Travel Guide Batur

The village was once built at the bottom of the crater. The volcano's eruption in 1917 destroyed over 60,000 houses and 2,500 temples, and killed over a thousand people. The lava stopped just in front of one of the temples. The inhabitants of Batur saw this as a good omen and decided to resettle there. In 1926, another eruption swept through the entire village, but spared the sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Ida Betari Dewi Danu. Later, the villagers decided to rebuild Batur on the ridge overlooking the lake and build a new temple with the spared sanctuary; the Pura Ulun Danu Batur. Construction began in 1927 and was to include over 260 altars, but was never completed.