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88-503: According to the Kelurak inscription (dated from 782 CE) and the Manjusrigrha inscription (dated from 792 CE), which were discovered in 1960, the original name of the temple complex was probably "Manjusri grha" (The House of Manjusri). Manjusri is a Bodhisattva from Mahayana Buddhist teachings that symbolizes the "gentle glory" of transcendent wisdom (Sanskrit: prajñā ). Sewu Temple

176-587: A better British presence was cemented. However, the Anglo-Dutch Convention of 1814 was not completely clear, especially on the issue of certain possessions such as Padang . The Convention of 1814 only returned Dutch territory that was held before 1803, which did not include Padang. Raffles asserted the British claim personally, leading a small expedition to the Kingdom of Pagaruyung . Yet, as Raffles confirmed with

264-756: A certain uneasiness and instability for the two nations. Tengku Long was claimed to be a pretender to the throne, and, since the succession laws in the Malay sultanates were not clear cut, treaties signed between native rulers and the European powers always seemed to be on the verge of invalidation; especially if a sultan should be deposed by one of his siblings or other pretenders. Nonetheless, amidst uncertainty and intrigue, Raffles landed in Achin on 14 March 1819, with begrudging help of Penang. Once again, it seems that multiple people were in power, but none wanted to formally deal with

352-720: A country gentleman, and ran his colony like an estate, his expenditure on nature preservation was seriously frowned upon. In both Calcutta and London, they discussed his removal from office, while Castlereagh continued negotiations with the Dutch regarding the ongoing diplomatic conflicts. Luckily, the Singapore issue had its supporters in the House, so as negotiations continued in Europe, Raffles remained largely idle in Bencoolen. The only major issue, outside

440-511: A few miles apart, which suggests that this area served as an important religious, political, and urban center. Although buried deep beneath the volcanic debris around Mount Merapi , the temple ruins were not completely forgotten by the local Javanese inhabitants. However, the origins of the temple were a mystery. Over the centuries, tales and legends infused with myths of giants and cursed princesses were recounted by villagers. Prambanan and Sewu were purported to be of supernatural origin, and in

528-505: A more favourable treaty in Rhio (Riau) was met with greater challenge, as the Dutch were present, and made for a rather awkward position. The Dutch were alarmed, and sent a small contingent to the island. Despite a covert offer of subterfuge against the Dutch offered by the Raja of Rhio (Riau), Farquhar returned, and an official protest was sent by the Raja to Java regarding the matter. Raffles declared

616-662: A new set of photographs was taken, sponsored by Leydie Melville. In 1908 Theodoor van Erp  [ nl ] initiated the clearing and reconstruction of the main temple, and in 1915 H. Maclaine Pont drew the reconstruction of a temple of the second row. It was de Haan who reconstructed the Perwara temples with the aid of Van Kinsbergen's photographs. Subsequently, the temple became a subject of study among archaeologists such as Willem Frederik Stutterheim  [ id ] and Nicolaas Johannes Krom  [ id ; ru ] in 1923. In 1950 Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis also studied

704-466: A well-defended fortification at Meester Cornelis (now Jatinegara ). His successor, Governor Jan Willem Janssens , who coincidentally had surrendered to the British five years earlier at the Cape Colony , mounted a brave but ultimately futile defence at the fortress. The British, led by Colonel Gillespie, stormed the fort and captured it within three hours. Governor Janssens attempted to escape inland but

792-637: A year, both massive sums at the time, roughly equivalent to £ 287,000 and £172,000 now. Farquhar was officially named the Resident of Singapore , and Raffles was named as 'Agent to the Most Noble the Governor-General with the States of Rhio (Riau), Lingin (Lingga) and Johor'. Although ownership of the post was to be exclusively British, explicit orders were given to Farquhar to maintain free passage of ships through

880-529: Is a bit north of Prambanan temple in Yogyakarta . The writings on the inscription were discovered in poor condition with several parts being unclear and unreadable, as a result, historians could only translate the main information of the inscription. The inscription mentioned the construction of a sacred Buddhist building to house the Manjusri statue that contains the wisdom of Buddha , Dharma , and Sangha ;

