Pura Besakih is not one temple but a vast complex of temples sprawling across the mountainside. For most visitors, the first impression is of the literally hundreds of delicately towering meru, their many tiered roofs of black palm-fiber thatching pointing skyward like a fleet of rockets awaiting the signal for lift-off.

Pura Besakih is not a launch pad but a landing field for the gods. The central temple in the complex, Pura Penataran Agung, is dedicated to the god Siwa. Pura Batu Madeg is dedicated to Wisnu. Pura Kiduling Kreteg is dedicated to Brahma. There are nineteen more temples spreading up the mountain slopes, each with its own purpose and ceremonial season, but the three dedicated to the Hindu Trinity are the most important. Their orientation in relation to each other and the mountain is reflected in the three raised lotus-thrones, or padmasana trisakti, in the second courtyard of the Pura Penataran Agung, with Wisnu, Siwa, and Brahma sitting from left to right, though some say seats are not assigned