org/wiki/Kalasan
Kalasan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1 History
2 Architecture
3 In Popular Culture
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links
Location within Java
General information
In addition, a vihara (monastery) was built for buddhist monks from the Sailendra family's realm.
Panangkaran awarded the Kalaa village to sangha (buddhist monastic community).[2] According to the date
of this inscription, Kalasan temple is the oldest of the temples built in the Prambanan Plain.
Despite being renovated and partially rebuilt during the Dutch colonial era, the temple currently is in poor
condition. Compared to other temples nearby such as Prambanan, Sewu, and Sambisari the temple is not
well maintained.
Architecture
The temple stands on square 14.20 meters sub-basement. The temple plan is cross-shaped, and designed as a
twelve-cornered polygon. Each of four cardinal points has stairs and gates adorned with Kala-Makara and
rooms measuring 3,5 square meters. No statue is to be found in the smaller rooms facing north, west, and
south; but the lotus pedestals suggest that the rooms once contains statues of Bodhisattvas. The temple is
richly decorated with buddhist figures such as the Bodhisattva and gana. The Kala Face above the southern
The temple is facing east, with eastern room also served as access to main central room. In the larger main
room there is lotus pedestal and throne carved with makara, lion, and elephant figure, similar to the Buddha
Vairocana throne founds in Mendut temple. According to the Kalasan inscription, the temple once houses
the large (probably reaching 4 meters tall) statue of the Boddhisattvadevi Tara. By the design of the throne,
most probably the statue of the goddess was in seated position and made from bronze.[4] Now the statue is
missing, probably the same fate as bronze Buddha statue in Sewu temple, being looted for scrap metal over
centuries.
On the outer wall of the temple found the traces of plaster called vajralepa (lit: diamond plaster). The same
substance also founds in nearby Sari temple. The white-yellowish plaster was applied to protect the temple
wall, but now the plaster has worn off.
The temple is located on archaeologically rich Prambanan plain. Just a few hundred meters north east from
Kalasan temple is located Sari temple. Candi Sari most probably was the monastery mentioned in Kalasan
inscription. Further east lies the Prambanan complex, Sewu temple, and Plaosan temple.
In Popular Culture
In December 2016, the fourth expansion of popular Real-time strategy PC games from Microsoft, Age
of Empires II titled 'Rise of the Rajas' featured Candi Kalasan as Wonders of Malay Civilization.[5]
See also
Candi of Indonesia
Notes
1. Coeds, George (1968). Walter F. Vella, ed. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. trans.Susan Brown Cowing.
University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-0368-1.
2. Soetarno, Drs. R. second edition (2002). "Aneka Candi Kuno di Indonesia" (Ancient Temples in Indonesia), pp.
41. Dahara Prize. Semarang. ISBN 979-501-098-0.
3. Soetarno, Drs. R. second edition (2002). "Aneka Candi Kuno di Indonesia" (Ancient Temples in Indonesia), pp.
45. Dahara Prize. Semarang. ISBN 979-501-098-0.
4. Drs. R. Soekmono, (1988) [1973]. Pengantar Sejarah Kebudayaan Indonesia 2 (2nd ed.). Yogyakarta: Penerbit
Kanisius. p. 43.
5. "Malay | Forgotten Empires". www.forgottenempires.net. Retrieved 2017-01-16.
References
Holt, Claire. (1967) Art in Indonesia : continuities and change. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
ISBN 0-8014-0188-7
Roy E. Jordaan (1998), The Tr temple of Kalasan in Central Java, PERSEE, retrieved 15 January
2014
External links
Kalasan Temple (http://www.berhatinyaman.com/kalasan-
Wikimedia Commons has
temple/) media related to Kalasan.
Official site (https://web.archive.org/web/20090603084300
/http://www.borobudurpark.co.id/en-kalasan.html)