968-598: The Borobudur by about 37 years. Located in the heart of Mataram , the temple served as the royal Buddhist temple of the kingdom. Stately religious ceremonies were held here regularly. The Manjusrigrha inscription (792) praises the perfect beauty of the prasada (tower) of this temple compound. The Bubrah temple, located several hundred meters south, and the Gana temple, located east of the Sewu temple, probably served as guardian temples for

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1056-528: The Malay Peninsula . It was established that there was no Dutch presence on the island of Singapore. Johor also no longer had any control of the area, so contact was made with the Temenggong Abdul Rahman . The contacts were friendly, and Raffles, knowledgeable about the muddled political situation, took advantage to provide a rudimentary treaty between the nominal chiefs of the area that called for

1144-521: The Resident of Singapore , replacing Farquhar. Upon his arrival, Travers found the colony a delightful smörgåsbord of different races and cultures, numbering over six thousand. He also found that Singapore's trade was slowly overtaking that of Java. As in Java, Raffles collected samples of local species of plant and animal, as well as describing them in his journals. He located other tribes, and recorded their customs, especially their religions and laws. Bringing

1232-629: The Strait of Singapore , and a small military presence was established alongside the trading post. After issuing orders to Farquhar and the remaining Europeans, Raffles left the next day, 7 February 1819. Raffles also planned to start a British presence in Achin , on the northern tip of Sumatra . As soon as he had departed, the Raja of Rhio (Riau) sent letters to the Dutch, disclaiming the deal, protesting innocence, and blaming British encroachment. Meanwhile, in Malacca ,

1320-562: The Yogyakarta Sultanate to launch an attack against the British led to uneasiness among Britons in Java. On 20 June 1812, Raffles led a 1,200-strong British force to capture the Royal Palace of Yogyakarta . Yogyakarta forces, surprised by the attack, were easily defeated; the palace fell in one day, and was subsequently sacked and burnt. Raffles ordered the much of the palace's archives to be removed, taking them back with him. The attack

1408-455: The 1819 expedition party, Captain John Crawford, recalled in his diary an encounter with “upwards of 100” of Chinese. British colonial documentations revealed that Temenggong Abdul Rahman had provided these Chinese who were Teochews the cost and expenses of opening gambier plantations at Mount Stamford (now Pearl’s Hill) prior to British arrival. He had also “in some instances” advanced money to

1496-414: The British. The hostile atmosphere created allowed Raffles to cancel the only meeting he was able to arrange, with Panglima Polim , a powerful divisional chief, fearing treachery . As the influential merchant John Palmer , Raffles, and fellow commissioner John Monckton Coombs of Penang sat offshore, awaiting a response, Calcutta debated whether to reinforce the port city. Evacuation plans were made, but

1584-481: The Dutch acted at once, commanding that no Malays could go to Singapore. Raffles's bold claim of Singapore created a curious geographic situation: although Penang was clearly closer in distance to Singapore, Raffles, in his capacity as Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen, was nominally still in control. This undoubtedly irked the authorities in Penang, to the point where they refused to send any sepoys to Singapore to complete

1672-463: The Dutch in Java. The competition in the area, between Raffles and the aggressive Dutch commissioner-general , Cornelis Theodorus Elout , and later Raffles' former advisor on Java, Muntinghe , now a member of the new High Government of the Dutch East Indies, who Elout had put in power, certainly led at least in part to the later Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 . Raffles looked into alternatives in

1760-401: The Dutch merchant Cornelius Antonie Lons permission to make a sightseeing tour through the heartland of Mataram . Lons' report of this trip contains the first known extant description of the Sewu and Prambanan temples. In the years 1806–07, the Dutch archaeologist Hermann Cornelius  [ nl ] unearthed the Sewu temples and created the first lithographs of Candi Sewu's main temple and

1848-439: The Dutch never acted, and ultimately Lord Hastings prompted Colonel Bannerman, the governor of Penang , to send funds to bolster Singapore. Finally Raffles was capable of convincing his fellow commissioners to sign a treaty with Jauhar al-Alam Shah , the ruler of Achin, which installed a British Resident , as well as guaranteeing the exclusivity of bilateral trade. By the time Raffles had returned to Singapore, on 31 May, much of

