Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Sukuh Temple

Sukuh Temple is located on the west side of Mount Lawu in Sukuh Hamlet of Berjo Village, Ngargoyoso Subdistrict, Karanganyar Regency in Central Java Province. The temple in constructed on an elevation of + 910 meters above sea level. This temple was discovered in damaged condition in 1815 by Johnson, then Resident of Surakarta during Raffles administration. Sukuh Temple was further investigated by Van der Vlis in 1842, the results of which were reported in Van der Vlis’ book entitled  Prove Eener Beschrijten op Soekoeh en Tjeto. Further researching works were conducted by Hoepermans between 1864 and 1867, and were reported in a book entitled  Hindoe Oudheiden van Java. In 1889, Verbeek performed inventory works on this temple, which was continued by Knebel and WF. Stutterheim through a research in 1910.

Sukuh is a Hindu temple, and was probably built in the end of the 15th century AD. Unlike that of typical Hindu temples in Central Java, the architecture of Sukuh Temple is considered to be departing from requirements stated in Wastu Widya, a guide book for constructing Hindu shrines. The book requires that a temple should be laid out on a square plan with the most sacred place located at the center. The deviation seems to be resulting from the fact that this temple was built when the influence of Hinduism was waning. The waning influence of Hinduism had given rise to the revival of local cultural practices of Megalithic era. The influence of this pre-historic era is seen in the shape of Sukuh temple structure, which is a terraced-mound. Such shape is similar to stepped-mound that is characteristic of pre-Hinduism shrines. Another characteristic of pre-Hinduism shrines is that the most sacred place is located on the highest and rearmost part.
  
Scholars argue that Sukuh Temple was built for purification rituals to repel or release evil power that affects the life of an individual for having particular special characteristics. The argument is founded on stories of purification rituals such as Sudamala and Garudheya depicted in the temple’s sculptures and on statues of turtle and garuda found in the temple.

Sukuh Temple compound is laid out on an area of 5,500 m2, comprising three terraces. Platform on each terrace is surrounded by stone wall 2 m high. At a glance, this temple looks like shrines belonging to the Maya in Mexico. The main and additional entrances that lead to each terrace and the main building face westward, which is different from typical Central Java temples that face eastward. The three terraces are split into two right in the middle by an arrangement of stone blocks that form a stairway to the next terrace’s entrance. 

The gate to the first terrace is a paduraksa, a roofed-gate. The gate’s frame is embellished with long-bearded kala relief decoration. The wall on the north side of the gate is adorned with sculptures depicting a man running while biting a snake. According to K.C. Cruq, the sculptures symbolize Javanese year that reads gapura buta anahut buntut (giant gate biting a snake’s tail), representing the Javanese year of 1359 or 1437 AD, which is believed to be the year the temple’s construction was completed. Above the figure, there are sculptures of a flying human-like creature and a reptile.

The south side of the gate is adorned with sculptures of a figure swallowed by a giant. The sculptures also symbolize Javanese year that read gapura buta mangan wong or giant gate that eats a man. The symbol is interpreted as the Javanese year of 1359 or 1437 AD, the same as that on the north side of the gate. The outer wall of the gate is also embellished with sculptures of a pair of birds nestling on a tree, overlooking a dog and a garuda spreading its wings with a snake clasped in its claws. On the front court outside the gate, there is a pile of stones in various shapes; some have holes like pedestal, and some others like water jug.

The floor inside the entrance gate is embellished with sculptures of phallus and vagina that nearly touch each other. The sculptures represent the unity between lingga (female genital organ) and yoni (male genital organ), a symbol of fertility. Today railings are placed around the sculptures, making it difficult to pass through the gate. To access the first terrace, visitors use a stairway next to the gate. It is believed that the sculptures serve as a suwuk (magic spell or medication) to purify (to heal and release) any dirt that reside in the heart. That is why the sculptures are engraved on the floor in the entrance gate. People will pass through them, and, therefore, any dirt sticking on their body will be cleansed.  

Above the gate frame and facing the first terrace platform, there is Kalamakara ornament which is already badly damaged. The north and south walls have sculptures of men holding a weapon in squatting position.

Platform on the first terrace, which is not wide, is split by stone blocks that form a walkway to the second terrace. To the north, there are stone panels that are placed in a row. The first panel carries sculptures of a man on a horseback escorted by spearmen. Next to the horse is a man walking and carrying an umbrella. The second panel is engraved with sculptures of a pair of cows, while the third panel carries sculptures of a man riding an elephant. To the south of the platform, there are piles of stone blocks in various shapes and a number of linggas.

