Danghyang Nirartha also known as Pedanda Shakti Wawu Rauh was a Saivite religious figure in Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

 and a Hindu traveler during the 16th century C.E.. He was the founder of the Shaivite priesthood in Bali.

Early life

He came to Bali in 1537 to become the chief counselor to the Gelgel king Dalem Baturenggong

Dalem Baturenggong

Dalem Baturenggong, also called Waturenggong or Enggong, was a King of Bali who is believed to have reigned in the mid 16th century. He is in particular associated with the golden age of the Balinese kingdom of Gelgel, with political expansion and cultural and religious renovation...

. He left Blambangan, Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

 with his family earlier that year. He left the royal courts of Blambangan after one of one of the wives of his patron had fallen into unrequited love with him. This incident precipitated his departure. Some legends state that he made the journey from Java to Bali on top of a pumpkin

Pumpkin

A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...

, giving rise to the taboo

Taboo

A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...

 among Balinese Brahmins on the consumption of pumpkins.

After arrival

After arriving in Bali, he arrived in the courts of King Dalem Baturenggong

Dalem Baturenggong

Dalem Baturenggong, also called Waturenggong or Enggong, was a King of Bali who is believed to have reigned in the mid 16th century. He is in particular associated with the golden age of the Balinese kingdom of Gelgel, with political expansion and cultural and religious renovation...

. Bali had been hit with many plagues in the years before, and Nirartha presented the King with a hair from his head, stating that this would remove the sufferings. This hair was placed in a temple which became a prominent Shaivite pilgrimage spot in Bali.

Architecture

Nirartha was the creator of the padmasana architecture in Balinese Hindu temples. These temples are considered by devotees to be the embodiment of the supreme Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

. The temples on the coasts of Bali were augmented with the padmasana shrines by the dozens during the travels of Nirartha.

He also created a three-temple system for villages in Bali. In the north of the village would be a temple for Brahma

Brahma

Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...

, in the middle a temple for Vishnu

Vishnu

Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

 and at the south end of the village was a temple for Shiva. This system was used to solidify the Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 concept on Trimurti

Trimurti

The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer," These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or...

.

Religious work

Nirartha was responsible for facilitating a refashioning of Balinese Hinduism. He was an important promoter of the idea of moksha

Moksha

Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...

 in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. He founded the Shaivite priesthood that is now ubiquitous in Bali, and is now regarded as the ancestor of all Shaivite pandits.