Ancient Indonesia architecture

All right, one last post from my Indonesia visit: while I was there, we visited a couple of historical stone structures, two candis and a stupa. All of them were several centuries old, dating from around the 13th to the 15th centuries. The first one was Candi Singhasari, a syncretic Hindu-Buddhist structure thought to be the funerary temple of King Kertanagara (d. 1292), the final king of the Singhasari dynasty. It's an interesting construction, and it's impressive that it's still standing after centuries of earthquakes with such a relatively tall and narrow design (though it looks like some of the top portion has been dislodged).

Candi Singhasari

There isn't really an interior, just some small chambers.

About 6 km north of it is Sumberawan, a Buddhist stupa thought to have been constructed near the end of the 14th century or early 15th. It's rather unique, as it's the only Buddhist monument in East Java to have been constructed in the stupa style found elsewhere in Asia (with the rounded top) rather than the local candi style. It's located in a lush garden near a spring which was probably used for various rituals, and ties into its name: sumber means “(water) spring” and awan means “noon” in Javanese.

Sumberawan

Finally, we visited Candi Jago, a Hindu temple from the 13th century. It was apparently described as “majestic” in the Nagarakretagama, a 14th century document in Old Javanese whose translation in the 20th century helped inspire the Indonesian independence movement. It's hard to make out in the photos, but it's ringed in multiple layers of fine bas-relief, which are still there all this time later.

Candi Jago

When I visited I assumed these structures were composed of basalt, but while looking them up for this post I've learned it's actually andesite. Still a volcanic rock, though it's a little lighter gray rather than the darker black of basalt. It holds up quite well given the heat, humidity, and tropical rainfall of the area, though. Anyway, I thought these were interesting enough to share (especially Candi Singhasari, I like it's design). A hui hou!