GEDONGSONGO TEMPLES,... Grandeur within the rhythm of nature

The ancient sites that stand on the slope of mount ungaran are mysterious because some unanswered questions persist

when i got the oppurnity to visit semarang..still remember when my best friend insist me,,'ke semarang yuk,'over and over again.and.....voila le temp est arrive pour nous.I decided going by the earliest bus from surabaya,unfortunately i didnt get the patas ac bus,coz it was operated at 5.00 morning,meanwhile i've arrived at bungur asih bus station at 3.40.eeem so early to start my trip to semarang.but it was just ok,taking the regular bus,and it costed 40rb.eem semarang, I'm coming !!!
Arrived at semarang at 11,just shock me at first.it was so hot and the semarang bus station was frighten me so,it's flooded and surrounded by waters.Oh my Goodness.
Just impressed so badly,i taked taxi and just going straight to the 'Gumaya tower hotel' .emmm hot waters looming already on my sight.just couldnt wait.
The next morning the journey begins.....
And the rented car and surely with driver (from trac by toyota) allow me begins to explore semarang and its vicinities.
We started drive along the road going uphill towards the main courtyard of the gedongsongo Temples area.the hilly site is covered in trees and fertilesoil,good for raising crops.Although it seems quite,and serene place to trek along,but now it is flourished with economic bustles.the food stalls scattered along and line up to the upper hill.

The site of the first temple (Gedong I) 1208 mt above sea level,is facing west.looking from the corner of my eye at the temple's little room in which there was a relief typical of indonesian Hindu temples,YONI (The fertility symbol) without its lingga.I tried to imagine what was in Governor General Raffles's mind when he found these Hindu relics in 1740.did he feel like me or most people when exploring these temples,a peaceful feeling in the midst of the beauty of nature while contemplating the existence of the temples?or may be,he felt more than I did
What is certain is that Raffles made notes on the complex of temples calling them Gedong pitoe (the seven buildings)because he only found seven groups of buildings.For a long time no one mentioned these temples,until in 1865 Friederich and Hoopermans from the Netherlands wrote about them ,followed by Van Braam in 1925.
A Dutch archaeologist,Dr.E.B.Volger,once carried out a study which was then continued by some Indonesian counterparts.After two other temple buildings were found,the Dutch Archaeology Office started the first research activities and inventory (1916).Temple restoration and a comprehensive rearrangement of the surrounding are was carried out by the Indonesian government between 1972 and 1982
Gedongsongo,which means nine (songo)groups of building (Gedong) is the javanese name given to the complex by the locals.However ,now only five are still standing and four others just ruins.to date,there is still no clear answer as to wether there really were nine buildings from the begginning ,and what special meaning that number holds.
the temple built in a line from the bottom to the top of the hill on the slope of the mountain Ungaran,show a specific character,a mixture of two religions,local and global.
A temple was a place for making offerings to the spirits of one's ancestors,while a mountain was where the Gods lived according to the Hindu tradition which was at the time influencing almost half of the world.local traditions normally tend to lose out to a global tradition .however ,both turned out to be able to stand as equals in gedongsongo.this was demonstrated by the dedication of a new rite,i.e. a place of offering to the spirit of ancestors that had become Gods and the rites observed inside the temples.this reality perhaps show us that the locals had a strong cultural tenacity in the face of global culture.
the position of the temple also give rise to a question : is it implying a hierarchy of sacredness,that is ,is the temple which is higher up more sacred than the lower down?or ,could the line of temples indicates that the religious procession should be carried out from the lowest temple to the highest one? up to now,there is no clue as to the answer to this question.
We continue to Gedong II,where there were two buildings ,the main temple facing west and candi perwara facing east although it had collapsed.
Arriving at gedong III,I found three buildings,the main temple facing west,candi apit in the north,and candi perwara in front of the main temple.in the alcoves of the main temple there were statues of Durga,Agastya and Ganesha,while Mahakala and Nandiswara were standing to the left and right of the entrance.the candi perwara had a shape similiar to that of candi semar in the Dieng temple complex which has rectangular lay out.
I was stuck for a quite a while in Gedong III,I tried to see the location of the next Gedong.there was no sign ,only,steep and rocky footpath.Gedong IV and V were indeed far from Gedong III.,a hot shulfur spring in a steep place lower down seemed to divide the site.Gedong IV consisted of 12 buildings divided into 3 subgroups,the first was candi induk (main temple) and 8 candi perwara ,the second one had two candi perwara.on the outside of the structure of candi induk there were empty alcoves except the one in the south that had the statue of Agastya.
Gedong V ,at 1308 metres above sea level ,consisted of two differently leveled courtyards,inthe first there stood candi induk flanked by the ruins of candi perwara.in an alcove in the eastern part there was a statue of Ganesha,the son of Shiva.
The architecture of a temple commonly consist of foot,body and a three tiered roof with a mostly square lay out.There are a few rectangular ones in various sizes.
The temple in the gedong songo complex also show an exception as a result of mixed culture,that is a characteristic of parswadewata,this belief has not been very popular in the indian Hindu tradition which prioritizes Trimurti,consisting of the Gods Brahma,Vishnu and Shiva.
Parswadewata injava can be interpreted as offerings to the Spirits of the anchestors who had become one with Shiva.in this temple it is symbolized by lingga -yoni being watched over by the retinue of Gods,namely Durga (wife of Shiva),Ganesha (son of Shiva)and Agastya (a holy man who achieved a spiritual capacity that was equal to that of a God.
Gedongsongo is considered eminent because as a place of whorship for its followers and it is a natural realm that evokes an atmosphere of calmness and freshness,perfect for rites and rituals.



Enjoy your trip......

Hendrik