Sukuh Shiva Temple, Indonesia

Address

Sukuh Shiva Temple, Tambak, Berjo, Kec. Ngargoyoso, Kabupaten Karanganyar, Jawa Tengah 57793, Indonesia

Diety

Shiva

Introduction

Candi Sukuh is a 15th-century Javanese-Shiva temple (candi) that is located on the western slope of Mount Lawu (elevation 910 metres (2,990 ft)) on the border between Central and East Java provinces. Candi Sukuh was one of the last temples constructed in Indonesia before the country came under the influence of Islam. The temple is significant because of its association with Lord Shiva, Mahabharata and the pyramid shaped architecture resembles that of a Mayan temple in Mexico. Located near the village of Berjo at an elevation of 2990 feet (910 meters) on the forested slopes of Mount Lawu, a dormant volcano in central Java, the Candi Sukuh temple is stylistically unlike any other in Indonesia.

Puranic Significance

Another that it represents Mount Mandera where Vasuki, the king of the serpents, allowed several gods and demons to use him as their churning rope to extract the ambrosia of immortality from the ocean of milk. There is currently nothing atop the pyramid yet there may once have been various sculptures, altars or other structures. In Hindu mythology, the tortoise symbolizes the support of the world and is an avatar of the god Vishnu.