RECO LANANG

Eight kilometres west of Tretes, looking out towards the dome shaped summit of Mt Penanggungan, is the small village of Trawas. Hidden in the trees above the village is one of the largest statues ever discovered in Indonesia. Known as Reco Lanang, the image portrays a seated figure, probably a Buddha, almost six metres in height. Close by, in a clump of pine trees, is another enormous rock called Watu Meja (stone table), which is round and flat and may possibly have been intended as a base for the statue. Scattered further away on the hillside are two more carved stones; one, a gigantic headless image lying upside down in a private garden, the other a stone pedestal (yoni) similar to those commonly found in Hindu/Javanese temples, but unusually large. Who commissioned these huge images; when were they carved and for what purpose? Why,too, were they never completed? These are questions which have no certain answer es yet. A possible suggestion is that they date from the reign of King Kertanagara of Singosari in the 13th century, a period of war and invasion, which could have been a reason for halting construction. The only other comparable statues are the two giant guardian figures at Candi Singosari, near Malang. Until recently, Reco Lanang could have appropriately been called Java's 'Reclining Buddha', since for as long as anyone can remember the statue has lain, moss covered, in the spot where it was probably carved. A few months before this book began to be written, however, the statue was cleaned up and lifted into its correct sitting position from where, after centuries of neglect, it now looks out across the valley towards Mt Penanggungan.