Seeking Spiritual Enlightenment

Whenever an emotional crisis strikes the mind, the way forward is very often sought in spiritualism. This is even more so the case nowadays as modernization, and the era of information technology has led man to further alienation from his inner self. To regain the harmony, many resort to the activities that offer spiritual comfort. This phenomenon has significantly swamped the tourism world and tours of spiritual tours have gained increasing popularity. Since early 1980s, a number of travel agents have aggressively offered packages of spiritual tourism, for example to Jerusalem and Lourdes for Christians, Mecca and Medina for Moslems and Tirtayatra to India for Hindus. For domestic tourists, tours have been prepared to visit Borobudur Buddhist temple and other Hindu temples such as Prambanan and Dieng, as well as to other believed-to-be sacred caves or tombs all over Indonesia. Bali, in this case, clearly ranks as the priority destination since its natural charm offers a great spiritual destination. Tourism proponents have done their best to promote this trend. Spiritual pre-eminenceTravel agents or hotel managements have arranged special locations for meditation activities, together with the necessary spiritual pre-eminence (meditation or Yoga experts) to instruct tourists on spiritual exercises. As Bali Travel News has observed, tourism areas in Bali that offer spiritual tours include Pacung - Bedugul, Belimbing - Pupuan (Tabanan), Pemuteran (Singaraja), Tampak Siring - Gunung Kawi (Gianyar) and Lembongan - Nusa Penida (Klungkung). However, according to the operators of spiritual tours and tourist impressions, the potential region for this sort of tour is Eastern Bali, particularly Karangasem as Besakih, the mother temple of Bali and the sanctified Mount Agung lie in this region. Karangasem also houses Lempuyang and other temples which Balinese classify as Khayangan Jagat (temple for homage to the universe). It is a well-known fact that Balinese community figures, governmental functionaries and entrepreneurs pray for blessings and stay awake all night long in the temple before undertaking any other important activities.Tourism proponents in Karangasem rely more on natural than other factors to anticipate the market trend that now demands more spiritual elements in the package offered. The tourism potential of Karangasem is in fact just as attractive as that of its neighboring regions.