Bali is poised to introduce new regulations for visitors, as a result of growing concerns about how tourists behave when visiting the island’s temples. The Indonesian island attracted over five million travellers in 2017, many of whom come to see its more than 20,000 temples; but local authorities are increasingly troubled by the disrespectful behaviour of tourists at these sacred sites and may introduce new rules for visiting them.
The decision seems to have been prompted by a widely-shared photo of a Danish tourist sitting on the Linggih Padmasana shrine at Puhur Luhur Batukaru temple. The shrine belongs to a revered deity in Balinese Hinduism, making climbing on it extremely offensive.
The Balinese government hopes to curb this kind of bad-mannered behaviour by reassessing its temple rules for visitors. Authorities have yet to release the new regulations, but they’re said to be considering only allowing tourists to visit the temples with accredited guides; as well as introducing firmer restrictions on where visitors can walk, how they can pose and what they can wear when touring the structures.
