Candi Panataran
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Candi Panataran |
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Origins Candi Panataran lies N of Blitar. [map reference: 1507-634 Blitar 12.30 01.00]. It is well sign posted when leaving Blitar, but it's easy to miss the lane giving entrance to the temple as it is marked with various 'do not enter' signs. The date of first construction at Panataran is not known. The dated structures on the temple all stem from the Majapahit era, but Krom identifies Panasaran with Palah mentioned in a late 12th C edict, suggesting that the compound is older. The temple is consacrated to Ciwa as Lord of the Mountain. Klokke (2003) notes that the later East Javanese period saw the emergence of a cult of holy water and mountain worship. On Java, mountains, and in particular Mount Sumeru, rather than the ocean, are seen as the source of the holy water (amerta). Within this scheme, the principal structure of Panataran would represent Mount Meru, while the Naga Temple was a storeroom for holy water (amerta). Description of architecture The complex measures 180m x 60m in three yards. The first yard has three main buildings: a main <terrace> or balai agung, the Pendopo Terrace dated 1297 Saka (1375AD) and the Dated Temple (1291 Saka in the door or 1369AD). Candi Naga is the principal building of the middle yard. The Eastern yard has a three storeyed temple with three terraces - the upper section of the temple is missing. The first two storeys carry narrative reliefs, while Level 3 has dragons and winged lions carved in relief, but without narrative sections. It has been reassembled and now stands to the North of the main temple. Outside (SE) of the the yards there are two important remains, a bathing place dated saka 1337 (1415AD) and a westward looking bathing place which is 200 m removed to the east. Description of reliefs The Pendopo Terrace has
reliefs that run in a counterclockwise direction. The reliefs show the stories
in a continuous sequence. The stories of Bubuksah and Sri Tanjung have been
positively identified on respectively the East and West side. Another story
sequence runs on the panels between Bubuksah and
Sri Tanjung.Stein Callenfels
identified this as the story of Sang Satyawan telling the story of an ordinary
woman who follows her divine husband to become an ascetic. This identification
fits only loosely. Kinney (2003: 204) notes that a a number of the sequences are
similar to those found on the base of Candi Rimbi.
The first
terrace of the principal building in the Eastern yard has
Ramayana reliefs starting with Hanoman's arrival on Langka up until the death
of Kumbakarna.
The story should be followed by walking counter clockwise from
the SW side.Stutterheim (1925) most closely identifies this series with
the OJ Ramayana Kakawin, as opposed to the reliefs on Prambanan,
that most closely resemble the Hikayat Sri Rama.On level two there are scenes from the
Kresnayana depicting how
Krishna married Rukmini. Start from the West side from the right (north)
staircase and walk clockwise. The story Ramayana
story is told in 106 separate panels, unlike that of the Kresnayana where the
reliefs show scenes in a continuous sequence. Throughout the complex there are reliefs showing Tantri
stories.
Rediscovery and restoration The temple was first rediscovered in 1815 but remained virtually unknown
until 1850. The complex was in a bad state of decay, and the superstructure of
most buildings had disappeared. The pendopo and the naga temple almost certainly
had wooden superstructures. The first restorations were locally planned and
executed in 1901, even though in that year the Central Government installed a
Committee in charge of such works. Two masons set to work under supervision of
an inspector of the local Public Works Department.
Panataran was to be the first major restoration that
Krom, the second head of
the OD was to take charge of. Krom preferred minimal restoration to prevent
decay - so unlike Brandes who he succeeded at the OD - and he must have been
appalled by what he found at Panataran where he started excavating the grounds
in 1915. Krom returned to the Netherlands in that year, and the restoration
proper was started under FDK Bosch his successor at OD.
The dated temple was the first to be restored. Many of its missing parts were
found such that a rebuild was made possible using some blank stones to give
support where the original stones were not to be found. Next followed the Naga
temple. The restorations were completed in 1918.
Mounted: 19-Jan-06,
edited Jul&Sep-09
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