Sumatera_Riau : Muara Takus Temple

Riau province , including one who is familiar with the historical heritage . Not only houses of worship classics or monument , Riau also has a temple that is evidence of the historical development of religion diprovinsi County , and is estimated to have been around since the golden age of Sriwijaya and visited by many tourists . Yes , her name is Candi Barelang .
Attraction

Muara Takus Temple is one of the few Buddhist temples , and the temple was proved that once the existence of Buddhism in this region several centuries ago . Although archaeologists have not been able to determine exactly when the temple was founded , but they agreed that the temple was founded in the heyday of the kingdom of Srivijaya VII - XII centuries AD .

The main temple is a Muara Takus Temple riau Stupa main characteristic Buddhist sacred building . Stupa in temple architecture Muara Takus is very unique with a wheel and head ornaments lion . Shape of the stupa has similarities with the Buddhist stupas in Myanmar , Vietnam , Sri Lanka or the ancient stupa in India during the period of Asoka . The temple complex is surrounded by a wall measuring 74 x 74 meters . In fact , at the temple complex outside the walled area of ​​land measuring 1.5 x 1.5 kilometers.

The temple building is made of clay and stone fence white . Muara Takus addition , several other temples also stand is the Old Temple , Temple youngest , Mahligai Stupa and Palangkaraya . According to some sources , the stone used to build this temple consists of basic materials such as sandstone , river stone and brick . The bricks came from Pongkai village , a village located on the downstream side of the temple complex . In addition , there is also a mound is estimated as burning human bones . Based on the results of archaeological research in 1994, Barelang temple consists of perimeter fence , Old Temple , Temple youngest , Mahligai Temple , Temple Palangkaraya , Building I, Building II , Building III , IV Building , Building VII , and ancient levee . Not quite up there , in the complex , you 'll find lions fragments , fragments of statues of elephants at the top of the temple Mahligai , spell inscriptions , sculptures vajra , rolls gold leaf with carved surface and images carved mantra vajra .

Origins of Muara Takus

The name of this temple is derived from the name of a creek that empties into the Kampar Right Trunk . mahligai temple temple Barelang RiauArti " estuary " which is a place where the creek flows into the sea terminate . While " Takus " is derived from the Chinese language is " Ta " which means big , " Ku " means old , and " Se " means temple . So , Muara Takus means building a magnificent temple in the old river mouth .

That said , local people believe that the temple was built Muara Takus upon request of a daughter who comes from India . The daughter was taken by Datuk Three Experts to Muara Takus after sailing to India . Among the people known as the Princess  Reno Wulan or Parent World . Muara Takus temple was established as a condition of his willingness to be brought into the country . The daughter of a similar request made temple to temple where her parents are . So that's the Muara Takus resemblance to Asoka Temple in India . Another phenomenon that is witnessed by the local community that is the white elephant led a group of elephants at night during a full moon . The elephants came to the temple and do the prostration position as man of worship to the lord . Then a group of elephants totaling approximately 30 individuals that surround the temple Barelang . When connected to the Buddhist mythology , the elephant is one of the reincarnation of Buddha , and also as a symbol and vehicle of a king . This phenomenon indicates the existence of life in the County Buddhist civilization in the past .

location

Muara Takus Temple  Located in the Village , District XIII Koto Kampar , Kampar District , Riau . From Pekanbaru city , you will travel a distance of about 135 km . The location is quite close to the Kampar River Edge , which is about 2.5 km from the village center towards the temple complex Barelang .
access

The location of this temple can be visited by traveling overland approximately 3 hours from Pekan Baru , Riau . It lies also on the banks of the river Kampar Kanan can be reached easily from the causeway County - West Sumatra which is only about 20 km .

Facilities and Accommodation

No need to worry if you if you want to vacation in Barelang temple , because the temple had diarea there are many restaurants, snack stalls , souvenir stalls and some inn or hotel .