During our first day at Bali, we walked in the Sanur streets, and along the beach, I saw this unique split triangle shaped structure at front or side entrances to temples, cemeteries. Typically the structures have carvings and decorations in the front and back triangle zones, but the vertical flat sections are plain. The slender split gates look more mysterious to me.
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| The gate to heaven |
They are split gates, or
candi-bentar.
A candi bentar is a candi-like structure split perfectly in two to create a passage in the center for people to walk through. These gates are commonly found at the entrances of religious compounds, palaces, or cemeteries in Indonesia, particularly in Bali and Java.
Another explanation for the split gate is that it symbolizes a mountain that has been split into two, and mountains are considered sacred by the Balinese.
The main faces (front and back) of the gate have ornate shape and decorations, the sides of the passage are left completely plain. The passage is usually elevated with a flight of stairs to reach it.
No matter how we interpret the gate, in Bali Hindu, a split gate is a gateway from physical world to spiritual world, a transition from ordinary to sacred.
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| front entrance to a small place for worship |
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| side entrance to a temple |
The two big temples we visited are Besakih Temple, and Tirta Empul Temple. Each has many split gates.
Besakih Temple is the most important, largest, and holiest temple of Balinese Hinduism. It is located nearly 1000 meters up the side of Gunung Agung, it is an extensive complex of 23 separate but related temples with the largest and most important being Pura Penataran Agung.
We visited there on a rainy day. But the split gate at stood out in the forest of pagodas, the split gate to Pura Penataran Agung stands at the top of a terrace, and there are many split gates within the complex.
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| Split gate to Pura Pebataran Agung |
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| Split gate to a side temple |
Tirta Empul Temple means holly spring temple. The temple compound consists of a petirtaan or bathing structure, famous for its holy spring water, where Balinese Hindus go to for a ritual purification called Melukat.
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| a split gate at Tirta Empul |
The most beautiful split gate at Bali is the gates to heaven at Lempuyang Temple - with the view of Mount Agung framed by it. We did not visit there during our trip to Bali, but here are a couple photos of this beautiful split gate from internet.
Note -
Another well-known, and simple gate to a temple is torii, a traditional Japanese Shinto shrine gate. I saw torii in person during my visit to Japan - there are many toriis along
the trail to the summit to Mt Fuji, and at Meiji Jingu.
Torii is similar to split gate in function, and symbolism.
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| Last torii on the trail before the summit |
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| A Torii at Meiji Jingu |
