Gedong Songo Temple, Indonesia

Address

Gedong Songo Temple, Indonesia

Semarang Regency,

North Central Java,

Jawa Tengah 50614, Indonesia

Moolavar

Shiva

Amman

Parvati

Introduction

Gedong Songo (Candi Gedong Songo) is a group of temples located near Bandungan, Semarang Regency, in north Central Java, Indonesia. It is variously dated between the 8th and 9th-century Built around a 1,270 meters (4,170 ft) hill near Mount Ungaran, it consist of five Gedong (temple group) – two on the east side of the hill, two towards the north and one to the west. These total nine temples, all dedicated to Shiva and Parvati. The Gedong Songo complex is one of 110 sites in central Java with temple structures or remains, and one of 21 in Semarang area, states Veronique Degroot. The site was originally built during the early a period of the Mataram Kingdom of Central Java. Similar to the Dieng temples on the Dieng Plateau, Gedong Songo was erected out of volcanic stone and the two complexes represent some of the oldest structures in Java.

Puranic Significance

The temples of Gedong Songo reflect a similar architecture to those on the Dieng Plateau, though they have less variation in form than them. Gedong Songo displays more emphasis on plinth and cornice mouldings. At Gedong Songo 3, an entrance is outlined by a vestibule that is decorated by guardian figures. Gedong Songo III is also a Shiva temple, one paired with a facing Nandi shrine and a Parvati shrine next to the Shiva shrine. Gedong Songo I is the oldest, with a square plan – an architecture that is predominant sites of central Java. However, the Gedong Songo II through V temples is unusual and among the notable exceptions, as they have a square sanctum, but the plinth base has been extended for a porch, which gives it a rectangular shape. The architects of the later groups of Gedong Songo temples explored a design beyond those found in Dieng group, and others such as Sewu, Srikandi, Puntadewa, Sambisari, and Ngawen where a porch was added by building a larger base.

Gedong Songo temples, nevertheless, use the square principle, including the vertical direction. The cella is cubes (garbhagriya). Further, the same principle is applied in the multi-storied superstructure (vimana, shikhara). The Aihole– and Pattadakal-like experiments with temple architecture that is evident in the Dieng groups (Arjuna, Gatotkaca, Bima), became established in Gedong Songo as a Javanese style to inspire the numerous temples that were thereafter built in central Java.

The site was rediscovered by colonial era Dutch archaeologists during the 19th-century. All temples were badly damaged and ruins scattered around the hill.