Uluwatu Temple stands proudly atop a cliff as the waves of the Indian Ocean splash powerfully down below.

Some foreign tourists, mostly from Korea, were seen on a recent Friday afternoon enjoying the beautiful scenery of the temple accompanied by guides. At some point they took pictures of the majestic temple.

The temple, which perches approximately 70 meters above the sea, on the eastern part of Bukit Peninsula in Pecatu village of Kuta, is also standing at the heart of an ongoing public controversy over the rampant development of new villas inside the "sacred" five-kilometer area of the temple.

Nobody knows how long the holy temple can stand and offer its silent and quiet atmosphere, which is only broken once in a while by the sound of the monkeys that live around the place, given the development taking place all around it.

Uluwatu Temple is one of Bali's six major temples collectively known as Pura Sad Kahyangan, or the place of worship for the whole community of Balinese Hindus. The other five temples are the mother temple of Besakih, Pura Lempuyang, Pura Goa Lawah, Pura Watukaru and Pura Bukit Pengalengan.

Balinese categorize temples according to their function for the community. First are the village temples known as Kahyangan Tiga (three heavens) located in each village. Each village needs to build three temples devoted to Brahma, Wisnu and Siwa.

Second are Melanting temples, or temples located in certain locations like public markets or near rice fields. These temples are a place of worship for Balinese Hindus of certain professions, such as traders and farmers.

Third are Sad Kahyangan temples, or temples to worship the whole universe. These are usually located in spiritually historical sites.

According to Jro Mangku Gede Ricen, the Uluwatu Temple priest, there are two opposing opinions regarding the establishment of Uluwatu temple.

The first opinion states that the temple was built by Empu Kuturan in the 11th century. Kuturan is the primary architect of the Balinese traditional social structure.

Kuturan was believed to be responsible for designing the structure of Bali's customary villages of Desa Pekraman, establishing the Kahyangan Tiga and, most importantly, preventing religious wars from taking place on the island by unifying the different sects of Hinduism into an integrated single philosophy known as Tri Murti, which is still the predominant feature of the island's contemporary Hinduism.

The second opinion states the temple was built in the 15th century by Dang Hyang Nirartha, also known as Pedanda Sakti Wau Rauh, from East Java. During his tenure as the royal priest and spiritual adviser to Bali's great king Dalem Waturenggong, Nirartha played an important role in warding off the Muslim influence from the Islamic kingdoms in eastern Java.

He was also the founder of the island's Brahmana Siwa clan, from which the influential Pedanda high priest originated. Legend has it that Nirartha possessed powerful magical powers and that he attained Moksa, the ultimate state of enlightenment, in Uluwatu Temple

"Until now there are many senior officials that come to the temple to pray to get higher positions, and believe it or not they only need to wait at least seven months for their wishes to come true," Gede Ricen told The Jakarta Post here on Friday.

The 57-year-old Ricen welcomed the Post at his house in Pecatu village, Badung regency.am disappointed by the slow response of the members of Bali legislative council. Why is it they protest now when all those villas and restaurants have already been under development and when almost all the sacred areas are being exploited by investors?" he said.

He said the sacred areas of the temple had been detailed in the regional development master plan and there were three layers of the sacred area.

"The first layer includes the temple's land, while the second and third layers are land mostly owned by local people of Pecatu village," he said.

He said even the first layer of the area was not well protected by the Badung administration.

"You can see many buildings that have nothing to do with religious functions standing inside the Kekeran area (first layer) of the temple that stretches more or less 20 hectares around the temple, let alone areas that stretch up to five kilometers away from the temple," he said.

Gede Ricen said many areas on the cliff that were believed to be a home for wong samar (invisible creatures) in the past have now became home for wong bule (foreign people).

However, he said, he did not want to take sides on the controversy, particularly since many locals had publicly voiced support for the reduction of the sacred area. Recently, a group of Pecatu villagers had staged a protest at the Hindu Religious Council demanding the religious body reduce the temple's sacred area, giving landowners a chance to use the land for non-religious purposes.

"People here are already poor and they do not have other resources except for their land, so it is all right if the sacred area is reduced," he said.

"But I hope all parties can sit together and find the best solution for all rather than pointing their fingers at one another through the media," he said.

Such finger-pointing, he added, would only bring shame to Hindu devotees.