Singosari Temple - Altheviola F2

Candi Singosari, located about 12 kilometers north of Malang, is one of the monuments built in memory of Kertanagara, the last king of the Singosari Kingdom. Kertanegara, began building this temple but he died following an attack by Jayakatwang in 1292 and the temple complex remained unfinished.

As the other East Java's temples, Singosari temple is formed from red bricks and arranged in cone building, called temple. This temple also has beautiful relief that describe the great of Singosari Kingdom years ago.

The size of this particular temple measures 14 x 14 meters with a height of 15 meters. On each side there is a display chamber. At this time, however, only one chamber containing many statues is accessible to the public and houses a statue of Resi Agastya. Many statues at this temple were transferred to the Netherlands during the colonial period, including Ganesha and Durga.

The temple was partially restored in the 1930's. The roof, in its original state, would have mirrored the cosmic Mt Mahameru of Hindu mythology, four lesser pinnacles on each side surrounding a taller, central 'peak'. Yet it seems that the temple was never completed. The impressive kala heads, highly detailed on the roof, become mere outlines above the entrance and wall niches lower down, showing that the fine carving was executed from the top downwards. For unkown reasons, the artists appear to have abandoned their work.

West of the temple, upon entering the area, visitors are greeted by two enormous guardian statues on each side of the road. Measuring 4-meters in height, they are known as Dwarapala. It has been suggested that the location of these statues may be the site of the original entrance to the palace of Singosari.