Mt Agung, the Sacred Mountain

[Rex]

This is a map of Bali:

http://www.balitraveller.com/aboutbali/balimap.html

Mt Agung, the sacred volcano, is located in the central East.

Besakih, the most important of Bali's 20,000 temples, is on the South West slope of the mountain.

Tulamben is a coastal town North East of the mountain.

In 1963, there was a huge eruption. Lava covered a large area, and flowed into the sea at Tulamben.

The lava flow went far past Besakih, but the flow parted above the temple, and rejoined below, so the temple remained untouched. This is regarded as a miracle by most Balinese people.

The following story was told to me by a young guy living in Tulamben.

His grandfather lived on the side of the mountain. Before the eruption started, the ground shook, and there were loud rumbling noises.

His grandfather thought that the Gods were talking to him, and stayed to hear what they had to say. He stayed too long, and died in the eruption.

His grandson was very matter-of-fact about it. He said that if it happened now, his grandfather would have seen the warnings on TV, and, if he found himself in danger, would have used his mobile phone, and a helicopter would have gone in and rescued him.

In regard to the Besakih Temple "miracle", a Balinese geologist told me that the temple is on a rocky outcrop, and was above the lava flow, like an "island in the stream".

Now, if this had happened 2000 years ago, or 5000 years ago, and been recorded, or passed down by word-of-mouth, what a story that would have made.

And, if the grandfather had "miraculously" escaped, he could have become an intrinsic part of a new religion.

And now, we could be debating whether or not the Gods of Mt Agung are in favour of nudism!

[Rex]

This is a map of Bali:

http://www.balitraveller.com/aboutbali/balimap.html

Mt Agung, the sacred volcano, is located in the central East.

Besakih, the most important of Bali's 20,000 temples, is on the South West slope of the mountain.

Tulamben is a coastal town North East of the mountain.

In 1963, there was a huge eruption. Lava covered a large area, and flowed into the sea at Tulamben.

The lava flow went far past Besakih, but the flow parted above the temple, and rejoined below, so the temple remained untouched. This is regarded as a miracle by most Balinese people.

The following story was told to me by a young guy living in Tulamben.

His grandfather lived on the side of the mountain. Before the eruption started, the ground shook, and there were loud rumbling noises.

His grandfather thought that the Gods were talking to him, and stayed to hear what they had to say. He stayed too long, and died in the eruption.

His grandson was very matter-of-fact about it. He said that if it happened now, his grandfather would have seen the warnings on TV, and, if he found himself in danger, would have used his mobile phone, and a helicopter would have gone in and rescued him.

In regard to the Besakih Temple "miracle", a Balinese geologist told me that the temple is on a rocky outcrop, and was above the lava flow, like an "island in the stream".

Now, if this had happened 2000 years ago, or 5000 years ago, and been recorded, or passed down by word-of-mouth, what a story that would have made.

And, if the grandfather had "miraculously" escaped, he could have become an intrinsic part of a new religion.

And now, we could be debating whether or not the Gods of Mt Agung are in favour of nudism!