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1936-510: The Dutch relinquishing their claims to Singapore while the British ceded Bencoolen to them. An entrepôt was subsequently established in Singapore for maritime trade between Europe and Asia. While Raffles was largely credited for the founding of contemporary Singapore, the early running of day-to-day operations was mostly done by William Farquhar , who served as the first Resident of Singapore from 1819 to 1823. Raffles soon returned to England in 1824, where he died on his birthday in 1826 at

2024-567: The High Court of Java, Herman Warner Muntinghe , especially in the matter of the reform of the public finances of the colony, and its system of taxation. Under Raffles's aegis, a large number of ancient monuments in Java were systematically catalogued for the first time. The first detailed English-language account of Prambanan was prepared by Colin Mackenzie , while the Buddhist temple of Borobudur

2112-597: The Honourable Philip Dundas , the new governor of Penang. At this time, he also made the acquaintance of Thomas Otho Travers , who would accompany him for the next twenty years. His knowledge of the Malay language , as well as his wit and ability, gained him favour with Lord Minto , the governor-general of India , and he was sent to Malacca . In 1811, after the annexation of the Kingdom of Holland by France during Napoleon's war, Raffles had no choice but to leave

2200-563: The Manjusrigrha complex, guarding the four cardinal directions around the Sewu temple. The ruins of the Lor temple to the north of Sewu and the Kulon temple on the western side are both in poor condition; only a few stones remain on those sites. Before the construction of Borobudur and Prambanan, Sewu likely served as the kingdom's main temple. The temples are arranged in the mandala layout, which symbolizes

2288-506: The Perwara temple. After Britain's short-lived rule of the Dutch East Indies, Thomas Stamford Raffles included Cornelius' image of Candi Sewu in his 1817 book The History of Java . In 1825, the Belgian architect Auguste Payen created a series of Candi Sewu images. During the Java War (1825–1830) some of the temple stones were carted away and used in fortifications. In the years that followed

2376-580: The Strait or on Sumatra was appointed, and Raffles, whose health was slowly ailing, returned to Bencoolen. Raffles returned to Bencoolen in ill-health, but as his health improved, he continued on his quest to learn about the island he now called home. He studied the Batak cannibals of Tapanuli , and their rituals and laws regarding the consumption of human flesh, writing in detail about the transgressions that warranted such an act, as well as their methods. He also noted

2464-537: The Sultanate of Johore and hence, Rhio, and the diplomatic exchanges between Baron Godert van der Capellen and Calcutta continued throughout this time. The legitimacy of the British treaties was also questioned once again, but finally, as Singapore grew at an exponential rate, the Dutch gave up their claim on the island, allowing the colony to continue as a British possession. However, the pressures put upon Calcutta ensured that no single governor of all British possessions in

2552-560: The Teochew cultivators on the understanding he would be repaid in the form of gambier or other produce. Farquhar had the impressions that the Temenggong’s interests in these plantations were represented by a brother-in-law of his named Baba Ketchil and the first Captain China of Singapore, a Teochew merchant named Tan Heng Kim ((陈亨钦), was “one of the principal persons concerned”. A few days later,

2640-468: The age of 45. His legacy while complex remains significant in Singapore, most notably the Raffles's Landing Site , as well as his name being a common sight in numerous entities and institutions throughout the country. Others have argued against excessive reverence as he was an imperialist who projected colonialism onto the population of Singapore that predated his arrival . Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles

2728-610: The area. Hussein Shah had been the crown Prince of Johor, but while he was away in Pahang to get married, his father died, and his younger brother was made sultan, supported by some of the court officials and the Dutch. To circumvent the situation of having to negotiate with a sultan influenced by the Dutch, Raffles decided to recognise, on behalf of the British Crown, Hussein Shah as being the rightful ruler of Johor. Farquhar's attempt to establish

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2816-509: The area; namely Bangka , which had been ceded to the Dutch after its conquest by the British during its occupation of Java. Bintan was also under consideration. Despite the fact that Francis Light overlooked the island before settling upon Penang in 1786, the Riau Archipelago was an attractive choice just to the south of the Malay Peninsula , for its proximity to Malacca . In his correspondences with Calcutta , Raffles also emphasised

