Banyunibo ( jv, "dripping water") is a 9th-century

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple located in Cepit hamlet, Bokoharjo village, Prambanan, Sleman Regency,

Special Region of Yogyakarta The Special Region of Yogyakarta (; id, Daerah Istimewa (D.I.) Yogyakarta) is a provincial-level autonomous region of Indonesia in southern Java. It has also been known as the Special Territory of Yogyakarta. It is bordered by the Indian Oce ...

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 ...

. The temple, dating from the era of

Mataram Kingdom The Mataram Kingdom (, jv, ꦩꦠꦫꦩ꧀, ) was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu–Buddhism, Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries. It was based in Central Java, and later in East Java. Established b ...

, sits in a narrow valley surrounded by

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre ...

s about two kilometers southeast of the

Ratu Boko Ratu Boko ( jv, Ratu Baka) or Ratu Boko Palace is an archaeological site in Java. Ratu Boko is located on a plateau, about three kilometres south of Prambanan temple complex in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The original name of this site is still uncle ...

archaeological park on the east side of modern

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, ...

. Further north is the Prambanan temple, and to the south are the Gunung Sewu hills, extension of Gunung Kidul hills.

Architecture

Banyunibo has a curved rooftop design crowned with a solitary stupa; this theme is unique among the surviving Buddhist temples of

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta ...

. The curved rooftop was either meant to symbolize lotus or padma petals, or meant to mimic the organic roof made from ''ijuk'' fibres (black fibres surrounding the trunk of ''

Arenga pinnata ''Arenga pinnata'' (syn. ''Arenga saccharifera'') is an economically important feather palm native to tropical Asia, from eastern India east to Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines in the east. Common names include sugar palm, areng palm (a ...

'') common in ancient

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 mo ...

vernacular architecture and also found today in

Balinese temple A pura is a Balinese Hindu temple, and the place of worship for adherents of Balinese Hinduism in Indonesia. Puras are built in accordance to rules, style, guidance and rituals found in Balinese architecture. Most puras are found on the island o ...

roof architecture. The main structure was originally surrounded by

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as '' śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumam ...

s at ground level, the foundations of which can still be seen today. The stupas' foundations are arranged in a row of three stupas on the south side of the temple, and three stupas on the east side. The northern side probably also contains the base of three stupas, however, it still buried under a meter thick of earth. The main temple is facing west.Ancient Mataram
/ref> Relief on Banyunibo Temple, 2014-05-31

The stairs and the portal of the temple are adorned with typical Kala- Makara style, typical of ancient Central Javanese temples dated from this period. Makara is located on each side of the stair and Kala head is located on top of the portals. The niches surrounding the body of the temple are adorned with the images of

Bodhisattva 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 schoo ...

s, while the niches upon the windows are adorned with the images of taras with each hands holding flowers. The inner wall is adorned with the image of Hariti surrounded by children (some parts of this relief are missing) and Vaisravana. The inner wall also adorned with a bald male figure underneath an umbrella being upheld by servants, suggests that it may represent one of the temple's patrons. The collapsed ruins of Banyunibo were discovered in November 1940. Research continued to 1942 and succeeded to reconstruct the roof and the portal section of the temple. The reconstruction was halted due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during postwar and postcol ...

. In 1962 the restoration of the sub-basement, foot, and wall section of the temple, as well as the north wall, was finished. The reconstruction of the Banyunibo temple was completed in 1978.

Gallery

File:Banyunibo_Temple.jpg, The main temple File:The_main_temple_of_Banyunibo.jpg, The main temple File:Perwara_Temple,_Banyunibo.jpg, Perwara temple

Location

wikimapia

References

External links

The images of Banyunibo
{{Indonesia topics Buddhist temples in Indonesia Archaeological sites in Indonesia Mataram Kingdom Cultural Properties of Indonesia in Yogyakarta 9th-century Buddhist temples

Architecture

Gallery

Location

See also

References

External links