Puja Mandala in Bali

The 2-hectare Puja Mandala religious complex has a spacious parking lot in front, shared by pilgrims and visitors to all the sites. From the left, first in view is the grand mosque – Masjid Agung Ibnu Batutah – with its bright green tiled prism-shaped roof. Multiple flights of stairs lead up to its prayer rooms, with ornate gray ceramic laden walls and mihrab. Among the mosque’s antique treasures is an old prayer drum and a handwritten Qur’an.

Right next to the mosque is the Catholic Maria Bunda Segala Bangsa church, with sets of crosses and angelic statues atop its roofs and Balinese style ‘kul-kul’ bell tower. To its right is the Buddhist temple, Vihara Buddha Guna, which also serves as the central spot among the row of 5 places of worships within the complex. This temple is impressively ornate, with large white elephant statues in white and gold at its foyer, bodhisattvas guarding its main doors, striking golden wall motifs and a giant dome rooftop on its main building.

To the right of the Buddhist Temple is the Protestant GKPB Jemaat Bukit Doa church which, like its Catholic counterpart, also features a tall bell tower in Balinese architectural style. The church offers an international service, featuring congregations held in English and Bahasa. Finally, at the far right of the Puja Mandala complex is the Pura Jagatnatha temple, built with the same majesty as any Balinese Hindu temple on the island, featuring dragon staircases and ornately sculpted gates, walls and shrines.

The Puja Mandala complex was inaugurated in 1997 by the then Minister of Religion, with funds from the state-owned Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC). The complex is open for visitors, but access into each place of worship depends on each of their particular scheduled events, ceremonies, prayer and congregation times.