2904-656: The army. In 1795, at the age of 14, Raffles started working in London as a clerk for the East India Company . Nine years later, in 1804, the 23-year-old Raffles married Olivia Mariamne Devenish , a widow ten years his senior, who was formerly married to Jacob Cassivelaun Fancourt, an assistant surgeon in Madras, who had died in 1800. In 1805, he was sent to Prince of Wales Island , Malaya , starting his long association with Southeast Asia. He started as assistant secretary, under

2992-614: The centuries. However, another theory suggested that the main statue was probably constructed from several stone blocks coated with vajralepa plaster. 7°44′38″S 110°29′33″E  /  7.74389°S 110.49250°E  / -7.74389; 110.49250 Kelurak inscription The Kelurak inscription is an inscription dated 704 Saka (782 CE), written in Sanskrit with Pranagari script , discovered near Lumbung temple in Kelurak village, Central Java , Indonesia . Lumbung temple

3080-506: The colonised the alien language or culture of the coloniser. In addition to preserving the artifacts , fauna , and flora of his colonies, he also allowed religious freedom , which was especially important as the Malay states were largely Muslim . Christian schools were started by missionaries in all of his colonies. Colonel Bannerman's death in Penang in October 1819 brought new opportunities for Raffles to expand his power to also include

3168-465: The colony. However, Bencoolen was not as self-sufficient as Singapore. The area was poor and disease-ridden: the first reports from the committees reflected very poorly upon the condition of the colony. Unlike the salutary neglect Raffles granted upon Singapore, he delayed European-inspired reforms, emphasising only the cultivation of whatever land was available. Native authorities were given power in their respective districts, and were answerable only to

3256-542: The country. He mounted a military expedition against the Dutch and French in Java , in the Dutch East Indies . The war was swiftly conducted by Admiral Robert Stopford , General Frederick Augustus Wetherall , and Colonel Robert Rollo Gillespie , who led a well-organised army against an opposing army of mostly French conscripts with little proper leadership. The previous Dutch governor, Herman Willem Daendels , had built

3344-781: The east side. Each of the entrances is guarded by twin Dvarapala statues. These large guardian statues have been better preserved, and replicas can be found at Jogja Kraton. There are 249 buildings in the complex arranged in a Mandala pattern around the main central hall. This configuration expresses the Mahayana Buddhist view of the universe. There are 240 smaller temples, called Perwara (guardian) temples, with similar designs that are arranged in four rectangular concentric rows. Two outer rows are arranged closer and consist of 168 smaller temples, while two inner rows, arranged at certain intervals, consist of 72 temples. The 249 temples located in

3432-419: The eastern room. The central chamber is larger than other rooms with a higher ceiling and a taller roof. Now all five rooms are empty. However, the lotus-carved stone pedestal in the central chamber suggests that the temple once contained a large bronze Buddhist statue (possibly the bronze statue of Manjusri ), probably reaching a height of four meters. The statue is missing, probably looted for scrap metal over

3520-593: The end of his tenure as Lieutenant-Governor of Java), the now well-connected and successful Raffles was able to secure permission to set up a settlement. At this point in Singaporean history , the name Lion City was applied. The city was in a strategically advantageous position; however, he was ordered not to provoke the Dutch, and his subsequent actions were officially disavowed by the British government. In London, Lord Castlereagh attempted to quell Dutch fears, and continuing efforts were made to reach an agreement between

3608-562: The era in which the temples were built. The scale of the temple complex suggests that Candi Sewu was a royal Buddhist temple that served as an important religious site. The temple is located on the Prambanan Plain , between the southeastern slopes of the Merapi volcano and the Sewu mountain range in the south, near the present border of Yogyakarta province and Klaten Regency in central Java. The plain has many archaeological sites scattered only

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3696-527: The exclusivity of trade, and the British protection of the area. Members of Raffles's party surveyed the island, and proceeded to request the presence of the sultan, or whoever at the time had supreme nominal power, to sign a formal treaty, while Major Farquhar was ordered to do the same in Rhio (Riau). The writings of Raffles and Farquhar indicate that the British found Temenggong Abdul Rahman with 400 to 500 residents in Singapore in January 1819. Another member of

