Keeping Bali’s thousands of sacred temples sacrosanct is not an easy matter. While temples typically post signs at their entrances stipulating standards of dress and prohibitions against the entrance of menstruating women considered ritually impure, many temples are visited by tourists as mere curiosities that are best suited as a photo stop.
While licensed tour guides will often discourage acts considered to be sacrilegious, it is not unusual to discover tourists standing in the inner sanctum of the temple (utama mandala pura) taking photographs. While circulating the exterior walls or outer courtyards of a temple are widely tolerated, entrance into the centermost part of a temple for the simple purpose of making photos can be seen as disrespectful of the Hindu-Bali faith and its ancient religious traditions. The innermost sanctum of a temple is reserved exclusively for those praying and making offerings to the Gods. Tourists wishing to actively participate in the ritual life of a temple by praying at the utama mandala pura should adopt complete Balinese dress and be accompanied by a Balinese-Hindu who will provide guidance in the transaction of prayers and offerings. Many temples in Bali have a pemgempon pura or a temple priests who forbids visitors from penetrating the middle of a temple. The purity of a temple must be safeguarded and never allowed to decline where it will deplete the energy and power (taksu) of the site.
While the Balinese are extremely tolerant and encourage those with a sincere interest in their culture and religious tradition, the careful traveler will always seek to know and respects boundaries of respect and reference for the ancient religion of the Balinese people.
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