The five shrines
The main group, on the east bank.
Tigerente — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Philip Nalangan — CC BY 4.0 · Tigerente — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anandajoti — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anandajoti — CC BY-SA 4.0
Gunung Kawi, nicknamed the Valley of the Kings, is an 11th-century royal memorial complex in the Pakerisan river gorge at Tampaksiring, central Bali. Ten candi, temple facades about 7 m high, are carved into niches in the cliffs: five on the east bank, four facing them on the west and a tenth apart to the south. It is part of Bali's subak landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2012. Bali's heritage office reads its short Kadiri-script inscriptions as honouring King Udayana, enshrined at the Pakerisan, and his two sons, and holds that Marakata began the shrines and his brother Anak Wungsu finished them. Popular accounts link them to Anak Wungsu and his queens. Legend says the giant Kebo Iwa carved them with his fingernails in one night. The Dutch researcher H.T. Damsté rediscovered the site in 1920. About 300 steps lead down between rice terraces to the river, where a footbridge links the two main groups. Water channels are cut into the bank, a bathing place has stone spouts, and a rock-hewn monastery has small cells lit through openings in the roof. The site is still sacred, and the confluence just downstream hosts purification rites. It is about 18 km by road from Ubud, half an hour's drive, and 40 km from Denpasar, an hour or more. In a straight line, the far busier Tirta Empul is 1 km north, the Tegallalang terraces 3.6 km west and Penglipuran Village 5.4 km east. Wear a sarong and sash, cover your shoulders and remove your shoes where asked.
The main group, on the east bank.
Small cells hewn into the cliff.
About 300 steps through rice terraces.
Penaka hamlet, Tampaksiring, Gianyar
No. Pura Gunung Kawi Sebatu is a separate water temple in Sebatu village to the north, with its own ticket, and Mount Kawi is a mountain near Malang in East Java.
Indonesia's official tourism site and a 2026 visitor guide both give 08:00 to 18:00 daily. Come early in the morning, so that you climb back up before the midday heat.
