Pulaki Temple

Pura Pulaki is a Balinese Hindu temple or a pura located to the west of Singaraja, Bali, Indonesia. The temple is set on flat land with rocky outcrops as the backdrop. Pura Pulaki is a pura segara or Balinese sea temples, set around the island to form a chain of temples which protect the island.

History
The area of Pulaki has been inhabited since the prehistoric age. Several stone tools shaped like axe were discovered in Pura Melanting, a temple near Pura Pulaki, in 1987. The area of Pura Pulaki may have been a center of a pre-Hindu religion which makes use of a religious building in the form of a staged pyramid. Geographically, Pulaki forms a safe haven which provides a resting place for sea traders between Java ana Maluku. In the 14th-century, Pulaki was recorded as the center for the development of Vaishnavism, a sect in Hinduism.

In late 15th-century, Dang Hyang Nirartha, a Hindu priest or Brahmin from the Majapahit kingdom of Java, arrived in Bali to introduce the Shaivite priesthood in Bali. Nirartha built several temples on Bali including the Pura Pulaki in 1489, the year considered to be the establishment of Pura Pulaki. Local legend mentioned that upon his arrival, Nirartha was escorted by the macaques from the forest into the spot where the Pura Pulaki would be built.

Afterwards, Pura Pulaki was abandoned. In 1920, the Dutch colonial government rented the area of Pulaki to a Chinese trader Ang Tek What. The area, including the temple, was taken over by the Indonesian government in 1950 and was restored and protected.

Jl. Singaraja-Gilimanuk, Banyupoh, Kec. Gerokgak, Kabupaten Buleleng, Bali 81155, Indonesia