Lumbung or Candi Lumbung is a 9th-century

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

compound located within the complex of Prambanan Temple Tourism Park,

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, 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 Yogya ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The original name of this temple is unknown, however the local Javanese named the temple " candi lumbung", which means "

rice barn A rice barn is a type of barn used worldwide for the storage and drying of harvested rice. The barns' designs are usually specialized to their function, and as such may vary between countries or between provinces. Rice barns in Southeast Asia appe ...

temple" in

Javanese language Javanese ( , , ; , Aksara Jawa, Javanese script: , Pegon script, Pegon: , IPA: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indones ...

Location

It is located several hundred meters north from

Prambanan Prambanan (, , Javanese script, Hanacaraka: ꦫꦫꦗꦺꦴꦁꦒꦿꦁ) is a 9th-century Hindu temple, Hindu Candi of Indonesia, temple compound in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, in southern Java, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimurti, Trimūr ...

temple, next to the

Bubrah Bubrah () is a 9th-century Buddha, Buddhist Buddhist temple, temple located within the complex of the Prambanan Temple Compounds, Prambanan Temple Archaeological Park, in Central Java, Indonesia. Experts believe that the temple was designed as a ...

temple. The temple is located within Prambanan or

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

, an archaeologically rich area dotted with numerous Hindu-Buddhist temples dated circa 8th to 9th century CE.

History

The temple bears so much similarities with nearby

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

temple, except it is smaller in scale. The

Kelurak inscription The Kelurak inscription is an inscription dated 704 Saka (782 CE), written in Sanskrit with Pranagari script, discovered near Lumbung temple in Kelurak village, Central Java, Indonesia. Lumbung temple is a bit north of Prambanan temple in Yogyak ...

dated 704 Saka (782 CE) was discovered near this temple. The inscription mentioned about the construction of a temple compound dedicated to

Manjusri Manjushri () is a ''bodhisattva'' who represents ''Prajñā (Buddhism), prajñā'' (transcendent wisdom) of the Buddhas in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The name "Mañjuśrī" is a combination of Sanskrit word "wikt:%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%9E%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9C%E0 ...

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

. The mentioned temple was probably refer to

temple instead of Lumbung. According to its architectural style similarities with Sewu, the temple was built in the 9th century at the time of the Ancient Mataram Kingdom.V.M.Y. Degroot, Candi, Space and Landscape: "A Study on the Distribution, Orientation and Spatial Organization of Central Javanese Temple Remains", 2010, Sidestone Press It was around the same period with Sewu and Bubrah temple, yet older than Prambanan.

Structure

This temple compound is composed of a main temple surrounded by 16 ''perwara'' (smaller) temples in concentric formal layout. The architectural style is similar to those of the

temple complex nearby. Just like the Sewu and Prambanan temples, this temple faces east with its main entrance located on the east side of the temple compound. However the temple can be reached from all cardinal points. The structure is crowned with

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

s. Compared to the ruins of Bubrah temple nearby, the compound of Lumbung temple is still in relatively good condition.

References

{{coord, -7.748138, 110.492871, display=title 9th-century Buddhist temples Archaeological sites in Indonesia Buddhist temples in Indonesia Former Buddhist temples Shailendra dynasty World Heritage Sites in Indonesia 9th-century Hindu temples