Gunung Kawi

General Info

• Ticket price: IDR 50,000 (IDR 30,000 Domestic or visa Kitas)

• Parking fee: FREE

• Suitable for kids: ✅

• Number of steps: 287

• Popularity: 🧡🧡🤍🤍🤍

• Difficulty: Medium

Gunung Kawi Temple is located on the Pakerisan River in Tampaksiring village, Gianyar district, about 30 minutes north of Ubud. GPS coordinates are here. Unlike other Hindu temples, this temple is unique because it is not surrounded by walls but is set into the river valley; nine Pedharman shrines for ancestor worship have been carved into the surrounding rocks that serve as walls. The temple was probably founded by King Udayana in the 11th century. It was rediscovered in the last century by Dutch explorers in 1920. The place's name is derived from the words Gunung = mountain and Kawi = statue, which can be translated as statues carved into the mountain. The temple is listed as a cultural heritage by UNESCO as part of the Subak irrigation system.

Once you arrive at the site through a street lined with small shops selling handicrafts and clothing, you can park for free at the ticket office. Entrance is IDR 50,000 (USD 3.4) per person or IDR 30,000 (USD 2) for Kitas visa holders. There are 287 steps from the ticket office to the river and the temple. Upon entry, staff will equip you with the obligatory sarong, which is available for free. The steps are lined with small shops selling incredible handicrafts (such as artistically carved bones, skulls, shells, and coconuts) for prices starting at IDR 10,000 (USD 1). In addition, several places along the way have beautiful views of the river valley and restaurants where you can rest on your return climb.

Once you have climbed down the steps, at the crossroad, you can go left to the section where four large shrines are carved into the rock or right to cross the river on a bridge to the area with five more large shrines and another Hindu temple.

If you go to the five shrines on your right, directly in front of you, behind the shop and restaurant, you will have a view of beautiful terraced rice paddies with a small waterfall, which you can walk through in about five minutes. The path is of good quality with new concrete steps.

You can also walk around the adjacent temple and peek into the temple kitchen, for example, or head up the steps behind the temple and discover a small jungle-covered shrine with a small lake and sacred springs in the hillside.

💡 Tip: You can combine your visit to Gunung Kawi with a visit to the nearby temple Tirta Empul. 

The place is recommended for its exciting and impressive atmosphere in the river valley, where you can admire the surrounding nature and the enormous shrines carved into the rock. A pleasant walk through the valley and rice fields and climbing up the steps guarantee a well-spent day.

Pros

+ Impressive atmosphere of the temple and the surrounding nature

+ Beautiful rice fields

+ Selection of restaurants and traditional shops

Cons

- Some may be put off by the number of steps