Pura Sada, the rulers of Mengwi were famous for the temples they built. The oldest of these is Pura Sada, a few hundred meters south of the main road in Kapal, about 15 km to the northwest of Denpasar. The name sada may derive from the Old Javanese and Sanskrit term prasada, meaning a tower temple. There is indeed a huge shrine in the shape of a tiered tower in the inner conrt. The local inhabitants call this temple a candi, meaning a funerary monument for a deceased king. According to the chronicles of the rulers of Mengwi, the son of the first Cokorda or Lord of Mengwi, I Gusti Agung Panji, received a shrine in this temple after his death around 1710. The divinity of the temple is Bhatara Jayengrat, the Divine World Conqueror.

At present the complex is venerated and maintained by the people of Kapal, irrespectiv of their caste or kin group. It was Severly damaged during the earthquake of 1917 and was restored by the Archaeological Survey in 1948-49. The leader of the team of Balinese craftsmen was I Made Nama and is said that the construction of the tall tower was quite a challenge for him and his men.

The forecourt of the temple is large and spacious. A big tree grows at the center. The temple complex is surrounded by a wall of red brick constructed in the traditional way without mortar. By rubbing one stone agains the other, a fine powder crumbles from the surface layers. When water is added to it, the stones can be simply stuck together.

A split gateway on the west side leads to the central courtyard. A second, closed gateway with a three-tiered roof on the west gives way to the inner court, in which 16 shrines are to be seen. Right in front of the gateway is the prasada and behind it a square pedestal with 54 little stone seats. These are shrines for the satya, the servants, and facing them in one shrine together in the south are the three mekel satya, their leaders.

The following story is connected with them: A long time ago, when a king of Majapahit in East Java died, he was cremated and his ashes were carried by 54 men towards the sea in a bamboo tower (bukur) with a tiered roof. The tower was placed on a little boat (kapal), on which were seated the 54 followers (patih) of the deceased and three leaders (makel). The boat, however, was stranded at sea.

This episode has been transposed to the temple and is symbolized in the stone tower at the center and in the pedestals with the 54 and 3 stone seats. The tower is in fact, a replica of the bamboo cremation structure. Close to it, to the south, is a shrine with an 11-tiered roof, called little garden with a pond” (taman). During the temple festival on Tumpek Kuningan, its ‘water’ is used to bathe the god of the tower. This is very convenient, because then a long tour outside the temple to a bathing place is not necessary.

Replicas of mountains which are important for south Bali (Agung, Batur Batukaru) are found in shrines in the north and the east of the inner court. They are always provided with tiered roofs, meru. The number of tiers should be odd, the. highest being 11, which of course is only suitable for the most important peak. In this case it represents Mt Agung.

The main purpose of placing a replica of a mountain or lake in a temple is to save the time and effort needed to actually visit them. This is necessary if one needs holy water for a ritual.

There are more shrines in the north and the east devoted to various divine kings, including a padmasana seat in which the god Siwa in his manifestation as Surya is venerated, and a little building in which a barong mask is kept.