3784-498: The findings during the reconstruction process, it was suggested that the original design of the central sanctuary only consisted of a central roomed temple surrounded by four additional structures with open portals. Doorways were added later. The portals were narrowed to create door frames on which to attach wooden doors. Some of the holes to attach doors are still visible. The doorways join the temples together into one main building with five rooms. The central chamber can be reached from

3872-453: The formal treaty was signed by Hussein Shah who claimed to be the "lawful sovereign of the whole of territories extending from Lingga and Johor to Mount Muar". Although Hussein Shah had had no previous contact with the British, he had certainly heard of the strength of the Royal Navy , and was in no position to argue against the terms. Raffles reassured him that the Dutch posed no threat in

3960-409: The foundation of what was to become modern Singapore on 6 February, securing the transfer of control of the island to the East India Company . With much pomp and ceremony, the official treaty was read aloud in languages representing all nations present, as well as the Malay and Chinese inhabitants. Sultan Hussein Shah was paid 5,000 Spanish dollars a year, while Temenggong Abdul Rahman received 3,000

4048-481: The four cardinal points of the main temple, there are four structures projected outward, each with its stairs, entrances, and rooms, crowned with stupas , which form a cross-like layout. All of the structures are made from andesite stones. The main temple has five rooms, one large garbhagriha in the center and four smaller rooms in each cardinal direction. These four rooms are all connected by outer corner galleries with balustrades bordered by rows of small stupas. From

4136-468: The garrison. Official Dutch complaints came before the end of the month, and Raffles attempted to appease the situation by instructing Farquhar to not interfere with the politics of surrounding islands. Despite numerous threats and serious considerations by the Dutch governor-general Van der Capellen in Java, they did not take any military action. The confused political situation in Johore and Rhio also created

4224-444: The handover, and officially replaced by John Fendall Jr. on account of the poor financial performance of the colony during his administration, and allegations of financial impropriety on his own part. He sailed to England in early 1816 to clear his name and, en route, visited Napoleon , who was in exile at St. Helena , but found him unpleasant and unimpressive. In 1817, Raffles wrote and published The History of Java , describing

4312-552: The history of the island from ancient times as well as its geography, flora, and fauna. In 1817, Raffles was created a Knight Bachelor by the Prince Regent George IV , whose daughter, Princess Charlotte , was particularly close to him. At the publication of the book, he also stopped using the name 'Thomas', preferring to use his middle name, 'Stamford', possibly to avoid confusion amongst his associates with Sir Thomas Sevestre, or his cousin, Thomas Raffles , who both bore

4400-517: The immediate crisis that the colony had caused in Penang and Calcutta had passed. By then, the initial five-hundred villagers had grown to become five-thousand merchants, soldiers, and administrators, packed onto the island. Raffles was determined to destroy the Dutch mercantile monopoly in the area, to replace it with a gateway for trade with China and Japan. The latter he had attempted but failed to reach an agreement with while governing Java. While in Singapore, Raffles established schools and churches in

4488-510: The inscription is displayed in the National Museum of Indonesia , Jakarta , under the inventory number No. D.44. Thomas Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles FRS FRAS (5   July 1781 – 5   July 1826) was a British colonial official who served as the governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieutenant-governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. Raffles

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4576-584: The island of Nias under British rule, he noted its civilised state and high production yields of rice. Yet the production of food remained a problem. In Bencoolen, Raffles paid special attention to the agricultural methods of the Chinese, including an introduction to the only issue of Proceedings of the Agricultural Society . To remedy the shortages, his employer, the East India Company , concerned themselves only with profit-taking. Even as Raffles lived like

4664-408: The legend of Loro Jonggrang , they were said to have been created by a multitude of demons under the order of Bandung Bondowoso. Such tales are most likely the reason the temples were preserved through the centuries before the Java War (1825–1830). The local villagers dared not remove any of the temple stones, believing the ruins to be haunted by supernatural beings. In 1733, Pakubuwono II granted

4752-435: The lieutenant-governor. The slave-debtor system was brought in, instead of the old slavery system that Raffles had abolished in Java, Borneo , and initially in Bencoolen. Slave-debtors were registered, and educational reforms started to focus on children, instead of the entire population. Raffles looked into a long-term plan for the slow reform of Bencoolen. Unlike many other European adventurers, Raffles did not impose upon

