At an altitude where mist settles over the water for much of the morning, Ulun Danu Beratan occupies a promontory and a small island on a lake held in an ancient volcanic caldera. Its multi-tiered meru shrines, their roofs thatched in black palm fibre, are dedicated to Dewi Danu, the goddess of lakes and waters, in a landscape where every irrigated field depends on what the highlands release. Balinese chronicles place the foundation of the temple in the seventeenth century. The programme sets the sanctuary within its wider system: the lake, the gardens, the descent of water towards the rice terraces, and the ceremonies that punctuate the agricultural calendar. Filmed in 4K with aerial coverage of the caldera, it offers one of the most immediately recognisable images of Bali while explaining the working logic behind it.
