Sri Maharaja Rakai Kayuwangi Dyah Lokapala Sri Sajjanotsawatunggadewa was the seventh monarch of the

Mataram Kingdom The Mataram Kingdom (, jv, ꦩꦠꦫꦩ꧀, ) was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu–Buddhism, Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries. It was based in Central Java, and later in East Java. Established b ...

of Central Java period (commonly referred as

) who ruled between

856 __NOTOC__ Year 856 (Roman numerals, DCCCLVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March 15 – Emperor Michael III overthrows the reg ...

and

885 Year 885 ( DCCCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Emperor Charles the Fat summons a meeting of officials at Lobith (moder ...

. He is commonly known as Dyah Lokapala, King Lokapala, or Rakai Kayuwangi. King Lokapala was described as a valiant king that defeated his enemies.

Early life

Rakai Kayuwangi was the youngest son of

Rakai Pikatan Rakai Pikatan was a king of the Sanjaya dynasty Mataram Kingdom in Central Java who built the Prambanan temple, dedicated to Shiva, which was completed in 856 AD. Rakai Pikatan was also called Mpu Manuku. The monarch of the Mataram Kingdom before ...

from his queen consort

Pramodawardhani Pramodhawardhani (also known as Çrī Kahulunnan or Çrī Sanjiwana) was the queen consort of king Rakai Pikatan (r. 838-850) of Medang Kingdom in 9th century Central Java. She was the daughter of Sailendran king Samaratungga (r. 812—833). H ...

. His name at birth was Dyah Lokapala (according to the Wantil or Shivagrha inscription inscription) or Mpu Lokapala (according to the Argapura inscription). In the

Mantyasih inscription The Mantyasih inscription (also known as Balitung charter and Kedu inscription) is an important inscription found and kept by Li Djok Ban in Ngadireja Parakan Temanggung, then the inscription was brought by one of the princes of Surakarta to be bro ...

dated to 907, he is named as Rakai Kayuwangi. The name Lokapala is probably linked to the

Lokapala Lokapāla ( sa, लोकपाल), Sanskrit and Pāli for "guardian of the world", has different uses depending on whether it is found in a Hindu or Buddhist context. * In Hinduism, lokapāla refers to the Guardians of the Directions asso ...

, the Hindu guardian gods of directions. ''Loka'' means place, while ''pala'' means fruit. The name ''kayuwangi'' literally means "fragrant wood" which refers to aromatic

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

, a fragrant wood considered as a valuable timber in ancient Java. The name Rakai Kayuwangi is actually a title. Historians suggest that before he ascended to become Maharaja of Java, Prince Lokapala was the ''Rakai'' (ancient Javanese title equate to Lord or Duke) of Kayuwangi province.

Rule

According to the

Shivagrha inscription The Shivagrha inscription is an inscription from the Mataram Kingdom of Central Java, dated in ''chandrasengkala'' (chronogram) ''”Wwalung Gunung sang wiku”'', that is, the year 856 CE (or 778 in the native Saka Calendar). The inscription was ...

issued by King Lokapala on 12 November 856, he inaugurated a grand Shiva temple which is identified by historians as the

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 ...

temple compound. According to this inscription, the temple was built to honor Lord Shiva, and its original name was ''Shiva-grha'' (the House of Shiva). According to the Shivagrha inscription, Dyah Lokapala was chosen as the successor of his father, namely Sang Jatiningrat, which was the title Rakai Pikatan had assumed after he abdicated and retreated as a

brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

. The eldest child of Pikatan and Pramodhawardhani was Rakai Gurunwangi Dyah Saladu. However, despite being the eldest, Gurunwangi was not selected as Pikatan's successor. It was Lokapala, the youngest son, that was promoted as the royal successor, because of his heroic merits in defeating his father's enemies, who made a stronghold on the hill of

Ratu Boko Ratu Boko ( jv, Ratu Baka) or Ratu Boko Palace is an archaeological site in Java. Ratu Boko is located on a plateau, about three kilometres south of Prambanan temple complex in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The original name of this site is still uncl ...

. King Lokapala reigned for about 30 years, and was succeeded by Dyah Tagwas in 885.

References

Indonesian monarchs Central Java 9th-century Indonesian people Indonesian Hindu monarchs {{Indonesia-stub