The active Batur volcano is located at the center of two concentric calderas NW of Agung volcano. The outer 10 x 13.5 km wide caldera was formed during an eruption about 29,300 years ago and now contains a caldera lake on its SE side, opposite the satellitic cone of 2152-m-high Gunung Abang, the topographic high of the Batur complex. The inner 6.4 x 9.4 km wide caldera was formed about 20,150 years ago. The SE wall of the inner caldera lies beneath Lake Batur; Batur cone has been constructed within the inner caldera to a height above the outer caldera rim. Historical eruptions have been characterized by mild-to-moderate explosive activity sometimes accompanied by lava emission.

Basaltic lava flows from both summit and flank vents have reached the caldera floor and the shores of Lake Batur in historical time. The last major eruptions occurred in 1917 and 1926. The 1917 eruption killed about 1.000 people and destroyed the Batur village on the southern slopes of the volcano. The villagers continued to live there until 1926 when a new eruption left the village completely in ruins, except the shrine inside the temple.