Sambisari temple was discovered by Mr. Karyowinangun, a farmer, in 1966. He was hoeing the ground and found a carved stone slab which turned out to be part of a temple complex buried under the ground.
Sambisari is about ten kilometres outside of Yogyakarta in the Kalasan District and was reconstructed like a giant jigsaw puzzle by archaeologists over 21 years from many scattered pieces of carved stone.
The temple complex consists of one main temple and three smaller shrines built between 812 and 838 AD possibly by Rakai Garung of the Sanjaya Dynasty. It is thought that the temple was as a place of worship to the Hindu god Shiva.
The balustrades of the stairs to the entrance of the main temple are carved with ornamental dragons in the open mouth of the makara style from Hindu mythology.
There is also a one meter wide veranda with three niches for statues of Durra the wife of Shiva, Ganesha son of Durga and the legendary sage Agastya.
The main sanctuary contains a phallus (cosmic pillar) and a yoni (divine passage) these represent the balance between male and female creative energy. The phallus and yoni were used to make the holy water by pouring it onto the phallus and letting it flow toward the yoni.
Free Desktop Background
A detail from the wall of Borobudur Temple
Click the image
When the background has downloaded
right click it and Set as Background.
