesia
- Deities
- Shiva
- Traditions
- shaiva, folk_regional
- Worship status
- active
- Coordinates
- -8.54806, 115.46056
- Darshan hours
- Generally open daily to visitors during daylight hours; sarong/sash required; some areas restricted during active ceremonies.
- Best time to visit
- The temple's odalan (anniversary) and other Balinese-calendar ceremonial days; the site is also commonly visited alongside other eastern-Bali temples such as Besakih.
- How to reach
- In Pesinggahan village, Dawan Subdistrict, Klungkung Regency, on Bali's southeastern coast road; reachable by car from Denpasar or Ubud, typically combined with visits to Besakih or Kusamba.
Location
Open in Google MapsPura Goa Lawah, on Bali’s southeastern coast in Klungkung Regency, is one of the island’s Sad Kahyangan Jagad — the six holiest directional sanctuaries of Balinese Hinduism — and is traditionally said to have been founded in the 11th century by the priest Mpu Kuturan. The temple takes its popular name, the “Bat Cave Temple,” from a natural cave at the site that houses a large colony of nectar bats, and the shrine complex is built directly around the cave’s mouth, integrating the site’s striking natural feature into its sacred architecture.
Within its three-part compound of outer, middle, and inner courtyards, the temple houses multiple shrines, including a meru tower dedicated to Shiva. Beyond its religious significance, the site also carries a layer of historical memory: it served as a strategic location during the 1849 War of Kusamba, a conflict between Dutch colonial forces and the Klungkung kingdom. Pura Goa Lawah remains an active place of worship today, commonly visited by pilgrims travelling the eastern Bali temple circuit alongside Pura Besakih.
Sources
- historical record: Cross-checked against Wikipedia's account of Pura Goa Lawah during verification pass: confirms the temple, in Pesinggahan village, Klungkung Regency, is traditionally said to have been established in the 11th century by the priest Mpu Kuturan; confirms its distinctive feature is a cave inhabited by large numbers of nectar bats, from which the temple takes its name ("Bat Cave Temple"); confirms it is counted among the Sad Kahyangan Jagad, the six holiest directional sanctuaries of Balinese Hinduism; confirms a three-part (outer/middle/inner) compound layout with multiple shrines including a meru tower dedicated to Shiva; confirms the site's role during the 1849 War of Kusamba between Dutch colonial forces and the Klungkung kingdom.
For review
- The temple's 11th-century founding is attributed by tradition to the priest Mpu Kuturan, a figure also credited with founding several other major Balinese temples; this attribution is treated here as traditional rather than independently verified history.