This is a very good news for everyone. Archaeologists in Indonesia have uncovered a 1,000-year-old temple that could shed light on the country’s Hindu past.
The temple was found on the grounds of Yogyakarta’s Islamic University as workers probed the ground to lay foundations for a new library, and they realised the earth beneath their feet was not stable.
Digging soon revealed still-standing temple walls three metres underground.
Heavy rains then exposed the top of a statue of the Hindu god Ganesha in pristine condition. A few weeks into the excavation, archaeologists are declaring the temple and its rare and beautiful statues an important discovery that could provide insights into Indonesia’s pre-Islamic culture.
This temple is a quite significant and very valuable because no one has ever found a temple as whole and intact as this one. For example, looking at where the statues are placed in this temple, they are in their original positions, unlike the other temples. his temple is important for understanding the culture of Indonesians ancestors.
A volcanic eruption is thought most likely to have covered the temple around the 10th century, about 100 years after it was built.
The eruption preserved its statues and reliefs in better condition than almost everything else discovered in Indonesia from that period, including the Borobodur and Prambanan temple complexes.
GNFI believes that this site was established during the ancient Mataram Kingdom era, which abandaoned the area due to devastating Merapi volcano eruption. They then marched to the east to settled in the deep midland of East Java. Hey, this site is only a walk-distance to my house.
Yogyakarta’s Islamic University wants to open the site to the public once the dig is complete.
Interested, anyone?
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wow! (speechless)
I will so want to see this site once it’s open to public!
wow!
Yogyakarta’s Islamic University = UMY kah?
woh, its UII.
Hopefully the digging job done before April
This time, the site is open for public during excavation. Everyone is free to enter, and see the process. April? I am not sure, I hope the plan to unearth all statues. I am sure, it’s like an iceberg, small in the tip, big in bottom.
Can’t wait to see how it looks