They seem standing quiet and fine, those temples, while the beautiful and careful-handed green garden lie around them. Though lotta local tourist come to watch them all days, but these temples of Mojopahit remain looking clean and sophisticated, no trash spread around and the garden around seem pretty. We find grasses and trees are cut perfectly, some of them are cut forming certain objects such as sofa, stupa, and even helicopters.
Gapura Bajang Ratu. It was trusted that the temple was named because Jayanegara, one of Majapahit king has fallen from the temple and made him disabled. Then the temple was devoted to Jayanegara, which then known as Bajang Ratu (English: disable king). Jayanegara was also buried around here, but his cemetery was destroyed when Mojopahit kingdom was striked. Today there was nothing left from Jayanegara in this place, even his tomb, except the gate where he fell from.
These temples lie in Trowulan, a district in Mojokerto regency, about 90 minutes driving southwest from Surabaya, Indonesia. The district has been a very important site in Indonesian history, coz this is the place where the capital city of Mojopahit kingdom belonged. Mojopahit was noted as one of the biggest kingdom in Asia about 10 centuries ago, where the territory lied from Indonesian territory to a place which today called Cambodia.
Candi Tikus. Actually nobody knows the real name of the temple. The archeological site was buried long time after Mojopahit kingdom fell down, and the area has turned into large farm. Once upon a time rats strike the farm, and the farmers must destroy the farm to eradicate those rodents. When they excavated the farm, instead finding rats nest, they found the ancient architecural site of Majapahit. Then the place is called as Candi Tikus (English: Rats Temple).
There are about a dozen temples of Mojopahit spread in Trowulan, but I just visited three of them. These temples spread in distance of 10 minutes driving, each stand on a garden which is just like two or three soccer fields become one. Each gardens are handled sophisticatedly by tourism board of Mojokerto, make me feel when I visited them like visiting city parks, instead coming into ancient boring statues.
Today was holiday when I got there, but they weren’t very crowded place. The small parks were just visited by about ten small families or couples, including me and my hunk. Each temple was placed board written “Dilarang naik ke candi” (English: Stepping into temple is forbidden).
Candi Brahu. When I walked here, I was a little disappointed coz I watched that the top of the temple was patent, not like cone, like other temples. But then I realized that the form was not patent, but rounded, and that the characteristic form of Buddhism. The Brahu Temple perhaps is the authentic evidence that Majapahit kingdom is an original Buddhism kingdom, a sign that Buddhism has been a top religion in Indonesia exceeding other beliefs.
I notice that the tourists mostly remain Mojokerto inhabitants itself. My hunk was confused to park his car, coz we didn’t find any parking lot though the ticket was written that they charge IDR 3k for each car parking and 5k for bus. The tourism stakeholder Mojokerto does not seem anticipate these temples as tourism object for tourists from outer city.
No charge for tourists walk by into these temple park, but they were expected by local staffs to drop cents on the gate. This is why I was amazed about these temples, coz I wonder how many budget that the Mojokerto stakeholder must spend to maintain the temples and the beautiful gardens around if there is no legal income from tourists.
Walking around these temples feels like walking to city park, made in Mojokerto.
A La Laurentina 