Pura Kehen

This guide to Pura Kehen in Bangli, Bali climbs into the crown of a centuries-old banyan tree, where a priest once had to scale the roots by hand to reach a wooden alarm drum. It traces the tree's own reputation for danger, the exact belief locals hold about which falling branch brings which fate, and the ninth-century inscriptions describing oaths sworn beneath it. Listen for the drumbeat as you look up at the tree before heading toward the inner sanctum.