Kalasan ( id, Candi Kalasan, Javanese: ''Candhi Kalasan''), also known as Candi Kalibening, is an 8th-century Buddhist temple in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is located east of

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

on the way to

Prambanan Prambanan ( id, Candi Prambanan, jv, ꦫꦫꦗꦺꦴꦁꦒꦿꦁ, Rara Jonggrang) is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimūrti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the P ...

temple, on the south side of the main road Jalan Solo between Yogyakarta and Surakarta. Administratively, it is located in the Kalasan District (''kapanewon'') of

Sleman Regency Sleman Regency () is an Indonesian regency ( id, Kabupaten) on the island of Java. It is located in the north of the Yogyakarta Special Administrative Region, Indonesia, and has an area of , with a population of 1,093,110 at the 2010 CensusBiro ...

History

According to the

Kalasan inscription The Kalasan inscription is an inscription dated 700 Saka (778 CE), discovered in Kalasan village, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The inscription was written in Sanskrit with Nāgarī script, Pranagari script (Northern India). This is the ...

dated 778 AD, written in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

using Pranagari script, the temple was erected by the will of ''Guru Sang Raja Sailendravamçatilaka'' (the Jewel of

Sailendra The Shailendra dynasty (, derived from Sanskrit combined words ''Śaila'' and ''Indra'', meaning "King of the Mountain", also spelled Sailendra, Syailendra or Selendra) was the name of a notable Indianised dynasty that emerged in 8th-century ...

family) who succeeded in persuading Maharaja Tejapurnapana Panangkaran (in another part of the inscription also called Kariyana Panangkaran) to construct ''Tarabhavanam'', a holy building for the goddess (boddhisattvadevi) Tara. In addition, a Vihara (

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

) was built for

Buddhist monks A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...

from the Sailendra family's realm. Panangkaran awarded the Kalaça village to

Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

(buddhist monastic community). According to the date of this inscription, Kalasan temple is the oldest of the temples built in the

Prambanan Plain Kewu Plain, also known as Prambanan Plain or Opak River valley, is a fertile volcanic plain that lies between Merapi-Merbabu complex in the north, Bantul lowlands and Sewu karst limestone range in the south, Bengawan Solo river valley in the eas ...

. 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 Sewu ( jv, ꦱꦺꦮꦸ, Sèwu) is an eighth century Mahayana Buddhist temple located 800 metres north of Prambanan in Central Java, Indonesia. The word for a Hindu or Buddhist temple in Indonesian is "candi," hence the common name is "Candi Se ...

, and

Sambisari Sambisari is a 9th-century Hindu temple located at Sambisari hamlet, Purwomartani, Kalasan, Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The temple was buried about five metres underground. Parts of the original temple have been excav ...

the temple is not well maintained.

Architecture

The temple stands on a 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 In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

. The temple is richly decorated with buddhist figures such as the Bodhisattva and

gana The word (; Sanskrit: गण) in Sanskrit and Pali means "flock, troop, multitude, number, tribe, category, series, or class". It can also be used to refer to a "body of attendants" and can refer to "a company, any assemblage or association of ...

. The Kala Face above the southern door has been photographed and used by a number of foreign academics in their books to give an idea of the artistry in stone by Central Javanese artists of a millennia ago. Niches where the statues would have been placed are found inside and outside the temple. The niches adorned an outer wall intricately carved with Kala, gods and divinities in scenes depicting the svargaloka, the celestial palace of the gods,

apsaras An apsaras or apsara ( sa, अप्सरा ' lso ' pi, अक्चरा, translit=accharā) is a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hinduism and Buddhist culture. They figure prominently in the sculpture, dance, litera ...

, and

gandharvas A gandharva () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Dharmic religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they are ...

. The roof of the temple is designed in three sections. The lower one are still according to the polygonal shape of the body and contains small niches with statues of boddhisattvas seated on lotus. Each of this niches is crowned with stupas. The middle part of the roof is in octagonal (eight-sided) shape. Each of this eight sides adorned with niches contains statue of a Dhyani Buddha flanked by two standing boddhisattvas. The top part of the roof is almost circular and also have 8 niches crowned with single large dagoba. The octagonal aspect of the structure has led to speculation of non-buddhist elements in the temple, similar to some interpretations of the early

Borobudur Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur ( id, Candi Borobudur, jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦝꦶꦧꦫꦧꦸꦝꦸꦂ, Candhi Barabudhur) is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, not far from the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indone ...

structure. The temple is facing east, with the 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 Vairocana (also Mahāvairocana, sa, वैरोचन) is a cosmic buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Vairocana is often interpreted, in texts like the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'', as the dharmakāya of the historical Gautama Buddha. In East ...

throne founds in

Mendut Mendut is a ninth-century Buddhist temple, located in Mendut village, Mungkid sub-district, Magelang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. The temple is located about three kilometres east from Borobudur. Mendut, Borobudur and Pawon, all of which are ...

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. 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 A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std ...

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 the popular

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to p ...

PC game from Microsoft, Age of Empires II titled ''Rise of the Rajas'' featured Candi Kalasan as the Wonder of the Malay civilization featured in-game.

Notes

References

* Holt, Claire. (1967) ''Art in Indonesia : continuities and change''. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. *

External links