The Ngawen Temple Complex covers an area of approximately 900 square meters, with a height of 290 meters above sea level, located in Ngawen village, Muntilan District, Magelang Regency, Central Java, to the south of Gunungpring village. This temple is located on the edge of rice fields and village roads, near the Ngawen Village Government Office.
In 1864 the Ngawen temple complex was rediscovered by a Dutch official, NW Hoepermans. When this temple was discovered, it was buried in volcanic material from Mount Merapi.
He also mentioned that there was a discovery of a Buddha statue in the ruins of a temple. Furthermore, in 1897 J Van Aalst conducted research around the Ngawen temple and found an arrangement of temple foundation stones in front of Ngawen II Temple (temple number two from the north). And in Ngawen IV Temple (temple number four from the north) a statue of Dhyani Buddha Amitabha was found.
When Th Van Erp carried out the restoration of Borobudur Temple in 1911, he carried out an inventory of the temple stones in Ngawen Temple. The results of the inventory were published in the 1911 ROD, which was published by Batavia Albrecht & Co in 1912 with the title Ngawen Temple.
The Ngawen Temple site really attracted the attention of Dutch archaeologists. Experts from the Netherlands continue to carry out research and excavations.
The series of research by Dutch archaeologists continues.
In 1925, FJ Perguin continued research, excavation and restoration. And in 1927 he succeeded in restoring Ngawen I Temple and Ngawen II Temple.
The results of the physical restoration of the Ngawen Temple building, which until now has not changed.
In Perguin’s notes it is also stated that the damage to the Ngawen temple complex was due to the powerful eruption of Mount Merapi 1,000 years ago, where rocks, sand and ash covered this temple.
When he carried out excavations at this temple, he also found the statue of Dhyani Buddha Ratna Sambhawa.
In 1928, at Ngawen II Temple, an ancient device was found in the form of a bronze klinthingan (gentha) hanging at the top of the inner temple roof.
The discovery of Buddhist ritual ceremonial equipment was also recorded by Stutterheim in 1935.
Ngawen Temple has a Buddhist religious background. The Ngawen Temple complex consists of five temple buildings lined up parallel from north to south, facing east.
Each temple has a square floor plan with the same shape.
Of the five temples, only Temple II was successfully restored in 1927, while the other four temples only had the foot of the temple remaining.
Meanwhile, the ruins of temple stones, ornaments and temple reliefs whose counterparts have not yet been found are arranged in the temple courtyard on the east side.
The specialty of Ngawen Temple is the layout of the temples in rows from south to north. This means that the Dhyani Buddhas (gods) have the same position.
In fact, usually in a Buddhist temple there is a deity whose position is the highest, namely Dhyani Buddha Vairocana. Another unique thing is that the temples all face east.
This means that Buddhists who are carrying out religious rituals in the Ngawen temple grounds are all facing west, which also means facing towards Borobudur Temple, which is located to the west of Ngawen temple, around 7.60 km.
Here we found the statue of Dhyani Buddha Ratnasambhawa in temple II and the statue of Dhyani Buddha Amitabha in temple IV. The uniqueness of Ngawen Temple is that in temple II and temple IV, every corner of the temple has a lion statue standing as if supporting the temple.
Ngawen Temple is unique in its layout, mandala and building architectural style. This means that the layout and shape of the building is different from Buddhist temples in general.
What is often found is that Buddhist temples are single buildings with levels that have meanings from Buddhist philosophy. The layout of this temple is similar to the layout of Hindu temples, namely the presence of ancillary temples and a main temple as the center.
However, in the Ngawen Temple complex there is no main temple. The existence of Ngawen Temple is associated with the Kayumwungan inscription or Karangtengah inscription with the year number 746 Syaka or 824 AD.
In this temple, several Buddha statues were found, including the Dhyani Buddha Ratnasambhawa statue with the vara mudra hand gesture found in temple II, the Dhyani Buddha Amitabha statue with the Dhyani mudra hand gesture in temple IV and the discovery of the Dhyani Buddha Vairocana statue with the dharma cakra mudra hand gesture.
De Casparis, a Dutch archaeologist, connected the Ngawen temple complex with the Venuwana building mentioned in the Karang Tengah Inscription of 824 AD.
In this inscription it is stated that King Samaratungga built a sacred building in Venuwana, which means bamboo forest. At that time, Ngawen Village was thought to be one of the villages with lots of bamboo forests.
Another archaeologist, E.B. Vogler dated the construction of Ngawen Temple in the period 812-836 AD. Meanwhile, J Dumary and Nurhadi Magetsari connected Ngawen Temple with Tathagatha in the Mahayana Buddhist school as applied to Buddhist temples such as Borobudur Temple, Mendut Temple, Plaosan Temple and Sewu Temple.
Ngawen Temple also has a different building style compared to the temples found in the Magelang area.
Jan Fontein in his book The Sculpture of Indonesia explains that the Ngawen Temple building has a special style.
At Ngawen II Temple, the temple ornaments and decorations are with distinctive motifs and there is a temple gate that is separate from the temple body. The existence of a separate temple gate is intended to make the temple building appear wider and more beautiful.