To the northeast or the rear part of platform on the second terrace, there is a 'bentar' gate (gate without roof) flanking a stairway that leads to the third terrace. No sculptures or ornaments are found on the walls of this gate. This relatively small platform has neither statues nor relief. To the east or the rear section, there is another 'bentar' gate flanking a stairway to the third terrace. This gate is in heavily damaged condition. Pair of Dwarapala statues, which are already worn-out, are placed in front of the gate. These two gate-guarding statues are roughly carved, with awkward and barely fearsome look, and they even look comical.

The third and highest terrace is the most sacred place.

 Its platform is split into two sections, north and south, by a stone walkway that leads to a shrine on the back of the terrace. This platform has many statues and sculptured stone panels. To the north, or the front section of the platform, there are 3 statues of winged man with the head of a garuda in standing position, wings spread. Only one of the three is still intact. The other two are headless. Inscriptions are found on one of the garuda statues dated in the Javanese year of 1363 or 1441 AD and 1364 or 1442 AD. To the north, there is a row of stone panels, each with ornaments of elephant and cow sculptures.
   

In front of the main building, slightly to the south, there is a stone post carrying a passage of Garudheya myth. The upper part of the left corner contains inscriptions written in Kawi that read “Padamel rikang buku tirta sunya” symbolizing the Javanese year of 1361. Garudheya is the name of a Garuda, an adopted child of Dewi Winata. The goddess has a sister Dewi Kadru who is also her husband’s other wife. Dewi Kadru rears several adopted children, who are snakes. Dewi Winata loses in a bet against

Dewi Kadru, so she becomes a slave to Dewi Kadru and her children. Garudheya finds Tirta Amerta (the water of life) that is required in the purification to set her mother free from the slavery. Relief telling Garudheya story can also be found on Kidal Temple in East Java, which was built by Anusapati to purify his mother Ken Dedes.   
 
These stone panels hold relief of stories adapted from Kidung Sudamala. Sudamala tells about Sadhewa, one of the five brothers of Pandawa, who manages to free Dewi Uma, the wife of Bathara Guru, from a curse. Dewi Uma was cursed by her husband because she cannot restrain her anger after her husband asks her for sexual intercourse at a time she considers to be inappropriate. For her furious anger, the goddess is cursed to be a giant called Bathari Durga. Bathari Durga, pretending to be Dewi Kunthi, the mother of Pandawa, sees Sadewa and asks the knight to purify her. The story is narrated in five relief panels.
   

The first panel depicts Dewi Kunti approaching her son, Sadewa, to ask him to 'purify' (remove curse) Bathari Durga. The second panel shows Bima, the elder brother of Sadewa, engaging in a fight against a giant. Bima’s left hand lifts the giant, while right one piercing the opponent’s belly using his Pancanaka nail (Bima’s powerful weapon).
   

The third panel describes Sadewa, who refuses to 'purify Bathari Durga, is tied in a tree. Bathari Durga stands in front of him, threatening with a sword.
   
The fourth panel tells the marriage between Sadewa and Dewi Pradhapa, who is gifted to him for 'purifying' Bathari Durga. The fifth panel shows Sadewa and his accompaniment appears before Dewi Uma, who he has already purified.
   
A small shrine with small statue inside is placed on the porch to the south of the stone. According to local mythology, the shrine represents the residency of Kyai Sukuh, who is the mana of Temple Sukuh.

In front of the main building there are three big-sized tortoise statues. The statues, Tortoise, which can also be found in Cetha temple, symbolize the under world, i.e. the foot of mount Mahameru.
   
The main building is trapezium, laid out on a 15 m2 wide plan and standing 6 m high. On the west side of the building, right in the center, there is a narrow and steep stair   

leading to the roof. It seems that the remaining building is the temple’s platform, while the temple itself was made of wood. The assumption is founded on the presence of some stone pedestals on that platform. In the middle of platform there is a lingga, of which the pair (the linga) is kept in National Museum, Jakarta.
   
Preservation efforts of Sukuh temple have been conducted since the Dutch era. The first restoration works were carried out by the Archaeological Agency in 1917. The second were organized in the 1970s by the Department of Education and Culture.




























  

Sewu Temple

Sewu Temple is located in Bener Hamlet, Bugisan Village, Prambanan Subdistrict, Klaten Regency, Central Java. It is around 17 km from Yogyakarta en route to Solo. Sewu Temple is a temple complex located nearby Prambanan Temple, approximately 800 meters to the south of Rara Jongrang statue. 

