A visit to Candi Sambisari

Since reading about it on a number of online Yogya guide some time last year, I had been curious to see this beautiful temple. Last week I finally forced convinced my brother to pay Candi Sambisari a visit. Actually, the Candi is situated not too far away from the main road (Jl. Adisucipto  / Jogja-Solo). However, we took a turn a little bit too early which caused us to make a loop around a local residency. 

The special thing about Candi Sambisari is that its actual location is below our ground. As we parked the car near the entrance, my brother actually asked me where the Candi was. He prolly thought I was playing a prank on him. We paid our IDR 2000 (=20 cents USD) entrance fee and went into the Candi complex. My first thought was that it was a beautiful little complex. Sure it doesn't have the grandiosity of the nearby Prambanan, but it was clean and very well maintained.

The Candi was first discovered accidentally by a local farmer. Once the archaeological digging took place, it was discovered that the site of the Candi was around 6.5 meters deep underground. Can you imagine thousands of years ago the living world exist beneath our (current) grounds? How fascinating it is, and thanks to Archaeology, we can learn about our ancestors' way of living thousands of years ago. 

 

Some of the reliefs that can be found on the Candi building. To be honest I'm only familiar with Ganesha and Durga but the point is the reliefs are well preserved and I'm glad I have the chance to see it. According to the information on the exhibition gallery, one main statue was actually stolen during the early years of the Candi's restoration. That is bad, people... bad.

The Candi was pretty quiet during our visit... Good! More photo ops ;).