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Taman Narmada, 11 kilometers east of Mataram, was built in 1727
by King Anak Agung Gede Ngurah Karang Asem as both a pleasure garden
and place to worship Shiva. Its big pool is said to represent Segara
Anakan, the crater lake on the volcano Rinjani where they used to
make offerings by throwing valuables into the water. As the became
too old to make the pilgrimage up the 3,726 meter high mountain,
he had Narmada made to represent the mountains and the lake. Near
the pond is A place of worship and a spring whose water is believed
to give dedicated pilgrims eternal youth.
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