Bali guide › Religion and temples
What is Bali's religion, and how is Balinese Hinduism different?
Around 87% of Balinese are Hindu, on an island that belongs to the world's largest Muslim-majority country. But Balinese Hinduism (Agama Hindu Dharma, or Agama Tirta, “the religion of holy water”) is not the Hinduism of India. It blends Hindu traditions with ancestor worship and very old local beliefs, and it is woven into everyday life rather than kept for special occasions.
The essentials:
- One supreme god with a thousand faces: Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa. He appears as a trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) and as a crowd of other deities: Dewi Sri for rice, spirits of mountains, lakes and the sea, and the ancestors.
- The Tri Hita Karana (“the three causes of wellbeing”): living in harmony with the divine, with other people and with nature. The idea shapes everything, from village life to the irrigation of the rice terraces.
- Holy water is central: it is used to purify, bless and give thanks. That is why spring and lake temples matter so much.
Temples (pura) are everywhere: more than 20,000 by common estimates, which is why Bali is nicknamed the “Island of a Thousand Temples”. Every village has at least three: the Pura Puseh (origins and ancestors), the Pura Desa (community life, at the centre) and the Pura Dalem (the dead, set apart). Each temple has three courtyards, from the most everyday to the most sacred.
Time itself is sacred. The Balinese follow two calendars: a lunar one (Saka), which sets Nyepi, and a 210-day cycle (Pawukon), which governs the odalan (each temple's anniversary) and the festivals of Galungan and Kuningan. The result is that a ceremony is happening somewhere on the island almost every day, so you will almost certainly see one.
Tip: temples are places of worship before they are monuments. Dress properly, stay discreet, and never cut through a procession (see the etiquette and dress section). The rest of this section shows these principles in action.
Information checked in October 2026.
More landmarks in this section
- Is Pura Besakih, Bali's mother temple, worth visiting?
- Can you visit Tanah Lot, and what time should you go?
- What is Uluwatu Temple, and how do you visit respectfully?
- Can you join the Tirta Empul purification ritual (melukat)?
- What do Bali's canang sari offerings mean, and how to behave?
- What is Nyepi, the Day of Silence, and what should you do?
- Is Taman Ayun Temple worth visiting?
- What are the best temples to visit in Bali?