Sukuh 1

SukuhCoordinates: 7°37′38″S 111°7′52″E [1]

The main monument of Sukuh temple.

Sukuh (Indonesian: Candi Sukuh Indonesian

pronunciation: [ˈtʃandi ˈsukʊh]) is a15th-century Javanese-Hindu temple (candi)that is located on the western slope ofMount Lawu (elev. 910 m (3000 ft)) on theborder between Central and East Javaprovinces.

Sukuh temple has a distinctive thematicreliefs from other candi where life beforebirth and sexual education are its maintheme. Its main monument is a simplepyramid structure with reliefs and statues infront of it, including three tortoises withflattened shells and a male figure graspinghis penis. A giant 1.82 m (6 ft) high of lingga (phallus) with four balls, representing penile incisions,[2] was one ofthe statues that has been relocated to the National Museum of Indonesia.

BackgroundSukuh is one of several temples built on the northwest slopes of Mount Lawu in the 15th century. By this time,Javanese religion and art had diverged from Indian precepts that had been so influential on temples styles during the8th–10th centuries. This was the last significant area of temple building in Java before the island's courts wereconverted to Islam in the 16th century. It is difficult for historians to interpret the significance of these antiquitiesdue to the temple's distinctiveness and the lack of records of Javanese ceremonies and beliefs of the era.The founder of Candi Sukuh thought that the slope of Mount Lawu was a sacred place for worshiping the ancestorsand nature spirits and for observance of the fertility cults. The monument was built around 1437, as written as achronogram date on the western gate, meaning that the area was under the rule of the Majapahit Kingdom during itsend (1293–1500). Some archaeologists believe the founder had cast the fall of Majapahit, based on the reliefs thatdisplaying the feud between two aristocratic houses, symbolizing two internal conflicts in the kingdom.In 1815, Sir Thomas Raffles, the ruler of Java during 1811–1816, visited the temple and found it in bad condition. Inhis account, many statues had been thrown down on the ground and most of the figures had been decapitated. Rafflesalso found the giant lingga statue broken into two pieces, which was then glued together. This vandalism oftraditional culture (especially where sexuality is not suppressed, as in the statues) is likely to be an effect of theIslamic invasion of Java during the 16th century, based upon the identical patterns found in all other Islamic andmonotheistic invasions generally.

Sukuh 2

Architecture

A relief of yoni–lingga on the floorof the Candi Sukuh's entrance

The central pyramid of the complex sits at the rear of the highest of threeterraces. Originally, worshippers would have accessed the complex through agateway at the western or lowest terrace. To the left of the gate is a carving of amonster eating a man, birds in a tree, and a dog, which is thought to be achronogram representing 1437 CE, the likely date of the temple's consecration.There is an obvious depiction of sexual intercourse in a relief on the floor at theentrance where it shows a paired lingam which is represented physiologically bythe (phallus) and yoni, which is represented bodily by the (vagina). Genitalia areportrayed on several statues from the site, which is unique among Javaneseclassical monuments.

The main structure of Sukuh temple is like no other ancient edifice; it is atruncated pyramid reminiscent of a Maya monument and surrounded bymonoliths and meticulously carved life-sized figures. The Sukuh temple does not follow the Hindu architectureWastu Vidya because it was built after the Hindu religion had weakened. Temples usually have a rectangular orsquare shape, but Sukuh temple is a trapezium with three terraces, with one terrace higher than the others. A stonestairway rises through the front side of the pyramid to its summit. It is not known what the monument's unique shapewas intended to symbolize. One suggestion is that it represents a mountain. There is no evidence that the mainbuilding supported a wooden structure. The only object recovered from its summit was a 1.82-metre lingga statuebearing an inscription and it is now in the National Museum of Indonesia). The statue may once have stood on theplatform over the stairway. The lingga statue has a dedicated inscription carved from top to bottom representing avein followed by a chronogram date equivalent to 1440. The inscription translates "Consecration of the Holy Gangessudhi in ... the sign of masculinity is the essence of the world." Reliefs of a kris blade, an eight-pointed sun and acrescent moon decorate the statue.

The wall of the main monument has a relief portraying two men forging a weapon in a smithy with a dancing figureof Ganesha, the most important Tantric deity, having a human body and the head of an elephant. In Hindu-Javamythology, the smith is thought to possess not only the skill to alter metals, but also the key to spiritualtranscendence. Smiths drew their powers to forge a kris from the god of fire; and a smithy is considered as a shrine.Hindu-Javanese kingship was sometimes legitimated and empowered by the possession of a kris.

A headless life-sized male figuregrasping penis

The elephant head figure with a crown in the smithy relief depicts Ganesha, thegod who removes obstacles in Hinduism. The Ganesha figure, however, differsin some small respects with other usual depictions. Instead of sitting, theGanesha figure in Candi Sukuh's relief is shown dancing and it has distinctivefeatures including the exposed genitalia, the demonic physiognomy, the strangelyawkward dancing posture, the rosary bones on its neck and holding a smallanimal, probably a dog. The Ganesha relief in Candi Sukuh has a similarity withthe Tantric ritual found in the history of Buddhism in Tibet written by Taranatha.The Tantric ritual is associated with several figures, one of whom is described asthe "King of Dogs" (Sanskrit: Kukuraja), who taught his disciples by day, and bynight performed Ganacakra in a burial ground or charnel ground.

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The scene in bas relief The scene depicted Bhimaas the blacksmith in the left forging the metal,Ganesha in the center, and Arjuna in the rightoperating the tube blower to pump air into the

furnace.

Other statues in Candi Sukuh include a life-sized male figure with hishand grasping his own penis and three flattened shells of tortoises.Two large tortoise statues guard the pyramid entrance and the third onelies at some distance in front of the monument. All of their heads pointto the west and their flattened shells may provide altars for purificationrituals and ancestor worship. In Hindu mythology, the tortoisesymbolizes the base or support of the World and is an avatar ofVishnu, i.e. Kurma refer: Ocean of Milk.

References[1] http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Sukuh&

params=7_37_38_S_111_7_52_E_[2] http:/ / demography. anu. edu. au/ G& SH/ reports/ Thailand-1. pdf

Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and ContributorsSukuh  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=592362021  Contributors: Ambar wiki, B9 hummingbird hovering, Black Falcon, Caniago, Ceyockey, Elkman, Glloq, Goethean,Gsarwa, Gunkarta, Hmains, Hypershock, Indon, IonutBizau, Jarble, Jethwarp, KateH, Kwamikagami, Maunus, Merbabu, Mild Bill Hiccup, Nick Number, PhnomPencil, Ppntori, SatuSuro,Sidsahu, Smee, Theadder, Tim!, Toyokuni3, USchick, VishalB, Xyzzyva, 20 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Candi Sukuh 2007.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Candi_Sukuh_2007.JPG  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: MerbabuFile:Erotic depiction at Candi Sukuh.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Erotic_depiction_at_Candi_Sukuh.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors: AnonMoos, FlickreviewR, Indon, Kilom691, RianaFile:Statue at Candi Sukuh.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Statue_at_Candi_Sukuh.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0  Contributors: Cirt,DenghiùComm, Denniss, FlickreviewR, Indon, Jarble, Kilom691, NickFile:Keris Relief at Sukuh Temple.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Keris_Relief_at_Sukuh_Temple.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: Gunawan Kartapranata

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