Bali Temples Guide: Etiquette and Which Temples to Visit

Bali has tens of thousands of temples, called pura, from a single shrine at a crossroads to the vast complex of Besakih on the slopes of Mount Agung. They are working places of worship, not monuments, and there's a fair chance you'll arrive during a ceremony. That's a privilege, not an inconvenience, as long as you know the basics.

The rules

The province's official guidelines for foreign visitors (a governor's circular from 2025) spell most of this out.

Dress. A sarong over the knees, a sash at the waist, shoulders covered. Big temples lend or include sarongs at the entrance.
Inner courtyards. The innermost area (the utama mandala) is for people coming to pray in Balinese dress. Signs show where visitors may go.
Menstruation. Balinese custom asks women who are menstruating not to enter temples, and the official rules repeat it. Nobody checks. It's left to your respect for the custom.
No climbing. Not on shrines, walls or sacred trees, and no revealing photos at holy sites.
Height and heads. Don't stand higher than a priest or people praying, don't walk in front of someone at prayer, and don't touch anyone's head.
Offerings. Step around them.

Uluwatu

Pura Luhur Uluwatu stands on a cliff about 70 metres above the Indian Ocean. The inner temple is closed to visitors, so the clifftop paths and views are the visit. Come in the late afternoon and stay for the Kecak at sunset. The monkeys take glasses, hats and phones.

Tanah Lot

A temple on a rock just offshore on the west coast. At low tide you can cross to its base, where priests offer blessings with water from a freshwater spring beneath it. Sunset is famous and packed. Late morning is calmer.

Besakih

The Mother Temple, the most important in Bali, a stepped complex of more than 20 temples climbing Mount Agung. It once had a reputation for aggressive unofficial guides. Things are more organised now, but agree any guide's fee before you set off, and go early, before cloud hides the mountain.

Tirta Empul

Balinese Hindus come here to purify themselves under a line of stone spouts fed by a sacred spring. Visitors may take part, wearing a sarong in the water. The spouts are used in order, and a few are reserved for particular rites, so ask a temple attendant before you start.

Ulun Danu Beratan

Shrines with tiered black thatched roofs, called meru, that appear to float on Lake Beratan in the highlands near Bedugul. Mist often rolls in by midday. Pair it with Jatiluwih.

Lempuyang

One of the island's oldest and holiest sanctuaries, high in the east. It's famous for the split gate framing Mount Agung, and the "lake" in those photos is a mirror held under a phone. The queue for the picture can run to hours. Come for the temple itself: the long stairway to the upper shrines leaves the crowds behind. Our what to wear guide covers the clothes, and our things to do list puts the temples in context.