Underwater temple garden in Bali. It is worth seeing!

The underwater garden in Indonesian Bali was created quite recently, and it looks like a real Hindu temple. His pictures, which appeared on the Web, caused a lot of rumors that this is an ancient archaeological site. Moreover, some even claimed that the “East Atlantis” was discovered. However, this is the work of modern people.

The underwater temple of Taman Pura is located in Pemuteran Bay, on the north coast of West Bali, and is the brainchild of Australian Chris Brown and Englishman Paul Turley, who promote diving in this region.

These statues were placed underwater in 2011
The idea of ​​an underwater temple garden was born to Chris a long time ago, but remained only a dream, mainly due to the lack of funding for such a project. In addition, problems in Indonesia have negatively affected tourism in the country. Then he was helped by the Aus Aid foundation, and as a result, the social and environmental project Reef Gardeners was born.

Buddha statue photographed while diving at the Temple
This project allowed Chris’s dream to become a reality, and in 2005 the underwater garden temple was finally built. One of the main elements of this temple complex is its separate gates, traditional for Balinese architecture. This is a full-size gate, and they were moved piece by piece to the seabed by a team of professional divers. In addition, numerous sandstone statues were placed in the underwater garden: the Hindu god Ganesh, other deities and turtles.

Statues on the seabed and separate gates to the temple
Since the underwater temple is located at a depth of about 30 m, it was accessible only to experienced divers. The second part of the temple at a depth of 15 m was built in 2006 for less experienced divers. The central sculpture here is a statue of Buddha.

Statues at a depth of 29-30 m

This underwater temple complex has since become a habitat for various sea creatures. For example, corals settled on statues, and fish settled in corals. A beautiful temple under the water instantly attracted divers. They make contributions for the project, and these funds are paid to unemployed local fishermen who “serve” the coral colonies around the temple garden.

Buddha at the bottom

In 2010, snapshots of an underwater temple appeared on the Internet, and many took it for an archaeological find, calling this place almost Atlantis. Rumors grew and increased: some claimed that 10 more such temples were found in the strait between Bali and Java. The question was closed when Paul Turley made an official statement that the underwater temple is a modern project embodied by him and Chris Brown, and not an ancient artifact.