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joint team involved in the ongoing restoration of the centuries-old Sukuh temple in Karanganyar regency, Central Java, recently found layers of rocks inside the pyramid-shaped temple, suggesting that the original form of the temple could have been different from its current visible structure.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post on Monday, Central Java Cultural Heritage Preservation Center (BPCB)'€™s cultural heritage protection, development and utilization section head Gutomo said the restoration work, which began in June, had found layers of brown stones between the black stones that coat the temple'€™s main structure.

Such a finding, according to Gutomo, had led the team to develop three different theories about the temple'€™s original structure.

First, he said, it was possible that the temple'€™s current structure was an extension of a much smaller structure. The second theory suggests that there is an additional structure buried inside the temple.

The third theory, meanwhile, suggests that the temple was built using specially designed rocks that fitted the original shape of the temple.

'€œAll [theories], however, are only predictions, and we need to study them thoroughly first,'€ he said.

Located in Sukuh village, around 35 kilometers east of Surakarta, Central Java, Sukuh temple is perched about 910 meters above sea level on the western slopes of Mount Lawu.

Archeologists believe the Javanese-Hindu temple was constructed in the 15th century, probably toward the end of the Majapahit Empire (between 1293 and 1500 CE). The temple is thought to represent the Empire in a relief depicting a giant eating a human.

The temple, which was discovered in 1815, has sunk 20 centimeters on the northeastern side over the past few decades, prompting the BPCB to undertake joint restoration work, which officially began on June 18 and will last for two years.

To carry out the major project, the BPCB is working with a team comprising Borobudur temple conservation experts, Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University (UGM) archeologists and structural engineering experts and geologists from the National Development University (UPN), also in Yogyakarta.

During the restoration, local authorities have also closed the temple'€™s 5,440-square-meter compound to the public for security reasons.

The new finding has also dismissed a previous prediction that the heart of the temple only contained soil.

'€œPreviously we could only predict what might be the stuffing inside the temple,'€ BPCB restoration working group chief Sudarno said.

Sudarno said the team would need to fully dismantle the temple to further study the material hidden inside the temple.

Such work, however, will not be carried out soon over fears that the inside part of the temple might be brittle.

'€œFor now, we will focus on restoring the structure of the temple. It will need a long time to carry out in-depth studies to follow up on the current findings,'€ he said.

The BPCB said earlier that many temples in the region were in need of restoration following a devastating 2006 earthquake that hit Yogyakarta and parts of Central Java.