CANDI BADUT

Candi Badut or Badut Temple is located in the middle of a residential area of Karang Besuki village, District of Dau in Malang. It is just 10 meters from the small main street of that area. I didn’t expect it but it just makes this temple unique.

Temple is called candi in Indonesian. Badut means clown. Like me, you must wonder what has this temple to do with it? No, this temple is not funny at all but it is interesting. There are 3 possible reasons about this name.

• At the area of the temple there were a lots of badut tree. It looks like a jackfruit tree. So it is called Badut temple.
• It refers to a name of the king of a kingdom which men say, had built this temple. The name is Liswa. In Old Javanese it means clown.
• The word Badut comes from Sanskrit, “Bha-dyut”. “Bha” means star Agastya and “Dyut” means ray. So Badut means the ray of star Agastya.
  

Candi Badut stands on an area of 2,808m2 and 508 meters above the sea level. The area is surrounded by mountains. At the east there is Semeru Mountain, at the west, Arjuna Mountain, at the north, Tengger Mountain and at the south, Kawi Mountain. Like you see at the picture shown here, the temple has a big garden around. I can imagine how beautiful this place was.

E.W.Maureen Brechter, a Dutch inspector, has found this temple in 1921. It was destroyed, covered with trees and ground. Then this temple is restored in 1925-1926 under the leader of De Haan, the Head of Archeology in Dutch Indie time. The last restoration was done in 1991-1992 by Indonesian government.

This temple consists of foot, body, and roof. When people found it, they just could see the foot parts. They collect the stones based on its sort and size. Then they tried to build the body. The foot and body were rebuilt but the roof cannot be found. What a pity.

Inside the temple there are Yoni and Lingga. Lingga is a symbol of men genitals and Yoni is a symbol of women's.

There are also other meanings about Lingga and Yoni. Lingga is the symbol of god Shiva the creator and the Yoni is his wife Parvati. Lingga is the father (god) and Yoni is the mother (universe). For Hindu followers these symbols and the place are holy. Lingga and Yoni are a characteristic of a Hindu temple.

They also found the foundation of the wall around the temple. Here you can see the rest of the stones of the wall.

Among the stones there is also a statue but the head is missed. See the picture here below.

Although there are many parts are missing, this temple is still used by Hindu followers who come to pray on Galungan Day. This is a Balinese holiday that occurs every 210 days and lasts for 10 days. During this holiday the Balinese gods visit the earth.

This historical witness has something to do with Dinoyo inscription. According to the inscription Candi Badut is dated from November 28th, 760M. It means it is the eldest temple in East Java. So a 1,250 years old temple in East Java is located in a crowded residential area. Wow!!

This temple is located not far from Wesley International School. If you are in Malang make a time to visit Candi Badut. For photographers this is also a place to make good shots.

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