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Candi Sumberawan: Little guardian of the springs

Rough idea: Two models of stupas sit near a heap of andesite blocks, lying idle as they are no fit substitute for the real – and missing – thing

Retno K. Djojo (The Jakarta Post)
East Java
Fri, June 19, 2009

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Candi Sumberawan: Little guardian of the springs

Rough idea: Two models of stupas sit near a heap of andesite blocks, lying idle as they are no fit substitute for the real – and missing – thing. JP/Retno K. Djojo

The mountainous heartland of East Java, once the seats of the Kediri and Singasari kingdoms, is dotted with numerous temples.

Slender-bodied with high, tiered roofs and decorated in beautiful relief work, most of East Java's temples reflect a syncretism between Hinduism and Buddhism.

But Candi Sumberawan, which takes the form of a stupa, is an exception, as it is the only temple in East Java that is purely Buddhist.

Though diminutive in size compared with the mighty Borobudur in Central Java, its philosophical weight and its significance with regard to water preservation makes it stand out across space and time.

Located at the foot of Mt Arjuna, in the village of Tejasari in Singasari district, the stupa temple lies in the shadow of lush green hills.

A walk along a path some 200 meters long takes the visitor to the secluded site of this ancient temple. Farmers working in the rice fields interspersed with bamboo grooves make for a picturesque scene, and an irrigation canal running alongside the path, fed from a lake in the vicinity of Sumberawan, adds to the rustic country atmosphere.

It is believed that high grounds and water sources are the fav orite dwellings of the gods. And so it is regarded as fitting to build a sanctuary here, to honor the gods.

The people's respect of the sanctuaries also ensures that the water source at Sumberawan ("rawan" meaning lake) is preserved.

This ensures the temple's environs remain a water catchment area, with farmers depending on the lake's water channeled through ancient canals.

The stupa temple has a square foundation about 4 meters on each side, with the fringes rising the temple's foot.

The bell-shaped stupa resting on a cushion in the form of a lotus flower has an octagonal base.

Constructed of andesite blocks, it is devoid of any ornament and does not have a chamber to keep a relic or statue. Its simplicity underlines that it is there just to mark a water source that humans should respect. It was rediscovered in 1904, in what was a densely forested area, and is believed to date back to the 13th or 14th century.

Subsequent restoration work has restored the temple to almost 90 percent of its original shape, but archaeologists searching amid the ruins of the previously collapsed temple have been unable to find the top part of the temple's dome.

Archaeologists have experimented with making a substitute for the missing artifact but, as they cannot be sure of its original shape, the substitutes sit next to a heap of andesite blocks. These blocks could be material for the temple's flooring to help devotees circumambulating the stupa.

Sumberawan is another little piece in East Java's fascinating cultural heritage, but lack of general awareness is the main reason it receives public little attention.

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