Monumental JavaScheltema, J. F. (Johann Friedrich )
History
Monumental Java
Scheltema, J. F. (Johann Friedrich )
Indonesia -- Antiquities; Java (Indonesia) -- Antiquities; Monuments -- Indonesia -- Java
his dual spirit, candles are lighted and sweetmeats offered to the
ancient deities taken collectively. The _chandis_ Jalatoonda and Putri
Jawa served a double purpose: devotion and ablution, facilities for an
invigorating bath playing a prominent part. The former, in the district
Mojokerto, residency Surabaya, is the mausoleum of King Udayana, father
of King Erlangga, and one of the oldest monuments in East Java; the
latter, in the district Pandakan, residency Pasuruan, has much in
common, as to ornament, with the _chandi_ Surawana of the year 1365 and
belongs on the contrary to the younger products of Hindu architecture.
_Chandi_ Putri Jawa means “temple of the Javanese princesses”, and
Ratu Kenya, the Virgin Queen of Mojopahit (1328-1353), who spoiled her
reputation for chastity by losing her heart to a groom in her stables
and making him share her throne, as the _Damar Wulan_ informs us, may
have repaired thither with her ladies-in-waiting to sacrifice and
disport in the swimming-tank which is still replenished with water from
the neighbouring river, flowing through the cleverly devised conduits;
or the women of her luckless last successor, King Bra Wijaya, may have
taken their pleasure there along with their devotional exercises before
the Moslim torrent swamped their lord and master’s high estate, harem
and all.
Cave temples have been found in Surabaya (Jedoong), in Besuki (Salak)
and in Kediri (Jurang Limas and Sela Mangleng). The latter, of greatest
interest and Buddhist in character, can be divided into pairs: Sela
Baleh and Guwa Tritis, Joonjoong and Jajar. They are easily reached
from Tuloong Agoong and, though the removable statuary is gone,
except the heavy _raksasas_, defaced figures on pedestals, etc., the
sculpture of the interior walls of the caves remained in a tolerable
state of preservation. Above on the ridge is a spot much resorted to
for meditation and prayer, where the view of the charming valley of
the Brantas, bounded by the beetling cliffs of the south coast, the
treacherous Keloot to the northeast and the majestic Wilis[95] to the
northwest, prepares the soul for communion with the Spirit of the
Universe. Remains of brick structures abound in East Java; besides the
ruins of Daha and Mojopahit we have, for instance, the walls of the Guwa
Tritis under the jutting Gunoong Budek, the _chandis_ Ngetos at the foot
of the Wilis, Kali Chilik near Panataran, Jaboong in Probolinggo and
Derma in Pasuruan. The _chandi_ Jaboong presents a remarkable instance
of tower-construction applied to religious buildings in Java as further
exemplified, conjointly with terraces, in the _chandi_ Toompang. The
surprises offered by the _chandi_ Derma are no less gratifying, firstly
to travellers in general who visit Bangil and, approaching the temple,
which remains hidden to the last moment, suddenly come upon it in an
open space adapted to full examination; secondly to archaeologists in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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