Dieng temples

The Candi Puntadewa

The Candi Gatokaca

It is unclear when they were built, and were estimated to range from mid 7th century to end of 8th century CE; they are the oldest known standing stone structures in Central Java.[4][5] They are originally thought to have numbered 400 but only eight remain after local farmers removed stone following the draining of the lake in the 19th century.[4]

Examining the Javanese temple architectural styles, archaeologist grouped the Dieng temples within the Northern Central Javanese style, together with Gedong Songo temples, and to some extents also includes the East Javanese Badut temple, and West Javanese Cangkuang and Bojongmenje temple, and suggested that all of these temples are built within the same period, ranges from 7th to 8th century. An inscription discovered near Arjuna temple in Dieng was dated circa 808-809 CE, it was the oldest surviving specimen of old Javanese script, which revealed that the Dieng temple is continuously inhabited from mid 7th to early 9th century.[6]

The Dieng temples was rediscovered in 1814 by a visiting British soldier that spotted temples ruin lies in the middle of a lake. At that time the plain surrounding Arjuna cluster was flooded with water and forming small lake. In 1856, Isidore van Kinsbergen led an effort to drain the lake in order to reveal the temples. The Dutch East Indies Government continued the reconstruction project in 1864, followed by further study and photographs taken by Van Kinsbergen. The temples are now believed to have been named after the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata.[7]

The temples are clustered around three groups; Arjuna, Dwarawati and Gatotkaca clusters, while Bima temple was constructed as a separate single temple.

Bima temple

Candi Bima temple, Dieng temples, 8th century

Bima temple is a single temple situated on a hill separated from the rest of Dieng temples. This temple is the largest and tallest building in the Dieng temple compound. The shape is different from temples in Central Java in general, and the other temples at this site, and relates more closely to Indian temples. In particular it has been compared to the Parashurameshvara Temple (c. 650) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha,[4] and the very different temple at Bhitargaon.[8] The 7th-century Laxman Temple at Sirpur is closer.

The temple base has a square ground-plan, the facade on each side are slightly protruding out. The front facade protrudes about 1.5 m, serves as a porch before entering the temple's main chamber. Facades on the other three sides forming niches where originally statues or images were stored, currently all niches are empty.

The roof of the temple consists of 5 levels, with each level are decreasing in size upward. Each level is decorated with lotus double seam and gavaksha or kudu niches. These are "window"-shaped arches common as a motif in Hindu temple architecture. Here each contains a head looking out. Such ornaments also can be found in other Javanese temples, such as Kalasan, Gebang and Merak temple. The pinnacle of the roof is missing and its original form is unknown. There are amalaka-type segmented rings at the corners at one level, and the ornament with corbels, leaves and festoons on the lower cornices, below the gavakshas, suggest influence from Chinese Buddhist art.

The temples are small shrines built as monuments to the god-ancestors and dedicated to Shiva.[3] The Hindu shrines are miniature cosmic mountains based on plans in Indian religious texts, although Schoppert suggests that though the plans follow Indian texts, the ornament has "design motifs which for the most part have no clear correlate in India".[9] In 2011, in a review published by Romain,[4] the temples were related to Dravida and Pallava style temples of South India.

The temples all have a single chamber inside, with one entrance, sometimes extended to make a small vestibule. The chambers are raised on plinths, and a cornice outside indicates their height inside. There is (or in some cases was) a high superstructure rising above the chamber, for which a variety of Indian forms are used in different temples.[3]

Early North Central Javanese temple architecture is noted for its smaller size, simplicity and relatively lack of ornaments compared to richly decorated and massive temples of Southern Central Java, such as Kalasan, Sewu, and Prambanan.[10] The temples of North Central Java are grouped in irregular clusters, with individual variations of temples styles. This is in contrast to concentric mandala plan of Southern Central Java temples with uniform design of perwara (ancillary) temples.

The earliest architectural usage of the Javanese kala demonic masks and makara marine monsters are exhibited along the niches and doorways of the remaining structures.[3]

The Dieng structures were small and relatively plain, but stone architecture developed substantially in only a matter of decades resulting in masterpieces such as the Prambanan complex and Borobudur.

• 
  Arjuna temple
• 
  Doorway of the Arjuna temple
• 
  Srikandi temple
• 
  Sembadra temple
• 
  Dwarawati temple
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  Bima temple
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  Gatotkaca temple
• 
  Sculpture of Shiva Trimukha, Kailasa Museum

Dieng's misty location almost 2,093 m above sea level, its poisonous effusions and sulphur-coloured lakes make it a particularly auspicious place for religious tribute. The theory that poisonous effusions make it auspicious is now disputed as volcanic activity in this area from 7th to 9th century is yet to established, and records suggest the temple was abandoned after volcanic eruptions became common in central Java.

• Dieng Volcanic Complex
• Candi of Indonesia
• Indonesian architecture

• Backshall, Stephan et al. (1999) Indonesia The Rough Guide London Penguin ISBN 1-85828-429-5 pp. 190–195
• Dalton, Bill Indonesia Handbook fourth edition pp. 280–283
• Dumarcay, J and Miksic J. Temples of the Dieng Plateau in Miksic, John 1996 (editor) 1996 Ancient History Volume 1 of Indonesian Heritage Series Archipleago Press, Singapore. ISBN 981-3018-26-7
• Michell, George, (1977) The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to its Meaning and Forms". pp. 160–161. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-53230-1
• Witton, Patrick (2003). Indonesia (7th edition). Melbourne: Lonely Planet. pp. 209–211. ISBN 1-74059-154-2.