temple located 800 meters north of
Prambanan in Central Java. Candi
Sewu is actually the second largest
Buddhist Temple in Central Java
after Borobudur . Candi Sewu
predates "Loro Jonggrang ".
Although originally only around 249
temples are present, the name in
Javanese translates to 'a thousand
temples,' which originated from
popular local folklore; The Legend
of Loro Jonggrang . The original
name of this temple compound is
probably Manjusrigrha .
History
Based on the Kelurak inscription
(dated from 782) and Manjusrigrha
inscription (dated from 792), which
was found in 1960, the original
name of the temple complex was
probably "Manjusri
grha" (The House of Manjusri).
Manjusri is a Boddhisatva in
Mahayana Buddhist teaching. Sewu
Temple was probably built in the 8th
century at the end of Rakai
Panangkaran administration. Rakai
Panangkaran (746 – 784 AD) was a
famous King from the Medang
Kingdom. The temple was probably
expanded and completed during
Rakai Pikatan's rule, a Sanjaya
dynasty prince whom married to a
Buddhist princess of Sailendra
dynasty, Pramodhawardhani. Most
of his subjects retained their old
religion after the return of Sanjaya
dynasty. The proximity of the temple
to Prambanan Temple, which is a
Hindu Temple, suggests that the
Hindus and Buddhist lived in
harmony in the era that the temples
were built. The scale of the temple
complex suggests Candi Sewu was
a Royal Buddhist Temple and was an
important religious site of the past.
The temple is located on the
Prambanan Plain , that is between
the southern eastern slopes of
Merapi volcano and the Sewu
mountain range in the south, near
the present border of the
Yogyakarta province and Klaten
Regency, in Central Java. The plain
houses many archaeological sites
scattered only a few miles away,
suggesting that this area was an
important religious, political, and
urban center.
The temple was severely damaged
during the earthquake in Java in
2006. The structural damage is
significant and the central temple
suffered the worst. Large pieces of
debris were scattered over the
ground and cracks between stone
blocks were detected. To prevent
the central temple from collapse,
the metal frame structures were
erected on four corners and
attached to support the main
temple. Although some weeks later
in 2006 the site were re-opened
for visitors, the whole part of main
temple remains off-limits for safety
reasons.
The temple complex
The temple complex is the largest
Buddhist compound in the
Prambanan area, with rectangular
grounds that measure 185 meter
north-south and 165 meter east-
west. The entrance is found on all
four cardinal points, however
judging from the layout of the
temple complex, the main entrance
is located on the east side. Each of
the entrances were guarded by twin
Dvarapala statues. This large
guardian statues have been better
preserved and replicas can be
found at Jogja Kraton. There are a
total of 249 buildings in the complex
arranged in a Mandala pattern
around the central main hall as an
expression of the view of the
universe of Mahayana Buddhism.
The smaller temples are called
Perwara (guardian) temples,
consist of 240 temples with similar
design and arranged in four
rectangular concentric rows. Two
outer rows are arranged closer and
consists of 168 smaller temples,
while two inner rows are arranged
in certain interval and consist of 72
temples than the outer ones. The
249 temples that are located in the
second precinct all were made with
a square frame but varied by
different statues and orientations.
Many of these statues are now gone
and the arrangements on the
current site are not in the original
orientations. The statues are
comparable to the statues of
Borobudur and were likely made of
bronze.
Along the north-south and east-
west central axis at a distance of
about 200 meter, between 2nd and
3rd row of smaller temple are
located the penjuru (main
directions) or perwara utama (main
vanguard) temples, a couple on
each cardinal points facing each
other. The perwara utama temples
are the second largest ones after
the main temple, however only
eastern twin perwara utama and a
northern one still remains today.
These smaller temples encompass a
larger sanctuary that has been
heavily looted.
Behind the 4th row of smaller
temples lies the stone paved
courtyard where the main temple
stood on the center.
The main temple
The main temple, with a ground plan
in the shape of a 20-sided polygon,
measures 29 meters in diameter
and soars up to 30 meters high. On
each of the four cardinal points of
the main temple, there are four
structures projected outward, each
with its own stairs and entrances,
crowned with stupas, thus forming
a cross-like layout. All of the
structures made are of the
andesite stones.
The main temple have five rooms,
one large garbhagriha in the center
and four smaller rooms in each
cardinal directions. These four
rooms are all connected with outer
corner galleries with balustrades.
From the findings during the
reconstruction process, the original
design of central sanctuary only
consisted of a central roomed
temple surrounded by four
additional structures with open
portals. Doorways were added
later. The portals were narrowed to
create door frames to attach
wooden doors. Some of the holes to
attach doors were still visible. The
doorways join the temples together
into one main building with five
rooms.
The central chamber can be
reached from the eastern room.
The central chamber is larger than
other rooms with a higher roof. Now
all the five rooms are empty.
However the lotus carved stone
padestal in central chamber
suggested that the temple once
contains a large bronze Buddhist
statue (possible the bronze statue
of Manjusri ), probably reaching 4
meters tall. The statue is missing,
probably being looted for scrap
metal over centuries. However
another theory suggested that the
main statue was probably
constructed from several stone
blocks coated with vajralepa
plaster.
sumber: WiKi
visit the city of art and culture
Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia
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