Ulun Danu Temple is one of the tour visits when a sightseeing tour is organized to visit Bedugul mountain resort or Singaraja tour. The location is one the west bank of lake Beratan. The name Ulun Danu, literally means the beginning of the lake but this might not to claim that the site is the beginning of a lake. It tends to indicate that everything that exists around the lake will have the orientation to the temple site, and cleanliness around the area must be continuously kept.
The whole complex is consists of 4 units each dedicated to spirit of Lingga Petak, and temporary abode gods. It look that the temple symbolizes the nature of surrounding as the respects of nature greatness, since the location is surrounded by peaks of Bali mountain chain such as the east is Mt. Mangu, to the south is Mt. Teratai Bang, and to the west is Mt. Pohan. Current pavilions, shrines and basements at the site look to have been newly renovated and no historical facts can be used to trace the history of the temple. The only source to disclose the history of the temple is a chronicle of Mengwi kingdom, a manuscript now available the transliteration from Balinese characters to Latin at Bali Museum, In Denpasar. It is written that I Gusti Agung Putu was defeated during the battle and became war detainment of Tabanan kingdom. The vassal of Marga implored the king to bring I Gusti Agung Putu to Marga, and from here he set the strategy to gain back his lost hand. He went up to Mt. Mangu peak to meditate and request the inspiration. Returning from that he back to Marga and built his palace at Balahayu ( now : Blayu Village).
During the war between kingdom of Tabanan and Penebel which were brother, I Gusti Agung Putu succeeded in helping Tabanan to win the battle. With his victory king of Tabanan gave I Gusti Agung Putu the vassal area Marga. This young warrior continued to subdue his rival. To his success he built the temple dedicated to the god residing on the peak of Mt. Manggu. It is mentioned that the construction of Taman Ayun Temple is just after the construction of Ulun Danu temple. While the date of construction of Taman Ayun is recorded with chronogram reads Sad Bhuta Yaksa Deva = Caka 1556 or 1634 AD. We can use this date as the approximation of the construction of Ulun Danu Temple.
