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Arts in Southeast Asia Database
Lakshmi at Belahan
Keywords : King Airlangga, Belahan, Lakshmi, Mount Penanggungan
Site common name | Belahan |
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Type of artwork | Sculpture |
Village | Mount Penanggungan |
Province/City | Malang |
State | East Java |
Country | Indonesia |
Geographic Coordinates Decimal degree | Lat : -7.607222 Long : 112.651389 |
History of production | Belahan is located in the east of Penangkungan, a holy mountain in Eastern Java art. It is believd that ashes of King Ailangga was buried under this pond. Digging the pond to bury king’s ashes is a unique characteristic of Eastern Java. The father of king Ailangga also dug a pond to bury his own ashes as well. The pond is of square shape and receieves water from a small stream. The wall cuts into a mountain and is barraged by bricks. This directs the water to flow through sculpture inside the niches. There are three niches. The middle one enshrines Vishanu on Garuda ( now moved to Trowulan Museum). The other two niches enshine Laksami and Sri, both of which are Vishanu’s consorts and the goddess of luck. |
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Art | The wife wears curvy pattern costume and a lot of ornaments. Also, there is kanok pattern at the back. All of these represent the essense of being “Eastern Java”. |
Period | Historical Period |
Art period | Eastern Javanese Art |
Age | 16-20 centuries BE. |
Religion | Brahmanism-Hinduism |
Sect | Devaraja Cult, Vishanu |
Religion and belief | Burying ashes with the god sculpture is a tradition of “Teveraja” which beleives that kings are the disguise of the gods. When a king dies, he will be reunited with the god. King Ailangga respects Vishanu as the most holy god; therefore, Vishanu sculpture may represent king Ailangga and Garuda may represent his ministers. Laksami and Sri may represnt king Ailangga’s two wives. |
Related artwork | Lakshimi is the goddess of fertility. This is related to her gender and breasts. One of her follower holds her breats that have a hole for water to flow through. Breasts show maternity and feritility of the universe. The water flowing through will become holy water for people who use it to bath and drink it. |
Type of License | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) |
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Rights | Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre |
Date of record creation | 2015-07-00 |
Record creator | Chedha Tingsanchali |