The Padang Roco Inscription, in Indonesian Prasasti Padang Roco, is an inscription dated 1286 CE, discovered near the source of

Batanghari The Batang Hari (Indonesian: ''Sungai Batanghari'') is the longest river in Jambi province, Sumatra island, Indonesia, about northwest of the capital Jakarta. Hydrology The river originates in the Minangkabau Highlands, home of the Minangkaba ...

river, Padangroco temple complex, Nagari Siguntur, Sitiung, Dharmasraya Regency,

West Sumatra West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. The province has an area of , with a population of 5, ...

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 ...

Etymology

The inscription was named after the location it was discovered; ''Padang Roco'', which is local

Minangkabau language Minangkabau (Minangkabau: , Pegon script: ; id, Bahasa Minangkabau; ms, Bahasa Minangkabau or , Jawi: ) is an Austronesian language spoken by the Minangkabau of West Sumatra, the western part of Riau, South Aceh Regency, the northern part of ...

, translated to "field of statues". ''Padang'' means "field", while ''roco'' is equate to ''arca'' or ''

murti In the Hindu tradition, a ''murti'' ( sa, मूर्ति, mūrti, ) is a devotional image such as a statue, or "idol" (a common and non-pejorative term in Indian English), of a deity or saint. In Hindu temples, it is a symbolic icon. Thus ...

'', the image of Hindu-Buddhist deities.

Description

The inscription was discovered in 1911 near the source of Batanghari river, Padangroco. The inscription was carved on four sides of rectangular shaped stone is served as the base of the Amoghapasa statue. On the back side of the statue carved inscription called Amoghapasa inscription dated from later period in 1347 CE(NBG 1911: 129, 20e). The inscriptions was carved in ancient Javanese letters, using two languages (

Old Malay Malay was first used in the first millennia known as Old Malay, a part of the Austronesian language family. Over a period of two millennia, Malay has undergone various stages of development that derived from different layers of foreign influence ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

) (Krom 1912, 1916; Moens 1924; dan Pitono 1966). Today the inscription is stored in

National Museum of Indonesia ) is an archeological, historical, ethnological, and geographical museum located in Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, right on the west side of Merdeka Square. Popularly known as the Elephant Museum ( id, Museum Gajah) after the elepha ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, with inventory code number D.198-6468 (the base or inscription part) and D.198-6469 (the statue part).

Origin

The inscription was dated 1208 Saka or 1286 CE, in the same period of

Singhasari Singhasari ( jv, ꦏꦫꦠꦺꦴꦤ꧀ꦱꦶꦔ꧀ꦲꦱꦫꦶ, translit=Karaton Singhasari or , id, Kerajaan Singasari) was a Javanese Hindu kingdom located in east Java between 1222 and 1292. The kingdom succeeded the Kingdom of Kediri as ...

kingdom in Java and

Melayu Kingdom The Melayu Kingdom (also known as Malayu, Dharmasraya Kingdom or the Jambi Kingdom; , reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation ''mat-la-yu kwok'')Muljana, Slamet , (2006), ''Sriwijaya'', Yogyakarta: LKIS, . was a classical Buddhist kingdom l ...

Dharmasraya Dharmasraya, is the capital of the 11th century Buddhist polity known as Melayu Kingdom, based on the Batanghari river system in modern-day West Sumatra and Jambi, on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.J.L.A. Brandes, 1902, ''Nāgarakrětāgama; ...

in Sumatra. The inscriptions tell that in the year 1208 Saka, under the order of king

Kertanegara Sri Maharajadiraja Sri Kertanegara Wikrama Dharmatunggadewa, Kritanagara, or Sivabuddha (died 1292), was the last and most important ruler of the Singhasari kingdom of Java, reigning from 1268 to 1292. Under his rule Javanese trade and power devel ...

of Singhasari, a statue of Amoghapasa Lokeshvara was transported from Bhumijawa (

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

) to Svarnabhumi (

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

) to be erected at Dharmasraya. This gift made the people of Svarnabhumi rejoice, especially their king Tribhuwanaraja Mauliwarmmadewa.

Content

The content of inscription as translated by Slamet Muljana: # Rejoice ! In the year Śaka 1208,corresponds to 1286 CE in the month of Bādrawāda, first day of rising moon, Māwulu wāge day, Thursday, Wuku Madaṇkungan, with the king star located on southwest ... # .... that is the time of the statue of lord Amoghapasa Lokeśvara accompanied with all fourteen followers and also seven ratna jewel taken from bhūmi Jāwa to Swarnnabhūmi, in order to be erected at Dharmmāśraya, # as the gift of Srī Wiśwarūpa Kumāra. For that purpose pāduka Srī Mahārājādhirāja Kṛtanagara Wikrama Dharmmottunggadewa has ordered Rakryān Mahā-mantri Dyah Adwayabrahma, Rakryān Śirīkan Dyah Sugatabrahma and # Samagat Payānan hań Dīpankaradāsa, Rakryān Damun pu Wīra to presented lord Amoghapāśa. May this gift make all the people of bhūmi Mālayu, including its brāhmaṇa, ksatrya, waiśa, sūdra and especially the center of all āryyas; Srī Mahārāja Srīmat Tribhuwanarāja Mauliwarmmadewa.

Adityawarman's addition

In 1347

Adityawarman Adityawarman (formal regnal name Maharajadiraja Srīmat Srī Udayādityawarma Pratāpaparākrama Rājendra Maulimāli Warmadewa. ) was a king of Malayapura Suvarnabhumi, and is the successor of the Mauli dynasty based on central Sumatra. He was ...

moved the statue further uphill to Rambahan site near Langsat River, the source of Batanghari river. He also added inscription inscribed on the back side of the statue, this inscription refer as Amoghapasa inscription dated 1347 CE. While the rectangular base refer as Padang Roco inscription remain in Padang Roco area.

References

{{reflist Inscriptions in Indonesia 13th-century inscriptions Singhasari Srivijaya