Balinese people believe Penataran Sasih temple to be a particularly sacred temple, because this is the home of the so-called Moon of Pejeng - hence the English epithet, Moon Temple. The moon in question is a large bronze gong, shaped almost like an hour glass, suspended so high up in its special tower that you can hardly see the decorations scratched onto its surface. It probably dates from the Balinese Bronze Age, from some time during the third century BC, and at almost 2m long is thought to be the largest such kettledrum ever cast. Etched into its green patina are a chain of striking heart shaped faces punctured by huge round eyes.
Legend tells how the gong was once the wheel of a chariot that transported the moon through the skies. The wheel shone just as brightly as the moon itself and, when it fell out of the sky and got stuck in a tree in Pejeng, a local thief became so incensed by its incriminating light that he tried to extinguish it by urinating over it. The wheel exploded, killing the thief, and then dropped to the ground. Ever since, the Balinese have .treated the Moon of Pejeng as a sacred object.