Mount Agung’s peak is the highest point on Bali. It dominates the local horizon and, on clear days, is visible from all the way across the other side of the island. Agung is an active volcano, whose eruption in 1963 was one of the most destructive in Indonesian history and had global effects on climate. Agung has most recently been emitting volcanic ash and gases in 2019 and is therefore currently closed for trekking.

Mount Agung is home to the most sacred Balinese Hindu temple – Pura Besakih, also known as “The Mother Temple”. The lava flows of the 1963 eruption went around the temple, leaving it largely untouched, which is thought by the Balinese to be divine miracle and sign that the gods wanted to demonstrate their power without destroying their own monument.

The Balinese people believe that Mount Agung is an exact replica of Mount Meru, the central axis of the universe, which was formed by a fragment of Meru taken by Hindu God Pasupati alongside a giant turtle and dragon.