Dieng plateau

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Village on the Dieng Plateau (1971)

The Dieng Plateau , Indonesian Dataran Tinggi Dieng ( dieng from di-hyang , "seat of a spiritual, otherworldly being") is located at around 2000 meters above sea level in the center of the Indonesian island of Java . The volcanically active plateau is a major tourist destination; on it are some of the oldest Hindu temples on the island.

geography

Potato harvest on the Dieng plateau

The Dieng Plateau is located in the Jawa Tengah province about 25 kilometers north of the city of Wonosobo and about 80 kilometers northwest of the city of Yogyakarta . The plateau is about 14 kilometers long and 6 kilometers wide and oriented in an east-west direction. The partly swampy plateau is used intensively for agriculture, mainly potatoes, cabbage and tomatoes are grown. The annual precipitation is between 3000 and 4000 millimeters; the plateau drains mainly to the southwest.

The Dieng Plateau is densely populated; the central location is Dieng Kulon in the northeast. Sembungan, located in the southeast of the plateau, is said to be Java's highest village at 2100 meters and is the starting point for the ascent of the Sikunir viewing peak (2263 meters).

Volcanism

Sikidang crater from above
Telaga Varna

The Dieng Plateau, along with the southeastern stratovolcanoes Sumbing and Sundoro, is one of a series of volcanoes that formed in the Quaternary . Mostly it is assumed that the plateau is a caldera that was created when a large volcano collapsed. The steep slope of the Prahu stratovolcano (2565 meters) is considered to be the north-eastern edge of the caldera. A large-volume deposit that formed when the caldera collapsed has not yet been identified.

After the plateau was formed, several new stratovolcanoes were formed. About 16,800 years ago they mined the so-called Dieng- Tephra , a layer several decades thick that covered the plateau. In a later eruption phase, viscous lava emerged at nine points in the south of the Dieng Plateau . The youngest lava of this eruption phase is around 8,450 years old.

For several centuries, the volcanism of the Dieng Plateau has been determined by steam explosions , so-called phreatic explosions . The explosions created around 100 craters on the Dieng Plateau. A distinction is made between two types of explosions: On the one hand, explosions that are not preceded by earthquakes and that can be traced back to blockages in active fumaroles and solfataras . On the other hand, there are explosions that occur after earthquakes or the opening of faults and which can create new craters.

One of the most famous craters is Sikidang, which is a popular destination for tourists. Steam emerges from the ground in large areas of the crater, and there are also hot springs , fumaroles, solfataras and mud pots . Almost a kilometer further east are Telaga Warna (Colored Lake) and Telaga Pengilon (Mirror Lake ), two lakes in an older crater into which a lava flow has flowed. In Telaga Varna gas bubbles rise; its water is acidic with a pH of three. There are three grottos near the lake that are used as meditation sites.

Since 1800 there have been at least 20 phreatic explosions; people died in eight eruptions. For example, on December 4, 1944, explosions occurred in the Silari crater, about three kilometers west of Dieng Kulon. Large blocks were thrown up to 1.5 kilometers; a two-meter-thick deposit formed at the edge of the crater. Several villages were destroyed or damaged; according to various sources, 59, 114 or 117 people were killed. On February 20, 1979, 149 people died of poisoning from carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) escaping from crevices and a crater. The gas leak was preceded by earthquake swarms and a phreatic eruption in Sinila crater, in which mud and blocks were ejected and a mud stream , a so-called lahar , emerged that flowed 3.5 kilometers. The dead were residents of the village of Kepucukan who were on the run from the eruption. The 1979 eruption is compared to the leakage of CO 2 from Lake Nyos in Cameroon, which killed around 1700 people in 1986.

Temple complexes

Dieng temple complex

On the plateau are some of the island's oldest Hindu temples , which are also a major tourist destination. Most of the original 400 temples were built between the 8th and 9th centuries AD. Soon after construction, the temple complex fell into oblivion and was only rediscovered and recorded by the archaeologist Van Kinsbergen in 1856 after he drained the area around the temples. The eight temples that have been preserved are characteristic of early Central Javanese architecture.

