Ngawen temple victim of artifact theft

Text and photo by Bambang M.

MUNTILAN, Central Java (JP): Central Java has long been known for its temples, evidence that the province was a center of human civilization many centuries ago.

Borobudur, one of the world's wonders, is the most famous temple but some others, including Prambanan, Dieng and Mendut, are also tourists destinations.

As well as the more famous temples, Central Java also has the Ngawen temples, which are relatively unknown compared to the big names above.

The temples are located in Ngawen village, five kilometers south of Muntilan. Built on a 3,556-square-meter site, Ngawen temples are sandwiched between agricultural land and residential areas.

Coconut palms stand around the compound which consists of five small temples. Even during the holidays and peak season, only a few visitors are seen in the vicinity of the temples. Except for two guardians, only some village boys were spotted playing in the grounds of the temple's.

When visiting Ngawen village, tourists won't only see the beauty of the temples but they can also enjoy the panorama of village life. They can watch villagers going about their activities, such as boys herding ducks, farmers working in the rice fields, or people amusing themselves in the cold, clear river which runs not far from the temples.

The main reason for tourists not visiting the temples is because they are difficult to find. They must ask people several times upon arriving in Muntilan. There are no directional signs on the narrow and bumpy road from Muntilan to Ngawen.

"Ngawen temples have yet to become a tourist destination," said Susriyono, an official of the Central Java Archeological and Historical Preservation Office.

"Local people have known about Ngawen temple since the Dutch days," said Ngawen subdistrict head Sulistyo, referring to the first observations conducted by Dutch archeologist Holpermand in 1874.

After Holpermand, many Dutch archeologists tried to solve the mystery of the temples. In 1911, Van Erp said in his commentary that the Ngawen temples were destroyed as the result of a Mount Merapi eruption.

When they were first found, the temples were covered with thick sand of up to two meters in depth. The theory made sense as Borobudur, which is located near Ngawen, was also covered with sand as the result of an eruption.

Another Dutch archeologist, PJ Perquin, studied Ngawen in 1925 and successfully managed to restore one of the five temples. It is called the second Ngawen temple. The other four temples up to today are in ruins with only their bases still standing.

All of the five temples stand in a north to south line, based on numerical order, and face toward the east. Water from a spring in the temple grounds emerges not far from the temples.

The second temple measures 13 meters by 12 meters, and is seven meters in height. Despite its good appearance from the outside, there's a gaping hole in the roof.

Statues

The temple itself has statues at the entrance depicting Makara, a beast combining the form of an elephant, crocodile, snake and lion.

Every corner of the temple is decorated by lion statues standing on their hind legs, while the walls display kinari reliefs of a goose with a man's head.

In the middle of the temple lies the statue of a crossed- legged man. But the head of the statue has been stolen. There is another headless statue in the ruins of the fourth temple.

History experts -- Zainul Arrah, Sugito and Sunardi -- have concluded that the temple is Buddhist based on their observations last year, saying that the statues in the second temple were Dhyani Budha Ratna Sambawa and Dhyani Budha Amitabha. Zainul wrote that based on the Budha Mahayana religion, the statues actually depicted the Dhyani Budha, the rulers of the five directions.

They are the ruler of the West, Amitabha, Ratna Sambawa for the South, Aksobya for the East, Wairocana for the Zenith and Amoghasida for the North. But the last three statues have been lost from the Ngawen temples.

"Based on the religion, the temples were built in the eighth or ninth century to honor the five Dhyani Budha," she said.

Susriyono said the office was still collecting stones from the temples, which are lie scattered throughout the compound, as part of the effort to restore the other four temples. The restoration can only go ahead if 80 percent of the stones are found.

However, the office is still facing a serious problem of looting at the site although it has tried hard to stop it. The looting started in the 1970s when some people stole two statue heads.

Lack of security is blamed as being the main cause of the looting. While the temple compound is surrounded by barbed wire, the gate is usually open and the grounds are not guarded, especially at night.

Susriyono claimed that his office had deployed a night watchman, but village head Sulistyo denied this.

"We have proposed that they employ a night watchman but there has been no response," said Sulistyo, adding that looters had increased their activities in 1999.

Reports say that the stones are available on the black market and that the price can reach millions of rupiah. It is definitely a good business for the looters.

If the office doesn't take any serious action to address the problem soon, its desire to restore the temple will be to no avail.