Candi Kalasan


Origins

Candi Kalasan 778 near Prambanan. Located near the main road.

Description of architecture

Cruciform plan, with portal on the East side. The roof did not survive, but the likely structure is known. Topping the square temple centre was a square with protruding areas, in line with the shape of the temple. This was topped by two octagonal prisms, with most likely a large crowing stupa. Looking from above, the central stupa would tower over two series of 16 stupa, and each of the subsidiary roofs had 1 + 4 + 5 stupa.  Stupa on true corners were of a slightly larger size.  

Cult of Tara: Mahayana 

The temple has been thrice transformed. Major change from square plan to cruciform plan effected in the second construction. No statues remaining. Central cella would have had a buddha statue against the west wall on a plinth. Prasasti dating to 778, in Sanskrit but not Pallawa script but pre-Nagari. At Kalasan a monastry was founded in the honour of Tara by the teachers of the Cailendra king Pantjapana Panamkaranah. An image of the queen has been manufactured. Meanwhile the village [name has been maintained!] was gifted to the congregation. The statue was placed under the protection of future kings. The pre-Nagari script is rare on Java and only 4 other inscriptions using it have been found, all in the Prambananan plain. Of these the inscription of Keloerak has been desciphered. After the ode to the Buddhist this inscription mentions king Indra of the Cailendra dynasty and mentions that in 782 the teacher named Koemeraghosha of the country Gaudi [old name of the Bengal of the Pala kings]. erected a statue of the bodhisattwa Mandjoecri, whose higher being incorporates Brahma, Wishnoe and Mahecwara (Ciwa). This statue is placed under the protection of future kings.

The original sanctuary was likely surrounded by 52 stupa containing funerary remains. 

Description of reliefs

Located near the main road, as early as 1754 a traveller took one of the buddha statues back to Batavia from where it was later moved to a Chinese temple.

Restoration

1806 Cornelius makes drawings of both buildings. His drawings include, without marking them as such, how he imagined missing parts - such as the roof - to be. Restoration was urgent given the continuing decay of the building. In 1850 the North facade collapsed, and further damage to the walls as a result of earthquakes threatened. A supporting wall was erected in 1917, pending a full restoration in 1927 - 29. Supervised by de Haan and van Coolwijk, this effort provided for consolidation and limited reconstruction of the crown. Research undertaken by Van Romondt in 1940 uncovered remains of the prior temple, confirming the thesis that the temple was rebuilt. 

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