Taking Part In A Balinese Purification Ceremony Continues To Be A Trip Highlight For Culture Lovers

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Made famous around the world by the film Eat, Pray, Love, the deeply reverential Balinese purification ceremony is one of the few Balinese Hindu rituals that foreigners can take part in at any time.

The Melukat ceremony, the Balinese Hindu water purification ceremony, is a ritual performed to help one self-clean, both spiritually and physically.

Whether it be cleaning from negativity in your life or purifying yourself to begin a new chapter of your life, taking part in a melukat ceremony is both an honor and a profound opportunity to start anew. 

Melukat is related to the word ‘sulukat’. Su means good, and ‘lukat’ means to purify. So melukat means to purity oneself in the name of happiness and goodness. 

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The melukat ritual is just one element of the Tirtayatra ritual, which requires Balinese Hindus to travel to holy places to perform a combination of meditations, prayers, and water purifications around the island. 

There are dozens of places where practicing Balinese Hindus and tourists can take part in a melukat ceremony.

The most famous of all is the Tirta Empul Temple in Gianyar, not far from the heart of Ubud. This is by far the most popular place on the island for tourists to do a melukat ritual. 

The temple itself is stunning and a deeply significant place to partake in a melukat ritual. The Acting Head of the Gianyar Regency Tourism Office, I Wayan Gde Sedana Putra, recently told reporters that visits to the temple increase rapidly during the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr in April. 

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The huge influx of tourists in late April and the steadily increasing daily numbers are proving to be good news for local tour guides and tourism service providers around the temple.

Putra said, “The increase in visits to DTW Tirta Empul is very significant, so it becomes a balance during the low season.” 

Professional photographers work on rotation at Tirta Empul Temple to help make business fair for the twenty-seven cameramen that offer photoshoot services on the temple grounds.

One photographer, Made Not, said that during the Eid festival, he and his fellow cameramen made ten times more business than equivalent weekends during the low season.

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There are seven different kinds of melukat rituals; each is completed with a different intention at heart.

For example, the Melukat Astupungku is completed to clean and purify oneself against the negative influences caused by the day of one’s birth that can shape their personality.

Melukat Prabhu, for example, is used to pray and purify oneself for success and prosperity. 

Tirta Empul Temple is a wonderful place to take part in a meerkat ceremony, but it is not the only place.

Pura Dalem Pingit Sebatu is located in Banjar Sebatu, Sebatu Village, Tegallalang District, and is a quiet place to take part in the meerkat ceremony.

It should be noted that tourists must be guided in a melukat ceremony either by a priest, guide, or community member.

The temple’s priest, Jro Mangku Pura Dalem Pingit Sebatu, I Wayan Adi Armika, told local reporters that the temple is particularly magical.

He shared that the waters around the temple often change color when those taking part of the melukat ceremony have a major illnesses or lots of problems in their lives. 

In Bangli Regency, Pura Tirta Sudamala is another significant temple to take part in a melukat ceremony.

The Tirta Sudamala Temple has nine holy water springs, which are believed to be worshiping the Gods of Nawa Sanga. 

There are many tour operators who offer guided tours and temple day trips to complete a melukat ceremony.

Be sure to check out the melukat offerings from Usada Kitchen and Forum in Ubud. The cultural center hosts monthly melukat group trips to a rural community temple in Bangli.

Te melukat ceremonies facilitated by Usada are often followed by group mediations hosted by Balinese high priests and high priestesses for an even more memorable experience.