Pura Lingsar Temple

PURA LINGSAR

"Our second stop was in Pura Lingsar where we visited a temple. The guide spoke super fast and spoke poor English, so I could only follow half. There was a small pond where a man threw bits of boiled eggs into it. It would be lucky if you saw an eel swimming there. And yes .. We have seen him! That beast was at least three meters long, I really did not expect that. We also washed our faces with holy water at a fountain, through this water we stay young for longer. I now look 12 ..."

Pura Lingsar

The Pura Lingsar is one of the most important religious buildings on the island and is also one of the island's most famous tourist attractions. The temple is located 10 kilometers northeast of the capital Mataram in the town of Lingsar. The temple was built in 1714 by the Balinese king Anak Agung Ngurah and beautifully nestled among the lush rice fields. The Balinese Hindus then had the lordship over Lombok, where the Sasak lived and had their own faith.
It is considered a symbol of harmony and unity between the Balinese Hindus and the Islamic Sasak. If you visit the temple, a donation is expected. The temple can be visited from morning to evening.

The temple became thus a mix of Hindu faith and the faith of the Sasak: the Wektu Telu. The indigenous people of Lombok, the Sasak, are therefore Wektu Telu's followers and consider themselves Muslims, but do not follow all the religious commandments of the more orthodox Muslims.
They have opted for a mixture with other convictions, such as Hinduism and indigenous animist traditions. This twofold legacy makes Pura Lingsar an important symbol of unity for all religions on Lombok.
The Pura Gaduh temple on the complex is meant for the Hindus. Another temple is again intended to practice the Wektu Telu religion. However, it is quite normal that the followers of both religions are in 'each other's' temple.

Pura Gaduh has four shrines: one oriented on Gunung Rinjani (this is the seat of the gods on Lombok), one on Gunung Agung (this is the seat of the gods in Bali), and a double sanctuary, that the covenant between the two islands.
The temple is divided, the Bali Hindu temple is located on a higher level and the Wektu Telu is located on a lower part of the complex.
The Wektu Telu temple is known for its fenced pond with lilies. This is dedicated to the god Vishnu and also to the sacred eels, which can be lured from their lair with hard-boiled eggs. There are stalls outside the temple that sell the hard boiled eggs. Good luck will be part of you if you feed the eels with pieces of eggs. You are expected to rent a sash and / or sarong (or your own) to enter the sanctuaries.
Between mid-November and mid-December, the two religions hold a procession during the Perang Topat festival. The highlight is a ritual battle between the Hindus and Muslims, where they are pelted with glutinous rice wrapped in young coconut leaves.

Perang Topat

"Yesterday morning, on my day off, I got the ingenious idea to take a bike ride along the most important temples of Lombok with the mountain bike. Pura Lingsar & Pura Suranadi.
I had seen a map of Lombok and it looked fine. About 13km to Pura Lingsar and from there another 9km to Pura Suranadi. 22km, in my country one hour, maybe a bit more."