Meru, an elaborate multi-tiered temple structure with thatched roof of sugar palm fiber called duk, is surely a prima ballerina of many temple courtyards. Towering majestically among other shrine, meru is a symbol of the temple prestige. A temple with an eleven-tiered meru is surely has more prestige than just a temple with a five-tiered Meru.

The shrines symbolize the world mountain, Gunung Maha Meru, and has one to eleven tiers or, as they are called, tumpang, or “levels.” There must always be an odd number, although one meru at Pura Taman Ayun in Mengwi has two. The tumpang are square and diminish in size toward the top, so that the effect is that of a Chinese pagoda, except the colors are somber.

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Pura Meduwe Karang at Kubutambahan, 12 km from Singaraja, and 108 km from Denpasar is dedicated to the fertility of the and is associated with the dry field (tegalan) and the fruit and vegetable gardens (abian) in the same way as the various temples maintained by the subak associations are linked with the complexes of wet rice fields. It is the temple of all those who cultivate the dry fields whether their crops be coconuts, or fruit, maize, or tobacco, or ground nuts, or coffee, or cotton, or lontar leaves, or palm sugar. The list does not include rice because the soil is unsuitable and the rainfall too low in the coastal areas of east Buleleng for the cultivation of rice in the dry fields.

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The Sanghyang dance is included in trance dance genre. This dance is believed to have the power to invite the gods or sacred spirits to enter the body of the dancers and put them in a state of trance. It dates back to the ancient Pre-Hindu culture, a time when the Balinese people strongly believed that by the help of Holy Spirit through a medium of dancer sickness and disease could be eliminated. The is dance is usually performed in the fifth or sixth month of the Balinese traditional calendar as it is believe that during these particular months, the Balinese are vulnerable to all kinds of illnesses, or in the time of plague, failed crops or disaster.

There are 6 kinds of sanghyang dance widely known by the people: Sangyang Dedari, Sanghyang Deling, Sanghyang Jaran, Sanghyang Bojog, Sanghyang Celeng and Sanghyang Grobogan.

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