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Kalasan Temple suffering from salt damage, to be restored
The Yogyakarta Cultural Heritage Preservation Center (BPCB) has decided to totally restore the Kalasan Temple as its structure is unsafe and facing salt damage
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he Yogyakarta Cultural Heritage Preservation Center (BPCB) has decided to totally restore the Kalasan Temple as its structure is unsafe and facing salt damage.
'The beautiful temple, built during the classical period, could be ruined if it's not immediately restored,' said Yogyakarta BPCB head Tri Hartono, after a discussion on the temple in Yogyakarta on Thursday.
Kalasan Temple, located in Kalasan, Sleman, is known as a temple adorned with very fine carvings and coated with bajralepa, a special cement mixture that makes it shine when exposed to moonlight, especially during a full moon. In Yogyakarta, only the Kalasan Temple and the Sari Temple, located east of Kalasan, are covered with bajralepa.
'The condition of the Kalasan Temple is very dangerous for tourists, especially when they enter its interior,' said Tri.
Tri said he would issue a recommendation to prohibit tourists from entering the temple, built during the Hindu Mataram kingdom around 778 BC.
Based on input from a conservation team, made up of experts from disciplines such as chemistry, construction, geology and archeology, the Kalasan Temple has cracks in six locations which vary in width from 0.5 to 6 centimeters. Besides that, a salt attack has caused severe damage to the temple's stones.
The salt damage is attributed to rain, which seeps through leaky roof tiles. Poor drainage has also caused the temple compound to be engulfed by water which is then absorbed by the temple's stones.
'We will make the detailed engineering design of the Kalasan Temple in 2016 and hopefully the restoration process can commence in 2017 and be completed in 2019,' said Tri.
He added the funds to restore the temple would be derived from the state budget, if possible from special funds. During its restoration, the temple's entire structure will be taken down before being reassembled.
Yogyakarta BPCB security, rescue and zoning working group leader Muhammad Taufik said the Kalasan Temple was the only temple currently in a damaged state. The temple, located along the Surakarta-Yogyakarta highway, was earlier restored during the Dutch colonial era in 1928, under the supervision of Dutch architect Van Romondt.
'The Kalasan Temple is a Buddhist temple built by a Hindu. This also shows the presence of cultural tolerance at that time,' said Taufik.
He added the Kalasan Temple was associated with the Sari Temple, located 100 meters east. Kalasan Temple was a place of worship to the Tara Goddess, while Sari Temple was likely the living quarters of Buddhist monks.
'We don't have to worry that the restoration could damage the bajralepa layer because we know its elements,' said Taufik.
A chemist from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, Endang Tri Wahyuni, said the layer contained elements of lime, clay and pirit, or soil containing iron and sulfur, which causes reliefs at the temple to shine when exposed to moonlight.
Experts will reapply the bajralepa to the temple's stones, should it be damaged during the restoration.
'We will seek the clay used to make the bajralepa around the Kalasan Temple. If we fail to find it, we will find it at the Freeport copper and gold mine in Papua,' said Endang, adding that clay at the mine contained iron and sulfur.
