Mengening Temple is located in Banjar Sarasada, Tampaksiring Village, Gianyar District. This temple is an ancient site which is a relic of the King Marakata reign in 1022 AD. At first,Mengening Shrine was discovered by WF Stutterheim in 1925 – 1927 but was not described in detail. Then, in 1960, Bernet Kempers stated that there was a shrine with some building remains on a small hill.
Based on the report, an excavation and research were conducted, after that the shrine in complete condition including
Lingga Yoni was discovered, it was placed in a small temple’s room and regarded as sacred by the local. This place was built in a valley of the Pakerisan River that has an overflowing water resource. The water is accommodated in a pool and flows through a fountain.
WATER SOURCE
At the Nista Mandala part (the outer zone of a shrine and used an entrance gate) of the Mengening Shrine, there is a pool with ^; very clear water that is sourced from the cliff and the gaps of \i> root. This pool is used for bathing. On the organized beautiful gardens, there is a water source with five fountains that comes from 10 Klebutan (water source) and is utilized as a mean in Yadnya ceremonial procession at the Mengening Shrine. It is also believed to be a place for sout-deansing (Penglukatan).
Besides being used as the mean for religious ceremony, the water of this water source is also used as an agricultural irrigation by flowing through the Pakerisan River.
This is a very interesting place to visit beside old kings’ relic. We can also see a quite beautiful river flow. The water of this River is functioned to irrigate the surrounding rice field even to Pejeng and Bedulu area.