This temple was probably built in 8th century by Rakai Panangkaran (746-784 AD) and Rakai Pikatan, the kings of Mataram Kingdom. Mataram was under the influence of Syailendra family, who were Buddhist. Scholars estimate that Sewu Temple was the center of religious activities of Buddhist people. The assumption is founded on the content of andesite stone inscription discovered in one of the ancillary temples. The sculpture, known to be Manjusrigita, is written in Ancient Malay dated in the Javanese year of 792. The stone inscription describes prasada purification rituals called Wajrasana Manjusrigrha in the Javanese year of 714 (792 AD). Manjusri is also mentioned in Kelurak stone inscription of 782 AD, discovered near Lumbung temple.

Thousand Temple is situated next to Prambanan Temple, making it part of Prambanan Temple tourism area. The area also has Lumbung Temple and Bubrah Temple. Not far from the area, there are several other temples, namely Gana Temple, around 300 m to the east, Kulon Temple, 300 m to the west, and Lor Temple, around 200 m to the north. Sewu Temple, the second biggest Buddhist temple after Borobudur, and Prambanan temple, which is a Hindu temple, indicate that during the period Hindu and Buddhist communities had lived a harmonious coexisting life. 

The name “Sewu” (from Javanese word, means thousand) indicates that there are many shrines included in the Sewu Temple compound, although their number does not reach a thousand. Sewu Temple has 249 shrines; 1 main temple, 8 flanking or intermediate shrines, and 240 ancillary shrines. The main temple is located at the center, surrounded on its four sides by flanking shrines and ancillary shrines in symmetrical arrangement.

Sewu Temple has four gates on the east, north, west, and south that lead to the outer court, and each of them is guarded by a couple of Dwarapala statues facing each other. From the outer court into the inner court, there are also four gates, each guarded by a couple of Dwarapala statues similar to those at the outer gates.

Each of the Dwarapala statues is made of a single block of stone, placed on a square base 1.2 m high with one leg on its knee, the other one bended, and one hand holding a club. The statue stands 2.3 m high.

The main temple is laid out on a square area 40 m2 wide, encircled by stone wall 0.85 m high. This temple is polygon in shape with 20 angles and 29 m in diameter. The structure stands 30 m high with 9 roofs, each of which has stupa on top.
   
The temple’s body is constructed on a 2.5 m high platform. The base is adorned with reliefs of flowers in vases. To go to the temple platform, which forms a walkway, one can use 2 m-wide stairs with stone railings. The end of each railing holds a makara, dragon’s head with open mouth, with Buddha statue inside. The outer part of the railing is adorned with Kalpawreksa, a figure of giant.
   
There is no Kalamakara above the door frame, but the walls on the left and right hand sides of the door have statues of dragon’s head with open mouth. Unlike the one at the end of the railings, which has a Buddha statue inside, this dragon’s mouth has a lion inside.

The main entrance of the main temple, which is made of andesite blocks, is located on the east, and it can be said that this structure faces east. In addition to the main entrance, there three other doors facing towards the north, west, and south. The entire doors have a small porch. The chamber inside the temple body is cube-shaped, with walls made of red bricks. The chamber contains an 'asana'. This temple’s outer walls and the base of its roof have niches that hold Buddha statues in various positions.
   
The entire 'perwara' (ancillary) and 'apit' (flanking) shrines are located in the outer court. The flanking shrines are laid out between the main temple and the ancillary shrines. Each pair of the flanking shrines faces each other and is separated by a walkway leading to the main temple.
   
The flanking shrines are constructed on 1 m high platforms and have 1 meter-wide stairs heading for the temple base. The door frame does not have Kalamakara statues, but a number of paneled reliefs. The roof has a stupa with smaller stupas around its base. The walls of the flanking shrines are adorned with male figures dressed in imperial clothing in standing position.
   
The ancillary shrines are constructed on an arrangement of four rows encircling the main temple and flanking shrines. The innermost row has 28 shrines, the second has 44 shrines, the third has 80 shrines, and the fourth has 88 shrines. The entire ancillary shrines, except those in the third row, face the outside or have the main temple on its background. Only shrines in the third row face the main temple. Most of these shrines are in damaged condition, with only piles of stones left.
















































Sari Temple

Sari temple is located in Bendan hamlet of Tirtamartani village, Kalasan, Sleman about 10 kilometers from Yogyakarta, and only around 3 kilometers from Kalasan temple. The temple is also named after the hamlet where it is situated. 

