CANDI KETHEK

Kethek Temple (read: keţè ', IPA symbol: kəʈɛʔ) is a former site of a temple building with four terraced terraces facing west. Each terrace is connected with stone steps. On the right side of the temple there is a path as an alternative to go to the top terrace. Kethek in Javanese means ape, the name given by locals to this temple because there used to be many apes found in this area.Location Kethek temple is located in the northeast of Ceto temple, on land owned by Perum Perhutani. This temple is located on the northwest slopes of Mount Lawu, and entered the District Jenawi, Karanganyar regency, Central Java. To reach this place, visitors have to walk through the path as far as about 300 m from Ceto Temple, in line with the path leading to Puri Taman Saraswati. The existence of this temple has been reported since 1842, but the excavation / excavation by the Archaeological Heritage Conservation Agency of Central Java in collaboration with the Department of Archeology of Gadjah Mada University and the Government of Karanganyar Regency was only done in 2005.The excavation resulted in the conclusion that the temple of Kethek is a Hindu temple. This is based on the findings of the turtle statue at the bottom step on the first terrace which is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, one of the gods in the Hindu teachings, which sustains Mandaragiri in marine stirring by the gods and giants to get Tirta Amrta in the story of Samudramanthana. The existence of this Samudramanthana story shows the function of Kethek Temple as a place of perwatan to cleanse and free someone from mistake or sin.Until now, research on the temple Kethek still continue, especially to look for inscriptions or artifacts that provide information about the layout and history of the temple.