West Lombok

The island's capital Mataram is in the west of Lombok where the Airport Selaparang is located too. A main sight in Mataram is the National Museum with its objects from Lomboks and Sumbawas cultural history. The trade center of the island is Chakra, a suburb in the east of Mataram. The Mayura temple in Cakra is worth a visit. It was built in 1774 and was the royal tempel of the former kingdoms. It's center is a "Bale Kambang" (floating Pavilion) on an island in a lake. About 4 km from Mataram is The Pura Lingsar temple. The spacious facility serves Hindus, Muslims and supporters of the Wetu Telu Cult a site to pray for prosperity, rain, fertility, health, success as well as ritual fertility and rice harvest festivals. One of the largest and best preserved historic plants is the royal summer palace in Narmada (about 30 minutes drive from Mararam). An old Balinese Prince ordered the construction of the the water palace and temples in 1805 as a copy of the formation of the Mount Rinjani and the crater lake Segara Anak. Actually he wanted to save the time for the yearly travel to the holy mountain where golden offerings where sacrified in the crater-lake as a request for rainfall to the gods. The ceremony is still held nowadays. The port of Lembar, about 40 minutes drive from Mataram connects Lombok on the sea-way with Sumbawa and Bali.