The island of Bali, which is famous for its many temples and the majority of people are Hindus, saves the beauty of tolerance between religious communities. One of them can be seen through the magnificent Vihara Satya Dharma with a large building of 800 m2
and an area of 8200 m2 which is located in Benoa, or more precisely on Jalan Pelabuhan Benoa Number 108, Benoa, Bali.
Vihara Satya Dharma is one of the places of worship for the Tridharma, which is not only for one religion, as the name implies Tri whi nch means “three” and Dharma which means “teaching”. The three teachings in question are Buddhism, Toism, and Confucianism. In addition, this monastery has an altar dedicated to Balinese Hindu Gods located in its outer courtyard. So, this is what makes the acculturation of Hindu and Buddhist cultures.
The main god or guardian of this monastery is Tian Shang Sheng Mu, a goddess who is believed to calm the sea and ensure the safety of those who cross the ocean. As a monastery built in an international port area, this temple was built with the hope of providing safe travel and shipping, as well as ease of doing trade (business).
In naming this monastery, from Sanskrit “Satya Dharma” means “True Law” and when translated in Chinese characters or characters as , from right to left reads as bǎo ān gōng . (bǎo) means “to protect” while (ān) means “satisfied, calm, peaceful”, so (ānbǎo) means “to keep safe”. The character 宮 (gōng) means “temple, palace”. Literally, Bao An Gong means “Temple to Maintain Security”.
Quoted from its history, in the process of building the temple, the foundation that oversees the construction of the temple collects funds from donations from pilgrims or people in Indonesia, especially Bali, even from Japanese, Taiwanese and Thai sailors. The construction lasted for 6 years until it was inaugurated in 2012. The inauguration celebration was held on August 22, 2012 and was attended by the Deputy Governor of Bali, namely AA Ngurah Puspayoga.
When it comes to monasteries, of course there are statues or statues of gods and goddesses and the interesting thing about Satya Dharma Vihara is the statue of Dewi Kwan Im which has a height of about 20-22 meters. On the way to the statue of Dewi Kwan Im, we will pass a number of smaller statues that symbolize the 12 Shio.