BHINNEKA TUNGGAL IKA
The Story of Majapahit Mpu Sindok Airlangga Rajasa Dynasty Joko Dolog Kertanagara Raden Wijaya Shiwa - Budha Gajah MadaTROWULAN
Bajang Ratu Temple Kedaton Temple Tomb of Princess from Champa Tikus Temple Pendopo Agung Trowulan MuseumSiti Inggil GraveyardMAJAPAHIT IN DECLINE
THE TEMPLE OF MAJAPAHIT
Archithectural Style Majapahit's Sites Winginlawang Temple Kidal Temple Singosari Temple Jajaghu Temple Sumberawan Temple Sumberjati Temple Sawentar Temple Rimbi Temple Penataran Temple Tigowangi and Surawana Temple Jabung Temple Mt. Penanggungan Sukuh and Ceto TempleJedong Temple Gentong Temple Kesiman Temple Pasetran Temple Reco LanangGENEALOGY OF THE RAJASA DYNASTY
INTRODUCTION
Legend has it that Hindu civilization and culture were introduced to Java in A.D. 78 by the sage Aji Saka. This figure is often associated with Agastya, the patron saint of southern India, whose image is a common sight on the southern walls of Central Javanese Hindu temples. Not unlike the god Neptune in appearance, Agastya is also recognized as Shiwa in his form of divine teacher. When he first brought the message of Hinduism to southern India, it is said that he stood in the north and faced south. The way in which Hindu/Buddhist culture was transmitted to Indonesia is still not yet fully understood. Older theories suggesting immigration and colonization by Indian merchants and settlers have tended to lose favour in the light of recent advances made in the fields of history and archaeology. The case seems rather to have been one in which the native Indonesians themselves played an active role in the selection and adaptation of foreign cultural forms, through which they were inspired. The great flowering of Hindu-Javanese civilization which sprang up in Central Java during the 8th and 9th centuries may be seen as the product of a dialogue between, on the one hand, the established forms of classical Hinduism and Buddhism, and on the other, the innovative qualities of a society whose traditional beliefs and customs were already firmly entrenched. The oldest datable evidence of a Hindu civilization in Indonesia comes from Kutei in eastern Kalimantan (Borneo). Stone inscriptions, written in sanskrit and dating from around A.D. 400, record the reign of a King Mulawarman. At about the same time, in West Java, there existed a kingdom named Tarumanagara, yet more than this little is known, on account of the scarcity of archaeological remains.
Thus exclaimed Captain George Baker when first confronted by the ruins of Candi Sewu, or the 'Temple of a Thousand Buddhas', at Prambanan, near Yogyakarta, early in the 19th century. Baker, who had been given the task of surveying the antiquities of Java by Thomas Stamford Raffles, then governor of the island, was no stranger to India, nor to other parts of south east Asia. Yet, the extensive ruins to be found in the mountains and on the plains of Central Java were beyond anything which he had yet seen. The remains of Borobudur, Prambanan, Sewu, the temple sites of Dieng and Gedong Songo, are just a few of the archaeological treasures which to this day continue to arouse similar expressions of wonder and astonishment. Through the study of temple remains and the deciphering of ancient inscriptions on stone and metal, historians have been able to establish a quite coherent chronology for the period. Tracing an outline, the ruling power in 8th and 9th century Central Java appears to have been shared by two dynasties, whose exact relationship is not fully clear. According to the earliest known inscription, dating from A.D.732, there was a Hindu king named Sanjaya, who united the kingdom of Java and whose descendants are recorded in inscriptions for the following two centuries.
Sometime during the early to mid 9th century, a marriage alliance between a Sailendra princess and a king from the dynasty of Sanjaya seems to have resulted in the end of Sailendra rule in Java. At about the same time, the great Shiwa temple at Prambanan was constructed, perhaps as a monument to the return to power of the Sanjaya dynasty. Yet, the Prambanan temple complex was barely completed when, for reasons which are still not fully comprehended, Central Java all but vanished from the records of history for about five centuries. One reason for this sudden silence, which began after the palace was moved to East Java by Mpu Sindok in A.D. 929, may well have been a violent eruption of Mt Merapi, which overlooks the plains of both Borobudur and Prambanan. In recent years, more and more archaeological sites have been discovered buried under metres of lava and volcanic dust, indicating the occurrence of a serious calamity which could well have taken place about a thousand years ago.
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