Cangkuang ( id, Candi Cangkuang) is a small 8th-century

Shivaist Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...

'' candi'' (

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

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

Garut Regency Garut Regency is a Regency (Indonesia), Regency in the West Java province of Indonesia. It covers an area of 3,065.19 km2 (1,186.91 mi2). Geographically, it lies between 6°57′34″ – 7°44′57″ South latitude a ...

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. 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 dur ...

and

Bojongmenje Bojongmenje is a 7th-century Hindu candi (temple) ruins located in Bojongmenje hamlet, Cangkuang village, Rancaekek subdistrict, Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia. Bojongmenje is one of few temples ever discovered in West Java. History The ...

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 Sundanese may refer to: * Sundanese people * Sundanese language * Sundanese script Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...

in the 17th century.

Location

The town of Leles is around 40 kilometers southeast of

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

on the way to

Garut Garut is a district and town in West Java of Indonesia, and the former capital of Garut Regency. It is located about 75 km to the southeast of the major city of Bandung. History The modern history of Garut started on March 2, 1811 when Balub ...

. 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 (

: ''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 A paddy field is a flooded field (agriculture), field of arable land used for growing Aquatic plant, semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in sout ...

. The temple's name ''cangkuang'', was derived from Sundanese native name for the pandan tree (''

pandanus furcatus ''Pandanus furcatus'' Roxb., also known as korr, pandan or Himalayan/Nepal screw pine (named for the screw-like arrangement of its leaves), is native to the Sikkim Himalaya of Northeast India, Bhutan and Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia and West Af ...

'') 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'' or ''sannidhanam'' is the ''sanctum sanctorum'', the innermost sanctuary of a Hindu and Jain temples where resides the ''murti'' (idol or icon) of the primary deity of the temple. In Jainism, the main deity is known as the ''M ...

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

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. 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 ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional im ...

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 Dieng temples ( id, Candi Dieng) is the group of 7th and/or eighth century Hindu ''candi'' or temple compounds located in Dieng Plateau, near Banjarnegara, Central Java, Indonesia. These edifices originate from the Kalingga Kingdom. The platea ...

, and slightly older than temples of southern Central Java such as

Prambanan Prambanan ( id, Candi Prambanan, jv, ꦫꦫꦗꦺꦴꦁꦒꦿꦁ, Rara Jonggrang) is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimūrti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the P ...

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