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ArchitectureCandi Sewu
The main temple of Candi Sewu is laid in cruciform plan, similar to Candi Kalasan and Candi Parambanan. The main temple composes of five chambers, with the central sanctum and the other ones at the cardinal directions. This reminds us of Paharpur temple in India, Early Pala art. This kind of plan , extremely popular during the later phase of Central Javanese art, was designed for enshrining Dhyāni Buddha in accordance with the iconographic program. There is an archaeological report yield the data that there was a curly hair discovered from the temple. This testifies that the temple used to be the temple for huge Buddha image, now lost. The superstructure of the temple comprises several miniature stupas, typical to Central Javanese art.
ArchitectureBody of the main Tower: Candi Sewu
During 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.
ArchitectureSubsidiary Tower: Candi Sewu
The 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.
