Lake Tamblingan

Lake Tamblingan lies in a plateau inside an ancient volcanic caldera. Inside the caldera are several dormant ancient volcanoes and other caldera lakes to the east of Lake Tamblingan: Lake Buyan and Lake Bratan. Lake Tamblingan is the smallest lake inside the caldera.[1] The lake location, over a 1000 meter high plateau, gives it an alpine climate.[2] Pristine rainforest with orchids and macaques covers the shore of Lake Tamblingan. Only one village exist on the shore of Lake Tamblingan, the village of Gubug, at the southern shore of the lake.[1]

The water level of Lake Tamblingan changes depending on the intensity of the rainy season. During intense rain period, some temples along the shore can get inundated.

Lake Tamblingan is surrounded with many ancient Balinese temples (puras). The many temples surrounding the lake is associated with the ancient Tamblingan civilization. Tamblingan is first mentioned in a 900s CE copper inscription as a settlement located on the southern shore of Tamblingan Lake. This copper inscriptions was discovered in the village of Gobleg, another ancient village located near Munduk.[3] The ancient temple Pura Dalem Tamblingan is still maintained today, located on the southern shore of Lake Tamblingan in what is now a small village of Gubug.[3]

Due to an unknown reason, the people from the original Tamblingan village migrated to four different places in the vicinity of the lake, creating new villages collectively known as Catur Desa ("four villages"). These villages are Munduk, Gobleg, Gesing, and Umejero. The four villages shared similar spiritual belief, that is to maintain the sanctity of the lake Tamblingan. Temples were established along the lake Tamblingan to honor the gods.[4]

Many small-sized ancient temples dots the area on the shore of the lake and the vicinity. The principle temple Pura Dalem Tamblingan, located on the eastern shore of the lake, was first mentioned in the 10th-century, as recorded by a copper inscriptions found in Gobleg.[3] Among the other temples that are probably established in the same period are Pura Embang and Pura Tukang Timbang.[4] A dalem temple, as in Pura Dalem Tamblingan, is a temple which is associated with death and the passing of things. Dalem temples are traditionally erected at the southern (kelod) end of a Balinese village.[3]

Other notable temples are Pura Ulun Danu Tamblingan which is located on the southern shore of the lake near the village of Gubug, Pura Pekemitan Kangin located on the ridge overlooking the isthmus separating Lake Tamblingan with Lake Buyan, and Pura Dalem Gubug located to the southeast of the lake. Other temples surrounding the lake are Pura Endek, Pura Tirta Mengening, Pura Naga Loka, Pura Pengukiran, Pengukusan, and Pura Batulepang.[4]

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• Lake Bratan