Home to the majority of volcanoes in the world, the Ring of Fire occupies a horseshoe shaped series of plate movements and oceanic trenches in the Pacific Ocean. The Ring derives its name from the numerous destructive volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that have occurred in the region during the last eleven thousand years due to the continuous movements of tectonic plates. In fact, it is recorded that twenty two of the twenty five largest volcanic eruptions in the world during this time occurred in the Ring of Fire.
The South Asian state of Indonesia lies on this Ring and the volcanoes caused due to the highly active Eurasian, Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates have led to the region playing host to some of the most active volcanoes in the world with the most recent volcanic eruption hailing from Mount Merapi on Java in 2010. However, volcanic mountains in Indonesia is proof of the notion that beauty lies even in destruction, and this is embodied in Mount Agung in East Bali, the highest mountain on the island. Mount Agung can be visited by any tourist residing in a boutique hotel Bali has to offer in its Eastern side such as Alila Manggis.
On the slope of Mount Agung is Pura Besakih, a temple which is built on six levels up the mountainside. As a result of its terraced nature, Pura Besakih is a beautiful temple that tourists seek to visit when in East Bali. It is believed that the history of Pura Besakih can be traced back to prehistoric times, and was later used as a place of worship by Hindus as well as during the Gelgel Dynasty.
The complex itself is composed of 23 temples which hosts over seventy festivals throughout the year and, as a result, attracts a large number of tourists. Pura Besakih has also been nominated to be a World Heritage Site.
Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry.
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