Prayers and conversations with Desa Tampaksiring: A night of reverence, ancestry, and renewal at Gunung Kawi
Bali, 2022/2023
On the sacred cusp of a new year, I was granted a profound and humbling honor; to take part in a deeply intimate prayer ceremony in Desa Tampaksiring, Bali’s largest region, nestled within the ancient embrace of the Gunung Kawi temple complex. But this was not a ceremony I was merely invited to, it was one born of shared intention, a sacred act we decided upon together before any collaboration or work could begin. The leader of the Desa himself extended the invitation and led us into this space, following our conversations about the island’s urgent waste management challenges, a subject close to my heart after years working in the industry in corporate Norway. He chose New Year’s Eve for its powerful energy, explaining that on this night, the veil between worlds thins and the window to the unseen opens wider.
Together - the Desa leader, the Banjar leader of Eka Village, the head of the Komunitas (community), the high priest (a Mangku), and myself, we entered into this ceremony not only to pray for guidance, but to ask the land, our ancestors, and the Gods for their blessing, protection, and direction. It was a rare and sacred circle, one I was deeply honored to sit within as a white woman walking this path with reverence and humility.
Gunung Kawi, one of Bali’s oldest temples, is carved directly into the mountain, its weathered stone caves silently holding centuries of ancestral memory and spiritual power. These caves are sacred spaces, accessed only by the local invited, under the watchful guidance of a Mangku priest. This New Year’s Eve, our circle began in the newly constructed temple outside the caves, a serene space bridging the old and the new.
As the ceremony progressed, the high priest communed with our collective spirit, guiding us deeper into the mountain’s heart. We moved silently into one of the dark caves, sitting together in the profound stillness of the night. The only sound was the Mangku’s chanting voice, a sacred melody weaving through the thick incense that rose from our offerings, a fragrant veil that carried prayers on the breath of the mountain.
Gunung Kawi Temple, popularly known as The Valley of The Balinese Kings, is an 11th-century temple and funerary complex in Tampaksiring, northeast of Ubud Bali in Indonesia, is spread across either side of the Pakerisan river. It comprises 10 rock-cut candi (shrines) that are carved into some 7-metre-high (23 ft) sheltered niches of the sheer cliff face.
Our prayers were for Bali, for the world, a solemn call for healing in the face of environmental decay, driven by humanity’s disregard and wastefulness. We asked for awakening, for divine guidance to illuminate the path we must walk, so we could do the necessary work to restore the Earth for generations yet unborn.
When we finally emerged from the cave, the first sounds of midnight fireworks echoed from nearby villages, marking the birth of a new year. It was a moment heavy with promise and patience. We understood that the work called for was not immediate but awaited its own time to manifest, patiently carved by forces beyond us.
This ceremony - this night - will forever remain etched in my memory as a gift of reverence, connection, and ancestral power. It is part of the deeper journey that birthed Sumati Group. This journey is not measured in business pitch decks or conventional Western strategies, but in quiet callings from unseen realms, in the guidance of people and places that lead me step by step.
I have never doubted this path, though it is not always easy to follow. Today, I invite you to join me, if your heart is stirred by this call. I cannot promise clarity on every turn ahead, but I hold an unwavering conviction and clarity that this is the way forward.
Trust yourself. Listen deeply to your inner voice. The path is waiting.
