DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0683
Chap. III.
DJEING PLATEAU.
059
erected in the 15th century, while the struggle with the Mahomedan
religion was gathering around it that strength, which, within half a
century from that time, finally extinguished the faith to which it
belonged.
There is one other temple of this class at a place called Matjan-
pontih, regarding which some more information would be interesting.
It is described by Heer Brumund as partly of brick, partly of stone,
but singularly rich in ornamentation. " The sub-basement," he says,
" is composed of a tortoise and two serpents ; the heads of these three
animals unite on the west face and form the entrance." 1
This and many others of the description are nearly unintelli-
gible without illustrations, but many of them seem to point to a class
of Serpent temples, which, if better known, might throw considerable
light on the mystery that still shrouds that form of faith in India.
Djelxg Plateau.
On an elevated plateau, near the centre of the island, on the back
of Mount Prahu, there exists a group of some five or six small temples.
They are not remarkable either for the size or the beauty of their
details, when compared with those of the buildings we have just been
describing ; but they are interesting to the Indian antiquary, because
they are Indian temples pure and simple and dedicated to Indian
gods. So far, we feel at home again ; but what these temples tell
us further is, that if Java got her Buddhism from Gujerat and the
mouths of the Indus, she got her Hinduism from Telingana and the
mouths of the Kistnah. These Djeing temples do not show a trace of
the curved-lined sikras of Orissa or of the Indo-Aryan style. Had the
Hindus gone to Java from the valley of the Ganges, it is almost im-
possible they should not have carried with them some examples of
this favourite form. It is found in Burmah and Siam, but no trace
of it is found anywhere in Java.
Nor are these temples Dravidian in any proper sense of the word.
They are in storeys, but not with cells, nor any reminiscences of such ;
but they are Chalukyan, in a clear and direct meaning of the term.
The building most like these Javan temples illustrated in the preceding
pages is that at Buchropully (Woodcut No. 216), which would pass
Crawfurd visited Ava in 1S26, lie de- I nearly identical the descriptions are
scribes (p. 1C2, 2nd ed.) Ids visit to a I with those which might be written over
temple just finished by the reigning ! any Buddhist series. All the scenes
monarch, which was adorned with a
series of paintings on plaster represent-
ing scenes from the life of Buddha.
there depicted are not perhaps to be
found at Bharhut or Sanchi, but all are
at Ainravati, and in the Gandhara mo-
Each of these had a legend in the nasteries, or arc to be found among the
modern Burmese character written over sculptures at Boro Buddor.
it; and it is curious to observe how 1 'Boro Boeddoer,'p. 433.
* 2 U 2
DJEING PLATEAU.
059
erected in the 15th century, while the struggle with the Mahomedan
religion was gathering around it that strength, which, within half a
century from that time, finally extinguished the faith to which it
belonged.
There is one other temple of this class at a place called Matjan-
pontih, regarding which some more information would be interesting.
It is described by Heer Brumund as partly of brick, partly of stone,
but singularly rich in ornamentation. " The sub-basement," he says,
" is composed of a tortoise and two serpents ; the heads of these three
animals unite on the west face and form the entrance." 1
This and many others of the description are nearly unintelli-
gible without illustrations, but many of them seem to point to a class
of Serpent temples, which, if better known, might throw considerable
light on the mystery that still shrouds that form of faith in India.
Djelxg Plateau.
On an elevated plateau, near the centre of the island, on the back
of Mount Prahu, there exists a group of some five or six small temples.
They are not remarkable either for the size or the beauty of their
details, when compared with those of the buildings we have just been
describing ; but they are interesting to the Indian antiquary, because
they are Indian temples pure and simple and dedicated to Indian
gods. So far, we feel at home again ; but what these temples tell
us further is, that if Java got her Buddhism from Gujerat and the
mouths of the Indus, she got her Hinduism from Telingana and the
mouths of the Kistnah. These Djeing temples do not show a trace of
the curved-lined sikras of Orissa or of the Indo-Aryan style. Had the
Hindus gone to Java from the valley of the Ganges, it is almost im-
possible they should not have carried with them some examples of
this favourite form. It is found in Burmah and Siam, but no trace
of it is found anywhere in Java.
Nor are these temples Dravidian in any proper sense of the word.
They are in storeys, but not with cells, nor any reminiscences of such ;
but they are Chalukyan, in a clear and direct meaning of the term.
The building most like these Javan temples illustrated in the preceding
pages is that at Buchropully (Woodcut No. 216), which would pass
Crawfurd visited Ava in 1S26, lie de- I nearly identical the descriptions are
scribes (p. 1C2, 2nd ed.) Ids visit to a I with those which might be written over
temple just finished by the reigning ! any Buddhist series. All the scenes
monarch, which was adorned with a
series of paintings on plaster represent-
ing scenes from the life of Buddha.
there depicted are not perhaps to be
found at Bharhut or Sanchi, but all are
at Ainravati, and in the Gandhara mo-
Each of these had a legend in the nasteries, or arc to be found among the
modern Burmese character written over sculptures at Boro Buddor.
it; and it is curious to observe how 1 'Boro Boeddoer,'p. 433.
* 2 U 2