Candi Gedong Songo, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia

 Никола Бенин

Candi Gedong Songo is among Java’s oldest antiquities, a complex of seven small Hindu temples dating from the eighth or ninth centuries (plus several more in ruins).

Architecturally similar to the earlier temples scattered around Dieng Plateau, they don’t so much have the appeal of impressive (later built) Borobudur or Prambanan near Yogyakarta, however a devastatingly beautiful mountainous setting on the slopes of Gunung Ungara, makes them well worth the 35 kilometre trip from Semarang.

Restoration works were commenced in the Dutch colonial period with ongoing projects by the Indonesian government in the 1980s and again in 2009. The reconstructed temples sit on five plateaus within the hilly landscape, signposted Candi Gunung I to V, around a looping two-and-a-half kilometre hillside path. Although the site is magnificent, we were shocked and disappointed to see much graffiti carved into the stonework of the temples, such a shameful disrespect of Indonesia’s heritage.

From the main gate, Candi Gedung I is about 250 metres along the path. This simple square structure, the earliest of the group, is constructed with a triple-stepped roof representing simultaneously Mount Meru, the holy Hindu mountain and the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva (Trimurti), typical of Hindu architecture of the time. Decorated with minimal floral relief, an open-mouthed Kala face grimaces over the top of the doorway. Note also, the carved figure on the stairs whose long curling tongue forms the balustrade.

Candi Gedung III, a further 130 metres along the path is a cluster of three small temples, the most interesting and well preserved within the complex. The larger of the three is dedicated to Shiva, with iconography repeated in the later shiva temple in Prambanan. As you circumnavigate this temple clockwise, facing north is an eight-armed statue of Durga, Shiva’s consort, continuing around facing east, Shiva’s elephant headed son, Ganesha and then to the south, Agastya a Hindu sage. The west-facing portal is flanked by guardian statues, and the now empty interior would have probably contained a statue of Shiva. The smaller temple to the north was dedicated to Vishnu, and it seems likely that there would have been a third similarly styled temple positioned to the south for Brahma. A smaller rectangular temple fronts the Shiva temple, its curved roof topped with three stupas.