|
Reco Lanang
One
of the largest statues ever discovered in Indonesia can be found
in the foothills of Mt. Welirang, above the small village of
Trawas, eight kilometres west of Tretes. Known as Reco Lanang,
the statue is just one of a group of gigantic carved boulders,
all of which lie within a few hundred metres of one another.
Apart from their enormous size, the curious thing about them
is that they are all unfinished. When they were commissioned
and by whom are questions which have yet to be answered with
certainty, but a reasonable guess is that they date from the
13th-14th centuries.
Reco Lanang it self portrays an image of a seated Buddha,
almost six metres in height. For centuries the statue has lain,
moss-covered, in a clearing on the edge of a pine forest. Last
year, however, it was cleaned and restored to its correct, upright
position, from where it now looks out across the valley towards
the summit of Mt Penanggungan.
Today, Reco Lanang has become an object of veneration,
recognized by the international Buddhist community. This year,
almost two hundred people gathered at the site to celebrate Waisak
Day, the anniversary of the Buddha's birth and enlightenment.
Watu
Meja ( Table Stone ) lies abandoned in the pine forest a hundred
metres from
Reco Lanang
 |
|
Watu
Kaca ( Mirror stone ) can be seen in the rice fields further down
the hill
|

|
|
|