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Ancient Javanese period[edit]
Painting of the Dieng temple complex by Max Fleischer, 1912.
Dieng is a plateau surrounded by volcanic complexes. At first this part of the plains was a former ancient lake that came from damming the lava that came out of the surrounding volcanic eruptions. The occurrence of the sedimentation process has an impact on the drying up of the entire lake area which gradually turns into plains.
The landscape of Dieng, which is a plateau, is related to land requirements and the concept of sacred space in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. In its time this plain was a religious center and the site of the discovery of 400 temple buildings. It is not known exactly when the temples were built. The temples found at Dieng were found to have the oldest known stone structures in Java. Historically, the temples in Dieng date back to the Mataram kingdom era (8th century) and some South Indian architectural influences (6th century).
The choice of the location of the sacred building in Dieng during the ancient Javanese era was related to the worship of a god who was believed to reside in the mountain and as a place for rishis to perform their rituals of the cult of the gods. The location of the sacred building does not only consider the fertile location, but also pays attention to the god who is worshiped. Based on environmental conditions, the sacred buildings in Dieng are predominantly dedicated to the worship of Shiva. Archaeological remains in Dieng generally tend to be of a Shivaistic nature, this is shown in the many findings of phallus, yoni, statues and inscriptions indicating that Shiva is positioned as the main deity. The inscriptions found in Dieng contain tributes and praises to Shiva which are usually found at each opening of the inscription. This evidence confirms that the main deity worshiped in Dieng is Shiva.
Shiva is a god who always meditates because in this place there is fresh air that is little or not polluted by vehicle and industry pollution, and also the location is needed that is quiet and far from worldly things. These locations can be found at high altitudes because they encourage the creation of a sacred atmosphere. Dieng is a plateau that has many springs and is surrounded by mountains so that it is possible to become a sacred place. In Hindu cosmology, Shiva is a deity who inhabits a sacred mountain called Kailash. He is a god who is synonymous with mountains and has another name as Girisa or Girindra which means "god of the mountain".
In Javanese cosmology, mountain is a symbol of the cosmos where the earth and heaven meet. The mountain becomes a cosmological symbol in the sense of belief in the orderliness of the world and the universe. According to the Sthapatya Veda, the architecture of a sacred building is a reflection of the cosmos. This concept shows that the landscape of the Dieng plateau is a cosmic axis that connects the world with divine nature.
Colonial period[edit]
Panoramic painting of Dieng by Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn (c. 1853–1854).
Based on the records of Thomas Stamford Raffles in The History of Java, Dieng is the place where hundreds of ancient temples were found that had been submerged in water. Raffles at that time served as Governors of the Dutch East Indies (1811–1816) visited Dieng in 1815. In his report, he mentioned around 400 temples and archaeological sites in Dieng. This site is believed to have been built by a great civilization. In addition to the temple building, the remains of the Dharmasala, a residence complex for rishis, were also found. The function of this residence is of course very closely related to the building of the temple, especially in terms of maintenance and worship.
The first travel record that narrates about Dieng is the travel record of H.C. Cornelius who visited Dieng in 1814, earlier before Raffles' visit. In that note, Cornelius mentioned that in 1814 the Dieng plateau was submerged in water so that it looked like a fairly large lake. Armed with this report, in 1856, J. Kinsbergen visited Dieng and then reactivated the water channel called Gangsiran Aswatama by the local community. Kinsbergen also excavated and photographed several archaeological remains in Dieng, but his research reports have not been rediscovered until now.
Research in Dieng was then continued by H. L. Melville in 1911–1916. The results of this research prompted the Governor of the Dutch East Indies to issue a decree containing archaeological discoveries in the Dieng plateau, the number of which reached 104, consisting of structures left over from buildings, temples and loose finds. Now the remaining temple findings are divided into three regional blocks. The first block is the Dwarawati temple cluster, the second block is the Arjuna and Gatotkaca temple clusters, and the third block is the Bima temple cluster. Of the existing temple buildings, only a few buildings remain that can still be seen. The name of the temple is taken from the names of Javanese shadow puppets (Wayang Kulit) and Mahabharata characters.