All Dieng temples are named after heroes of the Indian epic Mahabharata , who are staged as wayang in Java . The temples are within walking distance of Dieng Kulon. The buildings look rather austere and gloomy. The five main temples form the Arjuna complex and are dedicated to Shiva . Other temples include Candi Gatutkaca, with the plateau's small museum showing statues and sculptures from the temples, Candi Bima with its rows of staring heads, and Candi Dwarawati. Tuk Bima Lukar is a formerly holy place at a spring east of Dieng.

Temple of the Arjuna Group
Candi Bima

List of temples:

  • Candi Abiyasa
  • Candi Arjuna
  • Candi Bima
  • Candi Darawati
  • Candi Dwarawati
  • Candi Gatotkaca
  • Candi Pandu
  • Candi Parikesit
  • Candi Puntadewa
  • Candi Magersari
  • Candi Nakula
  • Candi Sadewa
  • Candi Sembadra
  • Candi Senjaka
  • Candi Semai
  • Candi Srikandi
  • Candi Wachthamer

The temples can be divided into two groups. The first include the buildings from the last years of the 7th century to around 730. These are the temples Arjuna, Semar, Srikandi and Gatotkaca . The second group includes the temples built between 730 and 780 such as Candi Puntadewa, Sembrodo (Sembadra) and Bima . In the course of the following centuries, according to an inscription from 1210, the rituals changed , which made changes to the buildings necessary. For example, the base at Gatotkaca Temple was expanded to make way for a second shrine on the south side.

Candi Arjuna and Semar form a unit. The Arjuna Temple contained a linga that was bathed on several occasions each day. The water used in the ceremony was led through a channel in the north wall, which ended in a gargoyle in the shape of a Makara head. The Semar temple facing the western front of Candi Arjuna probably contained Shiva's mount Nandi . This temple construction, which is rare in Java, is clearly influenced by the Indian Pallava temples.

The reliefs on Candi Srikandi show Vishnu in the north, Shiva in the east and Brahma in the south .

Candi Bima stands isolated from the other temples in the south of the plateau. The largest temple on the plateau also has a square substructure, which represents the actual temple core with the terrace for ceremonial purposes and a steep roof construction.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Dieng Plateau  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bergen, Crater Lakes , p. 2; Miller, Eruptive history , p. 2.
  2. ^ Christopher G. Newhall, Daniel Dzurisin: Historical unrest at large calderas of the world . USGS Bulletin 1855, 1988 (English, pdf, 37.0 MB), pp. 302f, 305.
  3. ↑ Bergen, Crater lakes , pp. 2f.
  4. ↑ P. Allard, D. Dajlevic, C. Delarue: Origin of carbon dioxide emanation from the eruption in 1979 Dieng, Indonesia: Implications catastrophe for the origin of the 1986 Nyos. In: Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 39 (1989) pp. 195-206, here pp. 196f.
  5. ↑ Bergen, Crater lakes , pp. 5, 7; Roland Dusik: Indonesia. DuMont-Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2010, ISBN 978-3-7701-7675-5 , pp. 235f.
  6. ^ Dieng Volcanic Complex - Eruptive History in the Global Volcanism Program (accessed February 2, 2013).
  7. ↑ Allard, Origin , p. 197.
  8. ^ Miller, Eruptive history , p. 15.
  9. ^ Dieng 1944 in The Significant Volcanic Eruption Database of NOAA (English, accessed on March 17, 2013).
  10. ^ Dieng 1979 in The Significant Volcanic Eruption Database of the NOAA (English, accessed on March 17, 2013).
  11. ↑ Allard, Origin , pp. 197f.

Coordinates: 7 ° 12 ′ 25 ″  S , 109 ° 51 ′ 51 ″  E