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Subsidiary Tower: Candi Sewu

Keywords : Candi, Shailendra dynasty, Candi Kalasan, Candi Sewu, Candi Parambanan

Site common nameCandi Sewu
Type of artworkArchitecture
Village-
Province/CityKlaten
StateCentral Java
CountryIndonesia
Geographic Coordinates
Decimal degree		Lat : -7.743889
Long : 110.492778

History of productionDuring the later period of Central Javanese art, the house of Śailendra still patronized several Buddhist temples. These temples locate at Klaten, between Yogyakarta and Solo.
ArtThe complex of Candi Sewu is very complicate as it comprises the main temple and numerous surrounding subsidiary towers. The complex of Candi Sewu is therefore conceived as Maṇḍala-liked diagram in which the abodes of Buddha and Bodhisattva are allotted in the specific directions. The name “Candi Sewu’, literally means one thousand temple s, derives from this complexity, even though the actual numbers of the subsidiary towers are 240. The origination of this complexity should be the cloisters of Vihāra, the residential units, in Indian art, as exemplifiable at Paharpur in Bangladesh. However, the subsidiary towers at Candi Sewu are detached from each other, unlike the Indian prototype. The spire of these temples is ornamented with miniature stupas. On the top there is the stupa in bigger size attached in every direction by the cloisters of miniature stupas. The complexity of the superstructure decoration is unique for the later phase of Central Javanese Art.
PeriodHistorical Period
Art periodLate Central Javanese Art
Age9th-10th Century A.D.
ReligionBuddhism
SectMahayana

Type of LicenseAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
RightsPrincess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Date of record creation2015-02-00
Record creatorChedha Tingsanchali