4840-454: The metal frame has been removed, and visitors may visit and enter the main temple. The Sewu Temple often hosts the annual Waisak Day ceremony. The Sewu temple complex is the largest Buddhist compound in the Prambanan area, with rectangular grounds that measure 185 meters north-south and 165 meters east-west. There is an entrance on all four cardinal points, but the main entrance is located on

4928-586: The nations that eventually became the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London of 1824. As well as the treaty, instructions were sent out to Raffles to undertake far less intrusive actions; however, the long distance between the Far East and Europe meant that the orders had no chance of reaching Raffles in time. After a brief survey of the Karimun Islands , on 29 January 1819, he established a post at the southern tip of

5016-443: The native languages. He allowed missionaries and local businesses to flourish. Certain colonial aspects remained: a European town was quickly built to segregate the population, separated by a river; carriage roads were built, and cantonments constructed for the soldiers. Otherwise, no other duties were imposed. Confident that Farquhar would follow his instructions well, Raffles sailed for Bencoolen once again on 28 June. Raffles

5104-413: The need to establish a certain amount of influence with the native chiefs, which had greatly waned since the return of the Dutch. Raffles sent Thomas Travers as an ambassador to the Dutch, to possibly negotiate an expansion of British economic interests. When this failed, and when Raffles's own expeditions into his new dominion found only treacherous terrain and few exportable goods, his desire to establish

5192-471: The other minor British factories and outposts; from Sumatra to Cochin China . He sailed to Calcutta , and as Lord Hastings sought to consolidate all of the small British possessions in the East Indies . During his sojourn, he had the opportunity to argue for free trade, and the protection of the private enterprise. Education and the retention of small British outposts were also discussed. The Dutch claim on

5280-460: The politics of the local sultans, involved the replacement of Farquhar, who decided that he had no intention of leaving his post voluntarily, causing a moment of tension between him and Travers. Raffles's request for Travers to deliver dispatches to India nullified the issue late in the year, and Farquhar remained in charge of Singapore, with its survival still in doubt for many in both India and London, who believed that it would either be handed over to

5368-504: The rise of the Sikh religion in certain parts of Sumatra. By early 1820, Tengku Long had firmly established himself as the Sultan of Johor to the British, but the political situation in the area remained a befuddled mess, with the old sultan dying, and many new ones attempting to gain either the crown or regency. As Farquhar was involving himself poorly in local politics, Raffles appointed Travers as

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5456-452: The ruins of Candi Sewu after an earthquake had caused the dome in the main temple to collapse. In 1885 Jan Willem IJzerman, revising some plans of the temple complex made earlier by Cornelius, made notes regarding the temple's condition. He noted that several Buddha heads were missing. By 1978 none of the Buddha heads had survived, all of them having been looted from the site completely. In 1901

5544-475: The same first name. On 22 February, he married his second wife, Sophia Hull , and later set sail to Bencoolen (present-day Bengkulu in Indonesia) to take up his new post with his new wife. Raffles arrived in Bencoolen on Sumatra on 19 March 1818, where he was appointed as the lieutenant-governor of Bencoolen on 22 March 1818. Despite the prestige connected with the title of Lieutenant-Governor, Bencoolen

5632-467: The same trinity as Brahma , Vishnu , and Maheshvara . The construction of this sacred building was ordered by King Indra , revered by his official name Sri Sanggramadhananjaya . The reference to Hindu gods in this Buddhist temple signifies the Tantrayana — Vajrayana Buddhism influence. The temple dedicated to Manjusri is identified as Sewu temple, located not far north from Prambanan temple. Today

5720-409: The second and third rows of the smaller temples are located the apit (flank) temples, a couple on each cardinal point facing each other. The apit temples are the second largest temples after the main temple, however only the eastern twin apit and a northern one remain today. These smaller temples encompass a larger sanctuary that has been heavily looted. Behind the fourth row of smaller temples lies

5808-399: The second precinct were all made with a square frame but varied by different statues and orientations. Many of the statues are now gone, and the arrangements on the current site are not in the original orientations. The statues are comparable to the statues of Borobudur and were likely made of bronze. Along the north-south and east-west central axis at a distance of about 200 meters, between

