In 1963, Mount Agung on Bali, Indonesia, erupted after over a century of dormancy, killing nearly 2,000 people with pyroclastic flows and ash in the Karangasem region. The VEI 5 event had global climatic impacts, including slight cooling. It affected Balinese Hindu culture and tourism nascent at the time.

Balinese artistic and poetic traditions integrated the eruption into rituals and reflections on cosmic balance, influencing Indonesian literary expressions of spirituality and disaster.