It is estimated that the temple was built at the same time as Kalasan temple on the 8th century AD during the rule of King Panangkaran. The two temples indeed have many similarities either in its architecture or relief. That these temples are correlated is stated in Kalasan inscription (700 Saka/778 AD). The inscription mentions that the spiritual advisors of Syailendra dynasty suggested King Tejapurnama Panangkarana or Rakai Panangkaran to build a shrine and a monastery for Buddhist monks. Following the suggestion, the king built Kalasan temple to the worship of Dewi Tara Sari temple as a monastery for Buddhist monks. That Sari temple serves as a monastery is indicated in the temple’s structures, structural components, and interior. The bell-shaped stupa on top indicates that this is a Buddhist temple.

Sari temple was discovered in ruins in the early 20th century. The first restoration was conducted between 1929 and 1930. Kempers said that the first restoration was not satisfying, as it failed to restore the temple to its original form because parts of the temple could not be found. In addition, parts of the temple had crumbled when they were discovered. 

In the 19th century, ruins of temple, probably a monastery, were found around 130 meters from Kalasan temple. Sari temple is only a part of a group of temples no longer in existence. It is estimated that the temple was surrounded by stonewalls. As that of Plaosan monastery, the entrance door of the Sari temple is guarded by a couple of Dwarapala statues holding a cudgel and snake. 

Sari temple is laid out on a rectangular plan 17.30 x 10 m in dimension, although it is believed that the original dimension was wider because the temple’s original base projects around 1.60 meters. The temple stands around 18 meters from bottom to the top. The temple’s gate, which is around one-third of the temple’s face and half of the temple’s height, has already gone, leaving only traces connecting the gate and the front wall.

According to Kempers, Sari temple was originally a building with two or even three floors. The upper floors served as storage of religious objects, while the lower floor was to accommodate religious activities such as teaching and learning, discussion, and so on. The wall of the temple is coated with vajralepa (bajralepa), similar to the wall of Kalasan temple is. That the temple is divided into two floors is already visible from the outside with the presence of projecting part like a belt around the temple’s body. The division becomes more apparent with the pillar arrangement along the wall of the lower floor and with niches along the wall of the second floor.

Niches along the outside walls of the upper and lower floors, which had probably held Buddha statues, are empty. The temple’s outer walls are adorned with statues and other beautiful ornaments. Each of the door and window frames is flanked by statues of man and woman standing and holding lotus flowers. There are a total of 36 statues; 8 on the front wall (east), 8 on south wall, and the 12 on the west wall (back). The size of each statue is as big as human figure.

At the other parts of the wall, there are various designs of decoration, such as Kinara Kinari (man-headed bird), twining plants and kumuda (leaves and flowers creeping out of a spherical jar). There is a Kalamakara above the window frame and niches sculptured without its lower jaw. The Kalamakara looks very decorative and far from being frightening. As it is the case at Kalasan Temple, there is Vajralepa coating applied over the walls of Sari Temple. Vajralepa is an agent that preserves and brightens stones.
   
The stairway accessing the temple base has crumbled. Next to the stairway, there is a stone pedestal. It is unclear though, whether the pedestal belongs to that place or not. However, the pedestal was half buried to the ground.

The entrance is located in the middle of east side. In the original design, the entrance was preceded by a corbelled roof. As the corbelled roof has fallen into ruins, the entrance is clearly seen from outside. The embellishment on the entrance frame and the Kalamakara on the frame are simple because the more beautiful decorations were on the corbelled roof.

There is a row of three chambers inside the temple. Each chamber is 3.48 meters x 5.80 meters. There are windows and doors connecting the middle chamber to the flanking chambers. Those chambers are designed to be two-storeyed chambers. Each chamber is divided into two storeys using planks of wood supported by 14 wooden beams. Therefore, there are actually six chambers inside the temple. At the back wall of each chamber, there is a shelf placed rather high on the wall. People used to use the shelf to pray or to place relics. At the lower storey, there are pedestals and recesses on the wall for holding statues. However, no statue is found here. At the south and north chambers, there are niches on the wall to place illumination.
   
Although the floors and other wooden parts of the structure are not seen at the site, there are holes in the walls in which people used to fit wooden beams. At the south chamber, there are stones on the wall that with slanting markings. Those markings are meant to support the edges of wooden steps.
   
The temple roof is a rectangular block of stones ornamented with three niches on each side. The niche frame is decorated with sculptures of twining plants and there is a Kalamakara above the frame. At the top of the temple, there are rows of stupas. There is a stupa on each corner of the roof, and there is a stupa at the middle of each roof side. Sari Temple was undergoing restoration when the pictures shown here were taken in March 2003.