Hello everyone, here is my trip to a temple in National Park of West Bali.The temple is called Jaya Prana Temple. I have never been to this temple before, so this was my first visit.

A Love Story Of Jaya Prana and Layon Sari

According to a local legend that every single Balinese is familiar with, there was an orphan boy lived long time ago whose name was Jaya Prana. The King of Kali Anget Kingdom, encountered the boy one day and took pity on the boy. The King decided to adopt the diligent boy to be his son.

The boy was treated as a prince in the kingdom. He was trained and educated just like a prince. And he grew up to be a skillful, clever and handsome man. The king was so happy and suggested Jayaprana to find a lover and get married.

Jaya Prana met a beautiful girl whose name was Layon Sari. They fell in love to each other and decided to get married. The king was so happy with this good news.

On the wedding day was the time when the King saw the beautiful Layon Sari, the wife of Jaya Prana. The King was astonished with the her beauty and fell in love on the first sight. A raging desire grew inside him to seize her from Jayaprana.

Few days later, the king called his general and ordered Sawung Galing (the general) to bring Jayaprana to the middle of the forest and kill him. The plan was executed. A message sent to Jayaprana to go to the forest to fight bandits that caused trouble in the kingdom border. Jayaprana, with Sawung Galing and few soldiers went to the forest to fight the bandits.

In the middle of the forest, Jayaprana felt no sign of bandits and mentioned this to the general. When he was unaware, Jayaprana was stabbed from behind by Sawung Galing. But Jayaprana was not match for the general, as he evaded the attack effortlessly.

Jaya Prana was startled why the general wanted to kill him. The general had no choice but to apologize because it was an order from the king. He presented the letter from the king to Jayaprana. In short, the letter said, the king loved Layon Sari and Jaya Prana should willingly gave her to the king. The king had given life to Jayaprana, that he should die for the king.

Jaya Prana realized that he owed so much to the king for his life. So, Jaya Prana let Sawung Galing stabbed his chest with a dagger.

A sad news message was sent to the kingdom informing that Jaya Prana was killed by bandit. When Layon Sari heard this news, she did not believe it. She asked questions soldiers she met until somebody close to Jaya Prana told her how he got killed. She went home with broken heart.

The King came to the Jaya Prana's house to meet Layon Sari. He informed her that Jaya Prana been killed by bandits and that she could become his queen. Layon Sari took out a dagger from her room and held it firmly on her hand. And with that dagger, she stab her own chest.

The Stairs to Jaya Prana Temple

It was new moon when I visited this temple. Many Balinese people go to the temple either in full moon or new moon. These were auspicious day for praying in temples.

Located in area of the national park of west Bali, there were many monkeys (macaque fasicularis) around the temples. My family and I met those monkeys when we walked on the stairs leading to the main area of the temple.

 A stick was given by a local to scare the monkeys away.

 A Monkey came to snatch any food you carry.

 A mother monkey and her baby.

Some times, the monkeys jumped on us and snatched food from our offering. We tried out best to get rid of them with a sticks in our hands. There was a couple of local Balinese who also went to pray in the temple and walked with us to the temples. They also helped expelling the monkeys.

After about twenty minutes walking along the stairs, we arrived on the temple yard. In the temple yard, there was a building where the altar is placed. This building was surrounded by wire net to stop monkeys from getting in to the temple.

I could not really find any real reference when temple is built. Like most temples in Bali, the temple had underwent a lot of renovation from when it was built that the original building has been replaced completely.
 the main temple gate called Candi Bentar.

 The main praying area was surrounded by wire net.

 Inide the praying area, there were some people who prepared themselves to pray.

In the main area, there were some people who were resting. I thought those people probably came from long distance to come here to pray.

We went inside of the praying area. There were statues inside the praying area as the representation of the spirit of Jaya Prana and Layon Sari.

A priest sat down in front of the altar leading the people to pray. He wore white outfit, and even his hair was covered with white cloth. One could tell that he had a very long hair even though it was hidden by the white cloth.

 The priest sat crosslegged in front of the altar leading the praying.

 A close up of the priest.

I took a few photos in the temple. Being there for the first time, I tried to see as much as I could.

The couple I met earlier in our walk walked closer to the altar. They bowed in front of the statues. I wondered why they did it, later I was told that people came here to pray so they could have a child.

 The couple in the altar.

Another reason for coming to this temple is to pray for good love relationship between husband and wife. And for those who haven't met their soul mate, they could come to this temple to be blessed.

When we finished praying and paying respects to the God, and spirts we said thanks and left. As we walked out to stairs again, the monkeys were waiting outside. But we had our sticks!

The couple I have met has walked before us. I could see them walking ahead of us descending the stairs. I hope their wish could be fulfilled.

Final Note about The Legend

As walking down through the stairs, I remembered before I asked this question to myself. If this is only a legend, why there is a temple to pay respect to the Jaya Prana? The local people sometime refer this temple as the grave of JayaPrana, where he was buried. But then again this is only a legend.I did not remember studying history lesson about a prince called Jayaprana.

A lot of people come here on festival day. That really proved how much they believed that they will get blessed when going to pray in this temple.

I did my own research on the internet (well, may not the most reliable source, but all I could get.) about the story behind the legend.

The kingdom referred to the story of Jaya Prana could be a kingdom called Lingga Buwana dating back in year 1328. The kingdom lost in war against Majapahit kingdom that Sri Teruna Jaya (the king) escaped with the help of his general (Sang Kala Ngit). Later this general was provoked by Majaphit to betray his king. And the king was then killed by his own general with the similar plan like what has been told in the legend of JayaPrana. Knowing that the king is killed, the queen commit suicide.

And that's how the legend is passed down from generation to generation.

 The priest rested after leading the prayer.