Candi of Indonesia

A candi (from Kawi caṇḍi,[1] pronounced [tʃandi] ⓘ) 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.

[2] The Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia defines a candi as an ancient stone building used for worship, or for storing the ashes of cremated Hindu or Buddhist kings and priests.

[3] Indonesian archaeologists describe candis as sacred structures of Hindu and Buddhist heritage, used for religious rituals and ceremonies in Indonesia.

[2] In Hindu Balinese architecture, the term candi refers to a stone or brick structure of single-celled shrine with portico, entrance and stairs, topped with pyramidal roof and located within a pura.

In modern Indonesian language, the term candi can be translated as "temple" or similar structure, especially of Hindu and Buddhist faiths.

Thus temples of Cambodia (such as the Angkor Wat), Champa (Central and Southern Vietnam), Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and India are also called candi in Indonesian.

The association of the name candi, candika or durga with Hindu-Buddhist temples is unknown in India and other parts of Southeast Asia outside of Indonesia, such as Cambodia, Thailand, or Burma.

Subsequently, the design, plan and layout of the temple follows the rule of space allocation within three elements; commonly identified as foot (base), body (center), and head (roof).

It is also shown with head and jaws of a crocodile, an elephant trunk, the tusks and ears of a wild boar, the darting eyes of a monkey, the scales and the flexible body of a fish, and the swirling tailing feathers of a peacock.

Makara's trunks are often describes as handling gold ornaments or spouting jewels, while in its mouth often projected Gana dwarf figures or animals such as lions or parrots.

Lingas are implanted in a flat square base with a hole in it, called a yoni, symbolic of the womb and also represents Parvati, Shiva's consort.

The example is the linga-yoni of Gunung Wukir temple, according to Canggal inscription is connected to King Sanjaya from the Mataram Kingdom, in 654 Saka (732 CE).

[19] The Buddhist scriptures describes as bas-reliefs in Borobudur such as Karmavibhangga (the law of karma), Lalitavistara (the birth of Buddha), Jataka, Avadana and Gandavyuha.

People depicted here are the images of king, queen, princes, noblemen, courtier, soldier, servant, commoners, priest and hermit.

The reliefs also depicted mythical spiritual beings in Buddhist beliefs such as asuras, gods, boddhisattvas, kinnaras, gandharvas and apsaras.

The images depicted on bas-relief often served as reference for historians to research for certain subjects, such as the study of architecture, weaponry, economy, fashion, and also mode of transportation of 8th-century Maritime Southeast Asia.

The images of coupled Kinnara and Kinnari can be found in Borobudur, Mendut, Pawon, Sewu, Sari, and Prambanan temples.

The lower outer wall of Prambanan temples were adorned with row of small niche containing image of simha (lion) flanked by two panels depicting bountiful kalpataru (kalpavriksha) tree.

These wish-fulfilling sacred trees according to Hindu-Buddhist beliefs, is flanked on either side by kinnaras or animals, such as pairs of birds, deer, sheep, monkeys, horses, elephants etc.

Bodhisattvas are usually depicted as handsome man with peaceful and serene facial expression, adorned with luxurious jewelry akin to a king or a deity.

Both figures are depicted gracefully, usually holding various kinds of lotus (red padma, blue utpala, or white kumuda), monk staff (khakkhara) or fly whisk (chamara), and standing in tribhanga pose.

The notable images of boddhisattvas could be found adorning the outer walls of Plaosan, Sari, Kalasan, Sewu, Pawon and of course Borobudur temple.

On the other side of narrative panels in Prambanan, the temple wall along the gallery were adorned with the statues and reliefs of devatas and brahmin sages.

Dvarapala took form of two fierce giants or demons that ward off evil and malevolent spirits from entering the sacred temple compounds.

In East Javanese art and Balinese version however, the dvarapala usually depicted rather well-built and muscular, with a fine example taken from Adan-adan site near Kediri.

The statues of a pair of lions (Sanskrit: Siṁha, Indonesian and Javanese: Singa) flanking the portal, are often placed as the guardians of candi entrance.

The thrones of Buddha and Boddhisattva found in Kalasan and Mendut Buddhist temples of ancient Java depicted elephants, lions, and makara.

The high concentration of candi can be found especially dense in Sleman Regency in Yogyakarta, also Magelang and Klaten in Central Java; which corresponds to the historical region of Kedu Plain (Progo River valley, Temanggung-Magelang-Muntilan area) and Kewu Plain (Opak River valley, around Prambanan), the cradle of Javanese civilization.

The position, orientation and spatial organization of the temples within the landscape, and also their architectural designs, were determined by socio-cultural, religious and economic factors of the people, polity or the civilization that built and support them.

Surrounded by craters of boiling mud, colored lakes, caves, sulphur outlets, hot water sources and underground channels.