Alas Kedaton Bali: Holy Temple Built in 10th Century Inhabited by Thousands of Monkeys

Bali is one of the most religious places in Indonesia, or maybe in the world. A lot of the Balinese people are very religious and concern with their religious activities. Religion for the Balinese people especially for the Hindu people takes a big part in their culture as well, so you will easily find temples in every corner of Bali. Some of the temples in Bali are very old and sacred, some other temples are famous because it is located in very unique places, and other temples are the combination of old, sacred and located in unique place.

One of the temples that included in the last category is Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest Bali. Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest Bali is one of the monkey forests you can visit in Bali, it is located in Kukuh Village, Marga District, Tabanan Regency. You can reach Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest by ride your scooter around 1 hour from the center of Denpasar.

Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest is famous as it is a small forest with monkeys and temple inside of it. The total area of Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest is only around 12 hectare and about 2 thousand population of the monkeys. The monkeys in Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest are similar to the monkeys you see in Monkey Forest Ubud, and the monkeys in Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest are also pretty friendly with humans.

The basic thing is that you have to be careful with them. Even though the monkeys in Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest are friendly and used to be with people, they will still get attracted to things you bring, like phone, camera or your bag. When you visit Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest and you can see big bats also here. Sometimes you can take photos with the big bats in Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest.

The other thing that makes Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest is special is inside of Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest you will find a sacred temple for the villagers near Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest. The temple is hundreds of years old and was built in the 10th century. The other special thing of the temple in Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest is it has different ritual from typically Hinduism ceremony.

In Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest, it is forbidden to use incenses. The people are also not allowed to turn on any lights, like fire or lamps in the area of the temple in Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest. So, all of the rituals or ceremonies or any other activities in Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest have to be done before evening or 6 PM.

The villagers in Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest believe that the temple and the forest in Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest are very scared that they are scared to cut any trees or disturb the natural life around Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest. With this, they automatically keep the environment of Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest natural and good. They believe that the power of the temple in Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest protects the village, so they have to protect the environment of Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest as feedback.