Paduraksa

A paduraksa (left) marks the entrance into the main sanctum of the temple, while the candi bentar (right) marks the entrance into the outer sanctum of the temple.

Paduraksa or kori agung is a type of gateway that can be found in the island of Java and Bali, Indonesia. This architectural feature is commonly found in buildings from the classical Hindu-Buddhist period of Indonesia. Paduraksa marks the threshold into the most sacred space (the inner sanctum) within a religious compound, a cemetery, or a palace.

Form

A highly ornate paduraksa in the Pura Puseh Desa Singapadu, Bali.

A paduraksa is basically a gateway in the form of a candi. The structure consists of three parts: the base, where the steps are located; the body where the entrance opening is located; and the crown, with its stepped profile characteristic of a candi. The entrance opening is sometimes equipped with a door made of finely carved wood.

While the basic form of a paduraksa is of a stepped candi, it can be heavily decorated with ornaments, figures, and symbols. In Bali, the crown of the paduraksa is decorated with flame-like ornaments and celestial figures. The menacing head of the bhoma is often carved over the opening, while a lion-like effigies guard the sides of the entrance. A paduraksa in the Islamic cemetery complex of Sendang Duwur contains a mysterious wing-like feature thought to represent the wings of the meru; this might be associated with the celestial bird garuda.

Classical Javanese and Balinese Hindu temple

Paduraksa and candi bentar (another gateway feature) are integral features of a Balinese Hindu temple architecture, and possibly the classical Javanese Hindu temple. Both gateways mark the threshold between different level of sanctity within a temple compound. In Bali, a candi bentar marks the boundary between the outer world with the outer realm of the Hindu temple, the nista mandala ("outer sanctum"), while the paduraksa marks the boundary between the madya mandala ("middle sanctum") with the innermost and the most sacred utama mandala ("main sanctum"). In Bali, the paduraksa is reserved for the priests and the gods.

Origin and evolution

Bajang Ratu, a 13th-century paduraksa in the archeological complex of Trowulan.

The paduraksa is an adaptation of the classical Indian gopuram. Early form of a roofed gateway can be found in a couple of 8th to 9th-century temple complexes in Central Java, e.g. Prambanan, Plaosan, and Ratu Boko. In the later period, these gateways took form of a more slender form. The 13th to 14th-century paduraksa of East Java, such as those found from the Hindu period of Singhasari and Majapahit, looks identical with the Balinese paduraksa. In the archaeological site of Trowulan – the 14th-century capital of the Majapahit empire – a paduraksa named Bajang Ratu (Javanese "dwarf/defect monarch"), is among the oldest paduraksa that still stands. Reliefs showing a candi bentar and paduraksa have been discovered in 13th-century Candi Jago in East Java.

The paduraksa is still widely used upon the arrival of Islam period in the 15th-century. The name kori agung is usually chosen for a paduraksa which is used for a non-Hindu purposes. The Great Mosque of Mataram (Mesjid Gedhe Mataram) in Kotagede contains a kori agung which marks the threshold into the mosque; where the tomb of Panembahan Senopati is located. The 16th-century Menara Kudus Mosque, one of the oldest mosque in Java, has a kori agung in its compound and a kori agung inside the mosque. Many kraton (palace) complexes of Islamic Java uses kori agung within its complex, e.g. within the Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat of Yogyakarta Sultanate, Kraton Kasepuhan and Kanoman of Cirebon Sultanate and the ruined Kraton Kaibon of Banten Sultanate. Muslim cemetery complex also utilized the kori agung to mark the area where the tomb is located, e.g. in Imogiri cemetery complex. The Sendang Duwur cemetery complex has two kori agungs with wing-like architectural form, which is thought to represent a winged Meru.

See also

• Balinese temple

Cited works

• Davison, Julian (2003). Balinese architecture. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 9780794600716. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Uka Tjandrasasmita (2009). Arkeologi Islam Nusantara [Nusantara Islamic Archeology]. Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia. ISBN 9789799102126. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Wardani, Laksmi Kusuma; Sitindjak, Ronald Hasudungan Irianto; Mayang Sari, Sriti (2015). "Estetika Ragam Hias Candi Bentar dan Paduraksa di Jawa Timur" [Ornament aesthetic of Candi Bentar and Paduraksa in East Java] (PDF) (in Indonesian). Petra Christian University. Retrieved November 19, 2016. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)