![Paris Exposition Dutch East Indies Pavilion, Paris, France, 1900 n2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Paris_Exposition_Dutch_East_Indies_Pavilion%2C_Paris%2C_France%2C_1900_n2.jpg)
The Sari Temple ( id, Candi Sari also known as ''Candi Bendan'') is an 8th-century
Buddhist temple located at Dusun Bendan, Tirtomartani village, Kalasan,
Sleman Regency
Sleman Regency () is an Indonesian regency ( id, Kabupaten) on the island of Java. It is located in the north of the Yogyakarta Special Administrative Region, Indonesia, and has an area of , with a population of 1,093,110 at the 2010 CensusBiro ...
,
Special Region of Yogyakarta
The Special Region of Yogyakarta (; id, Daerah Istimewa (D.I.) Yogyakarta) is a provincial-level autonomous region of Indonesia in southern Java. It has also been known as the Special Territory of Yogyakarta.
It is bordered by the Indian Oce ...
,
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 ...
. It is located about northeast of the
Kalasan
Kalasan ( id, Candi Kalasan, Javanese: ''Candhi Kalasan''), also known as Candi Kalibening, is an 8th-century Buddhist temple in Java, Indonesia. It is located east of Yogyakarta on the way to Prambanan temple, on the south side of the main ...
temple. The temple was a two-story building with wooden beams, floors, stairs completed with windows and doors; all from organic materials which now are decayed and gone. It is suggested that the original function of this building was a
vihara (
Buddhist monastery
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
), a dwelling place for
monks
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
.
[The information board at the Sari Temple vicinity] The temple's name ''Sari'' or ''Saré'' translates as "to sleep" in
Javanese, which also confirms the habitation nature of the building.
History
Historians suggested that the temple was built around the same time as the Kalasan temple. The
Kalasan inscription
The Kalasan inscription is an inscription dated 700 Saka (778 CE), discovered in Kalasan village, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The inscription was written in Sanskrit with Nāgarī script, Pranagari script (Northern India). This is the ...
dated 778 AD, in Pranagari script written in
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 ...
, mentions that the temple was erected by the will of ''Guru Sang Raja Sailendravamçatilaka'' (the Jewel of the
Shailendra dynasty
The Shailendra dynasty (, derived from Sanskrit combined words ''Śaila'' and ''Indra'', meaning "King of the Mountain", also spelled Sailendra, Syailendra or Selendra) was the name of a notable Indianised dynasty that emerged in 8th-century ...
) who succeeded in persuading
Maharaja Tejapurnapana Panangkaran (in other parts of the inscription also called as Kariyana Panangkaran) to construct a holy building for the boddhisattva
Tara and also build a
vihara (
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...
) for Buddhist monks from Sailendra family's realm. Panangkaran awarded the Kalara village to the
Sangha
Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...
(the Buddhist monastic community). Based on this inscription, Candi Sari was probably the monastery for monks who served the nearby Kalasan temple.
The ruins were discovered in early 1920s, and in 1929, an effort to reconstruct the temple began and was finished in 1930. However it was incomplete because many parts are missing including the outer base that surrounds the temple, and the extended front room and front stairs that once projected from the east wall of the temple.
Architecture
The temple consists of three parts; the base, the body, and the roof. The temple has a rectangular plan, measuring 17.3 m north-south, 10 m west-east, and soaring 17 m in height. Only some parts of the base remain, the outer base stoneblocks are missing. The entrance door is located at the eastern side with a gate adorned with a Kala and elephant carving. Windows surround the walls and consist of lower and upper rows. There is also a horizontal middle "belt" line around the wall, suggesting that it was a two-story-tall building.
The interior consists of three rooms; north room, central room, and south room, each measuring 3 m x 5.8 m. These three rooms are connected with doorways on the eastern side of the room along the north-south axis. On the wall of each room are found rows of extruding stone blocks which used to support wooden beams and a wooden ceiling separating the upper and lower floors. In some places there are diagonal stones which is probably the place where there used to be a wooden stairway.
![COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De Candi Sari TMnr 10016111](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_De_Candi_Sari_TMnr_10016111.jpg)
The upper level was probably used by monks for meditation or worship. Some suggest the upper rooms were used as the place for monks to stay, rest, or sleep, while the lower rooms was the place for worship. In the lower rooms there are some elevated parts where statues were once placed, but now the statues are gone. On the side walls are found niches, probably to place oil lamps. In the inner part of each window there are holes to install wooden window bars.
These rooms were topped with three horse-shoe arched niches adorned with Kala-makaras and crowned with three rows of stupas. Between these arched niches are found rain-water drainage and "jaladwara" water spouts taking the form of a giant sitting on a snake.
The outer wall is richly decorated with Buddhist deities. External decoration include
Tara with flowers and
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
s with musical instruments.
These figures are arranged in two upper and two lower rows and placed on each side of the windows. They form a total of 36 statues: 8 on the east, north, and south sides respectively, and 12 on the west side.
These Buddhist figures are usually found in the graceful position of ''
Tribhanga
Tribhaṅga or Tribunga is a standing body position or stance used in traditional Indian art and Indian classical dance forms like the Odissi, where the body bends in one direction at the knees, the other direction at the hips and then the oth ...
'', holding red or blue lotuses and displaying peaceful and serene facial expressions.
Images of
Kinnara-Kinnari also adorn the walls. However, unlike the common depiction of Kinnara as heavenly creature with an upper human-shaped part and a lower bird-shaped part, the unusual image of Kinnara found on the northern wall shows a winged deity (somewhat similar to how commonly
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
s are portrayed).
On the outer wall of the temple are found the traces of plaster called vajralepa (lit: diamond plaster). The same substance is also found in the nearby Kalasan temple. The white-yellowish plaster was applied to protect the temple wall, but now the plaster has worn off.
See also
*
Candi of Indonesia
A candi () is a Hindu or Buddhist temple in Indonesia, mostly built during the ''Zaman Hindu-Buddha'' or " Hindu-Buddhist period" between circa the 4th and 15th centuries.
The ''Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia'' defines a ''candi'' as an ancient ...
*
Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism
Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism or Esoteric Buddhism in Maritime Southeast Asia refers to the traditions of Esoteric Buddhism found in Maritime Southeast Asia which emerged in the 7th century along the maritime trade routes and port cities of the In ...
*
Banyunibo
Banyunibo ( jv, "dripping water") is a 9th-century Buddhist temple located in Cepit hamlet, Bokoharjo village, Prambanan, Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The temple, dating from the era of Mataram Kingdom, sits in a nar ...
*
Kalasan
Kalasan ( id, Candi Kalasan, Javanese: ''Candhi Kalasan''), also known as Candi Kalibening, is an 8th-century Buddhist temple in Java, Indonesia. It is located east of Yogyakarta on the way to Prambanan temple, on the south side of the main ...
*
Kalasan inscription
The Kalasan inscription is an inscription dated 700 Saka (778 CE), discovered in Kalasan village, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The inscription was written in Sanskrit with Nāgarī script, Pranagari script (Northern India). This is the ...
(778 CE)
References
External links
Sari Temple location on wikimapia
from borobudur.tv
{{Buddhist Temples in Indonesia
Archaeological sites in Indonesia
Buddhist temples in Indonesia
Shailendra dynasty
Cultural Properties of Indonesia in Yogyakarta
Prambanan
8th-century Buddhist temples