Dieng temples (Indonesian: Candi Dieng) are a group of 7th and/or eighth-century Hindu candi or temple compounds located in Dieng Plateau, near Banjarnegara, Central Java, Indonesia.[1] These edifices originate from the Kalingga Kingdom.[2]: 79, 90 The plateau is home to eight small Hindu temples that are among the oldest surviving religious structures ever built in Java and the earliest Hindu temples in Indonesia. The temples show many features of Indian Hindu temple architecture.[3]
The real name of the temples, the history, and the king responsible for the construction of these temples were unknown. This is because of the scarcity of data and inscriptions connected to the construction of these temples. The local Javanese population named each temple according to Javanese wayang characters, mostly taken from the Mahabharata epic.
The Kailasa museum nearby contains many pieces of sculpture removed from the temples.
- ^ Suherdjoko (28 April 2006). "Dieng tidies itself up to regain past glory". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^ Coedès, George (1968). Walter F. Vella (ed.). The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. trans.Susan Brown Cowing. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-0368-1.
- ^ Michell