Candi Sambisara

Candi Sambisara was the first of many temples we visited on this trip. It was also the first serious test of my trekking poles. For the first few minutes it scared me spitless. There I stood at the top of a hundred steps, no railing, and a left hip with no cartilage left.

After all I’d been through the year before I was painfully aware that I no longer knew what I was or was not capable of. I couldn’t be sure my leg wouldn’t buckle under me and send be tumbling down the steps. I broke out in a cold sweat, but there was no way I was going to wuss out when the temple lay right in front of me.

The reason for the steps is because the temple, which was originally built at ground level, was completely buried by volcanic eruptions. In 1906 alone six meters of ash, sand, and rock covered the area when Mount Merapi erupted. Actually, the literature from the tour company says 1906, but the guide said it was from 1006 to 1012 and that the temples in the area were mostly built in the 800s.

By 1966 the temple was forgotten in all the upheaval and migrations caused by the volcanoes. The land had gone back to jungle over hundreds of years. People only moved back in 1500s. Villagers working the land found something which they reported to their chief who reported to the government. The government excavated.

Once we reached the base of the temple, we walked along one of the walls to an opening. Inside that first wall, looking back, you can see the steps. You can also see a little, knee-high statue. That’s called a lingam.

Lingam are representations of elemental principals of masculinity. Yep, it’s a phallic symbol. Apparently in Indonesia these things are usually supposed to be a bit further off the ground. That was to the left of the door as you enter. To the right was the other important symbol of Hinduism- the yoni. It’s the female principle, and runs a bit bigger. Between the lingam and the yoni is where prosperity can be found.


We went up right through this carved doorway into the main chamber of the temple. This kind of carving with the face at the top represents Siva in the form of Kala – the principle of time. The idea is that as people pass through the mouth of time, they are eaten away bit by bit. So they better make good use of their time.

On the inside under the square, recessed ceiling is the main feature of the Candi Sambisara (which is pronounced so the first word sounds like “charming”) It’s a combination of the lingam and the yoni. This is used to sanctify the water which will be swallowed by the faithful. The “purification” is accomplished by pouring it over the top of the lingam, letting it flow through the channels in the yoni, then collecting it as to pours out the spout.

Now that the temple has been reclaimed from the ground, it is used once again for this purpose. While we were there a couple of men with a bucket of water made their way down the steps, but we were already gone before they made the water holy. We couldn’t linger with several groups of school kids touring the area while we were there.

This particular temple is unusual in that it is not dedicated to a particular Hindu god, but rather focuses on the water purification. Siva is prominent not because the temple is dedicated to him, but because Java worships Siva over the other two primary Hindu gods – Rama and Vishnu. A set of three Hindu gods are carved into the three other walls of the chamber we were just in.

We went for a walk around the chamber to look at each of them. The first is Durga – wife of Siva. To her right is a beast. Durga is beautiful and slender with eight arms, each with a weapon meaning she is a warrior. The other hand is holding a devil, The story is the devils once attacked the world and Durga was the only one who could defeat them. Here she holds them to show she has already defeated them.

The elephant headed one is, of course, Ganesh, “Lord of the Hosts.” The tour guide said a bunch of stuff I couldn’t hear over the weed-eater running in the background, but there seemed to be a story involving the baby of Siva and Durga who got his head bit off by Siva, who replaced it with an elephant’s head as an act of desperation.

The last image was not a god, but a guy named Augustia, who was revered as a great teacher.

We then took a closer look at the dragon on the steps. This is Makara, the sea creature. This is to say that the temple is protected not only by Siva, and Durga and the creatures of the earth, but also by the creatures of the sea. So every creature to the sky will help protect.

In it’s mouth is creature – could be any creature – to show that they are all working together.

As to the students, they are in uniform, but the scarf is optional depending on their religion.

From there it was back up the steps to the manicured gardens before the parking lot.