Rimbi temple is located on the foot of Mount Anjasamoro, to the southeast of Mojowarno Subdistrict, Jombang Regency, East Java. The temple is located by a road, on a narrow lot enclosed by crop fields. The ruins of Rimbi Temple were first discovered in the end of 19th century by Alfred Wallace, during his trip to Wonosalam to collect some samples of herbal plants.
Rimbi Temple is a Shiva temple, as indicated by relief sculptures at the base of the temple which show the teachings of Tantrism. It is assumed that Rimbi Temple was built in the middle of 14th century in honor of Queen Tribhuwana Tunggadewi Jayawisnuwardhani who ruled Majapahit Empire from the 1329 to 1350. This assumption is founded on two statues found at the site. The two statues, which are kept at Trowulan Museum and National Museum, are statues of goddess Parwati, the reflection of Queen Dewi Tribhuwana.
It is obvious that Rimbi temple, which faces east, has never undergone restoration. The temple, which was built mostly using andesite stones, has lost more than half of its body and roof, as if it was truncated vertically. The base of the temple, however, is still left intact. The base looks as though it had two layers, and each layer is separated by a line with projecting design in every corner.
The body of the temple is narrower than its base, which makes the vertical space on the base an open veranda outlining the temple. There used to be stairs leading to the veranda, and as the stairs are in ruins now, only the south veranda is visible from the ground.
No engraving is found either on the upper part of the base or on the outer walls. However, the lower part of the base is full of panels with fables engraved inside them. The beautiful bas-reliefs, which were finely made using wayang style, remain intact. To read them, one should use prasawiya technique (counter-clockwise reading) beginning from the north side.
The ruins of the temple around the yard of the temple are neatly arranged as a wall fence of the temple. At the eastern side of Rimbi temple stand three truncated statues, which attract visitors because of their huge size. Each of the statues is 125 cm high. One of those pieces is a huge statue of head and lying next to it are truncated statues of chest.
Rimbi Temple is a Shiva temple, as indicated by relief sculptures at the base of the temple which show the teachings of Tantrism. It is assumed that Rimbi Temple was built in the middle of 14th century in honor of Queen Tribhuwana Tunggadewi Jayawisnuwardhani who ruled Majapahit Empire from the 1329 to 1350. This assumption is founded on two statues found at the site. The two statues, which are kept at Trowulan Museum and National Museum, are statues of goddess Parwati, the reflection of Queen Dewi Tribhuwana.
It is obvious that Rimbi temple, which faces east, has never undergone restoration. The temple, which was built mostly using andesite stones, has lost more than half of its body and roof, as if it was truncated vertically. The base of the temple, however, is still left intact. The base looks as though it had two layers, and each layer is separated by a line with projecting design in every corner.
The body of the temple is narrower than its base, which makes the vertical space on the base an open veranda outlining the temple. There used to be stairs leading to the veranda, and as the stairs are in ruins now, only the south veranda is visible from the ground.
No engraving is found either on the upper part of the base or on the outer walls. However, the lower part of the base is full of panels with fables engraved inside them. The beautiful bas-reliefs, which were finely made using wayang style, remain intact. To read them, one should use prasawiya technique (counter-clockwise reading) beginning from the north side.
The ruins of the temple around the yard of the temple are neatly arranged as a wall fence of the temple. At the eastern side of Rimbi temple stand three truncated statues, which attract visitors because of their huge size. Each of the statues is 125 cm high. One of those pieces is a huge statue of head and lying next to it are truncated statues of chest.
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