Country

Best temples in Indonesia

10 temples in Indonesia, ranked by why it makes the list from the catalogue data. Each page tells you what to see, which ticket or tour to book and when to go.

#	Temple	Country	Why it makes the list
1	Borobudur	Indonesia	The world's largest Buddhist monument rises in terraces of narrative reliefs to a ring of latticed stupas, finest in early light over Central Java's volcanoes.
2	Prambanan Temple	Indonesia	Indonesia's largest Hindu temple site, ninth-century towers to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma carved with the Ramayana, staged as a ballet beside them on many evenings.
3	Pura Besakih (Mother Temple)	Indonesia	Bali's Mother Temple, more than twenty temples climbing terraced ridges on the slopes of Mount Agung, at the heart of Balinese Hindu worship.
4	Tirta Empul	Indonesia	A spring temple founded in 962 where Balinese families queue at carved spouts for ritual purification, and respectful visitors may bathe too in a sarong.
5	Uluwatu Temple	Indonesia	A sea temple on the edge of a cliff seventy metres above the Indian Ocean, where the Kecak dance is performed against the sunset.
6	Gunung Kawi, Tampaksiring	Indonesia	Ten eleventh-century royal shrine facades carved into the cliffs of the Pakerisan gorge, reached by a long stairway down through rice terraces near Ubud.
7	Pura Ulun Danu Bratan	Indonesia	Shrines to the lake goddess seem to float on Lake Bratan in the cool central highlands, framed by mountains and often wrapped in morning mist.
8	Pura Lempuyang (Gate of Heaven)	Indonesia	The tall white split gate framing Mount Agung is the famous photograph, and the long climb past six higher temples is the real pilgrimage.
9	Pura Taman Ayun	Indonesia	The moated royal temple of Mengwi, with tiered meru shrines in a walled garden court, part of Bali's UNESCO-listed subak irrigation landscape.
10	Sukuh Temple (Candi Sukuh)	Indonesia	A fifteenth-century terraced temple on the slopes of Mount Lawu, with a truncated stone pyramid and frank fertility carvings unlike anything else on Java.