5896-404: The stone-paved courtyard where the main temple stood in the center. The nearby temples, Gana temple in the east and Bubrah temple in the south are suggested as the part of greater Manjusrigrha Vajradhatu mandala complex. Both temples are located around 300 metres from the Sewu main temple. There are northern and western ruins discovered around the same distance from the main temple, however,

5984-437: The stones were too scarce for reconstruction. These temples suggested that indeed the Sewu temple compound was completed with four additional temples, located 300 metres from the main temple, which corresponds with the mandala and the guardians of the directions concept. The main temple measures 29 meters in diameter and soars up to 30 meters high. The ground plan of the main temple is a cross-shaped 20-sided polygon. On each of

6072-579: The strategically located Singapore from local rulers in 1819 to secure British access along the Strait of Singapore and the nearby seas in the region, particularly the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea . His actions were initially not endorsed by the British government and led to tensions between the British and the Dutch . The Anglo–Dutch Treaty of 1824 established their respective spheres of influence,

6160-513: The sultan regarding the absolute British influence of the area, he realised that the local rulers had only limited power over the well-cultivated and civilised country, and the treaty was largely symbolic, and had little actual force. Major-General William Farquhar , the British Resident of Malacca, had been attempting to negotiate commercial treaties with the local chiefs of the Riau Archipelago , especially before Raffle’s arrival. Farquhar

6248-418: The temple has been slowly and carefully reconstructed, yet it has not been completely restored. There are hundreds of temple ruins, and many stones are missing. The main temple reconstruction and two of the apit temples on the east side were completed in 1993 and inaugurated by President Soeharto on 20 February 1993. The temple was severely damaged during the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake . The structural damage

6336-405: The temple. Most of the archaeologists concurred that the temple was built in the first half of the ninth century. However, in 1960 an inscription discovered in Perwara temple number 202 dated the year 792, meaning that the temple was constructed a few years earlier, in the late eighth century. Later in 1981, Jacques Dumarçay conducted a thorough research of the temple. Since the early 20th century

6424-467: The temples suffered from looting. Many of the Buddha statues were decapitated and the heads stolen. Some Dutch colonists stole sculptures and used them as garden ornaments, and native villagers used the foundation stones as construction material. Some of the temple's best-preserved bas-reliefs, Buddha's head, and some ornaments were carried away from the site and ended up in museums and private collections abroad. In 1867, Isidore van Kinsbergen photographed

6512-590: The universe in Buddhist cosmology. Sewu temple was probably expanded and completed during the rule of Rakai Pikatan, a prince who married a Buddhist princess from the Sailendra dynasty, Pramodhawardhani . Most of his subjects retained their old religions after the court returned to favor Hinduism. The proximity of the Sewu temple to Prambanan, a Hindu Temple, suggests that the Hindu and Buddhist communities lived in harmony during

6600-492: Was a colonial backwater, whose only real export was pepper , and only the murder of a previous Resident , Thomas Parr , gained it any attention back home in Britain. Raffles found the place wrecked, and set about reforms immediately, mostly similar to what he had done on Java ; abolishing slavery and limiting cockfighting and such games. To replace the slaves, he used a contingent of convicts , already sent to him from India. It

6688-537: Was also ordered to occupy the nearby Bangka Island in order to establish a permanent British presence in the area, in case Java returned to Dutch rule after the end of the War of the Sixth Coalition in Europe. During his lieutenant-governorship, Raffles placed some restrictions on the local slave trade in line with wider British policy across its Asian territories, although slavery remained widespread and Raffles himself

6776-421: Was at this point that he realised the importance of a British presence that both challenged the Dutch hegemony in the area, and could remain consistently profitable, unlike Bencoolen or Batavia . However, the strategic importance of poorly maintained but well-positioned British possessions , such as Penang or Bencoolen, made it impossible for the British to abandon the unprofitable colonies in such proximity to

