Holy Spring of Tirta Empul Temple

The Holy Spring of Tirta Empul Temple

Jun 15th, 2008 | By devari | Category: Bali Ritual, Place of Interest

What will Balinese people do when they feel that they are full of sins or committed something against Hindu principle? They will go to a special temple called Tirta Empul Temple which is located in Tampaksiring village, Gianyar. It is special because Balinese people believe that this is the only temple where they can ‘clean’ themselves off the sins and bad karma.

The holy spring of Tirta Empul which is created by Bhatara Indra a.k.a the god of rain, consists of 12 douches. Each douche is ‘designed’ for different and specific type of healing/cleansing. Let say, douche number one is for cleansing yourself off sin A, the second douche is for sin B and so on. So how Balinese people do it?

Before they go down to the pool and heading toward the douches, first of all they have to to a small and simple pray first in front of the small temple which is located right in front of the pool and douches. Then they stand firm in front of each douche in ‘pray’ position called sembah (see the picture) and then bend the position up down (curtsying) for 108 times for each douche.

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Wind Mill June 15th, 2008 4:50 pm :
devari,

Let’s assume that someone knows what each of the 12 douches cleanses the person of. And let’s assume that douche number 2 is for sins of carnal pleasure. Therefore, those who approach douche number 2 are by their act revealing what kind of sin they committed?

Is there any significance about 108 (the number of times a devotee has to curtsy)? I know from a Hindu friend that numerology is prominent amongst the Hindu faithful.
devari June 15th, 2008 5:05 pm :
windmill,

literally yes, but the 12 douches is something like one package of cleansing. so although you feel that you don’t have sins of carnal pleasure, still you need to go to douche no 2. in short, one can not just simply choose a douche or two douches based on what sins they have or might have.
why? 1. it’s a package, 2. Balinese people do not just rely on their judgment about what sins they have, they can not take the risk by skipping certain douche.

so actually, with bare eyes, we can not conclude that if somebody goes to douche 2 they have carnal pleasure sins, unless they pray out loud while doing the position which is rarely happening

108 is something to do with ‘mecaru’ ritual (sacrifice something as offering). it is the number ‘bhutakala’ power (negative) that need to be neutralized.
dian June 15th, 2008 6:28 pm :
waktu kesana, aku nyempatin cuci muka hihihi ktnya sih bisa awet muda. bela belain deh, sampe hampir nyemplung
devari June 15th, 2008 7:17 pm :
dian,

kok mukanya aja yg dicuci? nanti yg awet muda mukanya doang hahaha
hare ghene…. get botox pal LOL
ghozan June 16th, 2008 2:04 pm :
Wow I didn’t know about this bro. I went there a few times but never bathed there because there were too many people. But thanks for the knowledge, I will do it the next time I go to Tirtha Empul.
devari June 16th, 2008 2:23 pm :
ghozan, I myself just knew about it 2 years ago. its a purification spring. it works when u truly believe in it. at least that what happened to me