Cangkuang temple () is a small 8th-century Shivaist '' candi'' (

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

temple) located in Kampung Pulo village, Cangkuang, Kecamatan Leles,

Garut Regency Garut Regency is a Regency (Indonesia), regency in the Indonesian province of West Java. It covers an area of 3,065.19 km2 (1,186.91 mi2). Geographically, it lies between 6°5734 – 7°4457 South latitude and 107°2434 – 108° ...

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

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 temple is one of very few Hindu-Buddhist temples discovered in

, other temples include

Batujaya Batujaya is an archeological site located in the village of Batujaya, Karawang in West Java, Indonesia. Archaeologists suggest that the Batujaya temples might be the oldest surviving temple structures in Java and estimated that it was built during ...

and Bojongmenje temple. Three meters to the south of the temple is an ancient Islamic tomb of Embah Dalem Arief Muhammad, believed to be the community elders of Cangkuang village during the Islamization of Sundanese in the 17th century.

Location

The town of Leles is around 40 kilometers southeast of

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

on the way to Garut. The temple is located several kilometers east of the Leles-Garut main road. The temple occupies a 16.5 hectares island called Kampung Pulo ("island village") surrounded by a small lake ( Sundanese: ''situ'') called Situ Cangkuang. Near the temple there is a traditional Sundanese village. The temple, tomb, traditional village and the areas surrounding the island and lake, it is a cultural and archaeological sanctuary. Originally the whole island was surrounded by the lake, however today the lake receded and water only fill the northern parts, while the southern parts of the lake are reclaimed and cultivated as a paddy field. The temple's name ''cangkuang'', was derived from Sundanese native name for the pandan tree ('' Pandanus furcatus'') found around the temple in Kampung Pulo island.

Description

The temple is made from andesite stones, the temple's base measures 4.5 x 4.5 meters and 8.5 meters tall. The temple faces east, on the east side there is a flight of stairs leading to the portal and a small main room (''

garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' () is the innermost sanctuary of Hindu and Jain temples, often referred to as the "holy of holies" or " sanctum sanctorum". The term ''garbhagriha'' (literally, "womb chamber") comes from the Sanskrit words ''garbha'' for ...

''). Inside the main room there is a small 62 cm tall stone statue of

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

. The statue is damaged, the hands are broken and the face is quite eroded. On the pedestal of the statue there is a carving of Nandi's head. The temple is quite simple and unadorned with minimal ornaments. The roof is arranged in three receding steps adorned with pseudo-

lingam A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or Aniconism, aniconic representation of the Hinduism, Hindu Hindu deities, god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Up ...

pinnacles. The architectural style is similar to those of early Central Javanese Hindu temples. Judging from the stone decay degradation and the simple style of the temple, experts estimate that the temple is dated from the early 8th-century, about the same age as the Dieng temples, and slightly older than temples of southern Central Java such as

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 ...

Notes

References

* Bambang Budi Utomo. 2004. ''Arsitektur Bangunan Suci Masa Hindu-Budha di Jawa Barat''. Kementrian Kebudayaan dan pariwisata, Jakarta.

External links

{{Hindudharma Hindu temples in Indonesia Archaeological sites in Indonesia Cultural Properties of Indonesia in West Java 8th-century Hindu temples Religious buildings and structures in West Java

Location

Description

See also

Notes

References

External links