Pura Besakih is not one temple but a vast complex of temples sprawling across the mountainside. For most visitors, the first impression is of the literally hundreds of delicately towering meru, their many tiered roofs of black palm-fiber thatching pointing skyward like a fleet of rockets awaiting the signal for lift-off.
Pura Besakih is not a launch pad but a landing field for the gods. The central temple in the complex, Pura Penataran Agung, is dedicated to the god Siwa. Pura Batu Madeg is dedicated to Wisnu. Pura Kiduling Kreteg is dedicated to Brahma. There are nineteen more temples spreading up the mountain slopes, each with its own purpose and ceremonial season, but the three dedicated to the Hindu Trinity are the most important. Their orientation in relation to each other and the mountain is reflected in the three raised lotus-thrones, or padmasana trisakti, in the second courtyard of the Pura Penataran Agung, with Wisnu, Siwa, and Brahma sitting from left to right, though some say seats are not assigned.
Bukit's most famous landmark is the temple Pura Luhur Uluwatu, an architectural marvel situated on a headland at the westernmost tip of the plateau. According to the local tradition, the first Uluwatu temple was built by Empu Kuturan in the 11 th century, as one of the territorial temples of the island. Dang Hyang Niratha, the 16 th century reformer of Balinese Hinduism, rebuilt it in its present state. He is said to have elevated to heaven from it premises.
The temple is the best known for its sunsets over the long breakers of the sea downward, but it has also one of the most exquisite architecture of the island.
Pura Luhur Uluwatu, the amazing temple perching on the edge of stiff cliff on the South Coast. Like a ship of stone afloat in the sky, Pura Luhur Uluwatu is poised 825 feet above the Indian Ocean. The temple is carved from the enormous limestone rock upon which it sits at the farthest edge. Ulu means "head", watu is "rock" and luhur implies "heavenly", "ancestral", "original" and "transcendent" all at once.
Legend says that the temple was built by Mpu Kuturan in the 11th century, and then rebuilt several hundred years later by Danghyang Nirartha, the Javanese high priest who brought renewal of Hinduism to Bali in 16th century, in anticipation of his ultimate release there. Sacred monkeys roam freely over this high and airy place.
Pura Tanah Lot was founded by the 16th-century priest Danghyang Niratha out of sheer adoration for the natural beauty of the landscape here. The little temple sits atop an outcrop of rock in the surf, guarded by sea snake. Visitors are not allowed to enter the temples at Pura Tanah Lot, and this is fortunate, for they arrive by hundreds everyday. It's still a place worth visiting. The big crush of tourists appears at sunset; those looking for some peace and quite should go just before dawn.
Besides Pura Tanah Lot there are several other temples nearby arrayed along the coast. The most picturesque of these is Pura Batu Bolong, its mean "the temple on the rock with a hole on it", a wall rock just out into the sea with a tiny temple on the tip. A huge arch is carved out by the sea.
More information:
http://www.baliclick.com/Bali_Place_of_interest/Redirect.asp?ID=2
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