Bedugul in Bali

If we type "bedugul" in Google, almost certain will lead to travel pages describing the small town called Bedugul on the northern part of Bali island, famous for its beautiful and charming temple, the Pura Ulun Danu Bratan (or Beratan, to some people). It is a mountain area, and Danu which means lake, is actually a big crater.

Pura means temple. The temple of Ulun Danu, on Lake Bratan, built in 1633 by the King of Mengwi, is identified as the `mother` temple of all the subak system (read below this section about subak) on the island and some subak associations make regular pilgrimages to this sanctuary immediately prior to irrigating their rice fields. There are also countless small, roofless shrines (bedugul), which are commonly found in cultivated areas, typically beside a dam or weir.

To put it simple, bedugul is a (small) shrine on rice fields (sawah), within a subak system. It could be said that there are many beduguls in Bali, but only one town named Bedugul, about 1 to 2 hours drive up north from Denpasar, on the way to Singaraja.