Taman Ayun literally interprets as “stunning garden’ and is usually regarded as probably the most attractive temples of Bali. Taman Ayun is situated in a phenomenal park with bushes and ponds, close to the village of Mengwi in the south of Bali at about eight km southwest of Ubud and 18 km northwest of Denpasar. ref: Bali Villas

Pura Taman Ayun was in-built 1634 by the Raja of Mengwi, I Gusti Agung Putu. It is a socalled ‘Pura Kawiten’ or family temple, a particular temple the place the deified ancestors of the Raja Dynasty of Mengwi and vital gods of different temples are honored.

The temple is boardered by broad canals and it will possibly only be entered by way of a bridge resulting in a richly ornamented ‘candid bentar’, the gate which supplies access to the outer courtyard (jaba) of the temple. ref: Villas in Bali

From this candi bentar a straight, paved footpath leads through the effectively maintained park past a square pond with a fountain precisely in its center. This fountain has nine water jets, four of which are positioned in accordance the cardinal factors, another 4 according the sub-cardinal factors and the ninth in the middle, symbolizing the Dewa Nawa Sanga, the 9 essential gods of Balinese Hinduism.

The footpath leads on to a second candi bentar which provides entry to the ‘jaba tengah’, the more elevated, second courtyard of the temple.

Contained in the jaba tengah one finds the walled ‘jaba jero’, the third and most holy courtyard of the temple wherein crucial shrines are positioned, amongst others quite a few 5, seven, 9 and eleven tierd meru’s. The jaba jero is only accessible during important spiritual ceremonies, such because the ‘odalan’ – the day on which the inauguration of the temple is commemorated.

The odalan of the Pura Taman Ayun takes place each 210 days on a day called Anggara Kasih, the Tuesday of the week Medangsia of the Balinese Pawukon calendar. The ceremonies of this odalan comprise a period of a number of days. ref: Luxury Seminyak Villas

Due to the 210-day cycle of the Pawukon calendar, the odalan of Pura Taman Ayun takes place two instances in 2008, beginning at the following dates:

2008, February 12

2008, September eight