Gedong Songo, Nine Heavenly Temples

[caption id="attachment_25798" align="alignleft" width="270" caption="gedong songo (perempuan.com)"][/caption] Gedong Songo is one of most important historical sites in Ambarawa. It is the name of the Hindu temple complex situated on Candi Village, some 9 kilometers from the downtown of Ambarawa or only 10 minutes away from Bandungan, the famous mountain resort on the area in Semarang regency. The name Gedong Songo was taken from Javanese "Gedong", meaning building, and "Songo", meaning nine. Locals previously call this complex Gedong Pitu (Seven Temples) as there were only 7 temples discovered during early expedition in 1804. Each temple on this complex lies on different mound of the slope of Ungaran Mountain. From its front yard, visitors can enjoy the view of Rawa Pening, a large pond famous with its serene beauty and simple life of villagers living around it. [caption id="attachment_25800" align="alignright" width="300" caption="gedong songo (wikipedia)"][/caption] The humid weather of Candi village ranges between 19-27 Celsius degree from its location on the altitude of 1200 m above sea level,. Upon entering this village, the foliage green from pine forest and vegetable plantation will be a refreshing welcome. There is only 5 temples, however, still remain in good condition. The rests are scattered fragments. With the absence of written or scientific record, the naming of the temple is simply based on Javanese numeric system starting from below. Each temple is standing on top of different peak of a hill. The ruins scatterred nearby show that each temple was accompanied by two or more smaller structures, predictably of minor functions. As other Hindu temples in Central Java, all Gedong Songo's temples are facing west. Temple of Gedong Siji is the first temple from the bottom. Still remain in good shape this temple, however, have lost the 2 accompanying structures. It has three levelled roof, each is decorated with beautifully ornamented triangle. There is a Yoni on its interior, representing the Hindu's female figure that symbolize fertility. [caption id="attachment_25801" align="alignleft" width="202" caption="gedong songo (wikipedia)"][/caption] The next is Gedong Loro, the most intact structure among all main temples in Gedong Songo Complex. Gedong Loro's main structure has 4 level roof with stupas on each corner. On the center of each side, sculpture of gods in sitting position decorate the triangles. On the yard of Gedong Telu lies 3 structures, 1 main temple and 2 smaller structures. The main temple has 4 level roof with similar decoration to that of the previous. It is the only temple with sculpture of the Nadisvara and Makara, the God Kala, placed above its entrance. Gedong Telu is also the only temple with complete statue sitting on their original places. The wall facing north is decorated with the statue of Durga, the one facing east with Ganesha, and facing west with Agastya. From the quantity of the ruins, Gedong Papat Temple is predicted as the temple with the most accompanying structures. The remaining base structures show that there were 8 buildings surrounding the main temple, 2 on its left and right, 1 on its rear, and the rest at the front. It has also 4 level roof. A path leading to the next temple lies not far from this temple. There is also a field function as a camping ground on the area. While the rests of the temples further are only piles of mossy stone blocks on open fields, Gedong Lima is the last standing structure on the complex. It has 4 level roof and accompanied by ruins from other structures. It is where the two routes available for exploring Gedong Songo meet up. Visitors taking the different route to get down will see refreshing view of air and sight of vegetable plantation.