6864-530: Was born on ( 1781-07-05 ) 5 July 1781 on board the ship Ann , off the coast of Port Morant , Jamaica, to Captain Benjamin Raffles (1739, London – 23 November 1811, Deptford ) and Anne Raffles (née Lyde) (1755 – 8 February 1824, London). Benjamin served as a ship master for various ships engaged in the direct trade between England and the West Indies . Although some biographers have suggested that Benjamin

6952-498: Was built by the end of the eighth century at the end of Rakai Panangkaran 's reign and was completed during the reign of his successor, King Indra . Rakai Panangkaran (746–780 CE) was well-known as a devoted Mahayana Buddhist king who ruled the Medang Mataram Kingdom . The Manjusrigrha temple was the largest Buddhist temple in the Prambanan Plain region, predating the nearby Prambanan Shivaist temple by over 70 years and

7040-581: Was captured. The British invasion of Java took a total of forty-five days, during which Raffles was appointed the lieutenant-governor of the Dutch East Indies by Lord Minto before hostilities formally ceased. He took his residence at Buitenzorg , and despite having a small group of Britons as his senior staff, kept many of the Dutch civil servants in the governmental structure. During the relatively brief period of British rule in Java, Raffles negotiated several peace treaties along with ordering several military expeditions against local rulers. Rumours of plans by

7128-667: Was compelled to sign the treaty not with the official head of the sultanate, but rather, the Raja Muda (Regent or Crown Prince) of Riau . He noted it as a success, and reported it as such to Raffles. Raffles sailed to Malacca in late 1818, to personally secure a British presence in the Riau area, especially Singapura , which was favoured by him both through the readings of Malayan histories, and by Farquhar's explorations. Despite Lord Hastings ' less-than-stellar opinion of Raffles before (which had necessitated his trip to England to clear his name at

7216-728: Was involved in the capture of the Indonesian island of Java from the Dutch during the Napoleonic Wars . It was returned under the Anglo–Dutch Treaty of 1814 . He also wrote The History of Java in 1817, describing the history of the island from ancient times. The Rafflesia flower was named after him. Raffles also played a role in further establishing the British Empire 's reach in East and Southeast Asia . He secured control over

7304-584: Was involved in the slave trade , modern historians have refuted such claims. When Benjamin ended his involvement in the West India trade in 1800, it caused his family considerable hardship. The little money the family had went into sending the young Raffles to the Mansion House Academy, Hammersmith , a moderately priced boarding school, offering Latin, Greek, French, arithmetic, bookkeeping and geography, that specialised in preparing boys for clerkships or

7392-401: Was served by a large retinue of slaves at his official residences in Java. Raffles also attempted a replacement of the Dutch system of forced agricultural deliveries-in-kind with a cash-based land tenure system of land management, probably influenced by the earlier anti-feudal critiques of Dirk van Hogendorp He was advised by a holdover from the previous Dutch regime on Java, the president of

7480-438: Was significant, and the central temple suffered the worst. Large pieces of debris were scattered about on the grounds, and cracks between stone blocks were detected. To prevent the central temple from collapsing, metal frame structures were erected on the four corners and attached to support the main temple. Although some weeks later in 2006 the site was reopened for visitors, the main temple remained closed for safety reasons. Today

7568-407: Was still the lieutenant-governor of Bencoolen when he returned. Raffles started more reforms that were, by now, almost trademarks of his rule over the colonies. Forced labour was abolished when he first arrived, and he declared Bencoolen a free port as well. The currency was regulated and, as he had an excess of out-of-work civil servants, they formed committees to advise him on the daily running of

7656-462: Was surveyed and cleared of vegetation by H. C. Cornelius. When his wife, Olivia, died on 26 November 1814, Raffles was devastated. In 1815, he left again for England shortly before the island of Java was returned to control of the Netherlands following the Napoleonic Wars , under the terms of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 . Raffles had been removed from his post by the East India Company ahead of

7744-692: Was unprecedented in Javanese history, as it was the first time an indigenous palace had been captured by a European army, humiliating the Yogyakarta Sultanate. Although peace returned to Central Java in the immediate aftermath of the attack, it may have fuelled the deep-seated instability and hostility to European involvement in the region that ultimately gave rise to the Java War during the 1820s. Raffles also ordered an expedition to Palembang , Sumatra to depose local sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II . The expedition

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