Ganesha statue found in Magelang

Ganesha statue found in Magelang

YOGYAKARTA: A Ganesha statue was found recently in Mantingan
hamlet, Magelang, Central Java, some 15 kilometers from the
renowned Borobudur Temple.

The statue of Ganesha (the God of Knowledge), which is
apparently much older than Borobudur itself, was unearthed by
Rahmad Murdi, 54, a local resident when he was digging the
foundations for a house.

When he was digging his mattock stuck a hard object, which
turned out to be a statue of Ganesha, 80 centimeters in height
and 100 centimeters in width.

"The mattock struck the statue after I had dug two meters
deep," said Rahmad on Wednesday.

He and other residents unearthed the statue and reported it to
the police.

Separately, an archaeologist from Gadjah Mada University, Dwi
Prasetyo, said that the statue could be much older than Borobudur
Temple as there was an ancient inscription that had been found
near the place where the Ganesha statue was unearthed. The
inscription, named Canggal, was written long before Borobudur was
built, said Dwi. -- JP