Loving Lombok: River of the Gods

Sate Suranadi bulayak we had had at a forest reserve. Then, it was off to a a Hindu temple there. The majority of the Sasak people are Muslims but long before the arrival of Islam, an Indian Hindu priest, Dang Hyang Nirlata had already brought Hinduism. From Java, he traveled to Bali and then Lombok where in Suranadi he rested. He rested four times and each time he rested, he stuck his walking stick in the ground and there upon a fountain sprung. Today, there are not four but five natural springs here; where in the 16th century, a Javanese priest, Danghyang Dwijendra whom the people in Lombok called Prince Sangupati, built a Balinese style temple, Pura Suranadi. Hindus on the island come here for pilgrimage and use water from the springs  for rituals. The five springs together are called Pancaksara or Panca Tirtha and Suranadi itself means River of the Gods. An appropriate name, don't you think?
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