CANDI MERAK

Merak Temple is an archaeological relic of a temple complex at Dukuh Candi, Karangnongko Village, Karangnongko Sub-district, Klaten District, Central Java. This location is to the northwest of the Klaten area, bordering on Boyolali and Sleman districts. Merak Temple stands on an area of ​​1480 square meters. The temple complex consists of one main building and three perwara temples. This temple was founded around the 9th-10th century, which is in the days of the Ancient Mataram Kingdom. The research on Merak Temple was done since 1925/1926 by the Archaeological Service. Meanwhile, the restoration of Merak Temple is done gradually and in 2011 has been completed with the installation of stone roof caps although the peak has not been found. Around Merak temple there are various other ancient relics such as Karangnongko temple, Kriyan temple, and Bekelan temple. Peacock Temple is a temple with Hindu background. This can be seen from the statues contained in Merak Temple, such as the yoni phallus, the statue of Ganesha and the statue of Durga. In addition there are other statues around the courtyard of Merak Temple like Nandi and other gods in the Hindu religion. Peacock Temple has a building size of 8.86 m long, 13.5 m wide and 12 m high, with a temple complex area of ​​about 2,000 m². In this temple complex, there is one main temple building facing east, and three perwara temple which all three facing to the west. The restoration of Merak Temple is carried out by the Central Java Archaeological Heritage Conservation Hall with the Central Java Provincial APBD fund. The leg part of the body part was completely restored in 2007 and 2010. While the roof of the temple was completed in 2011. The architectural features of the building indicate that this temple is a temple built by ancient Mataram Kingdom as well as Sewu Temple, Prambanan Temple, and Plaosan Temple. In fact, there is a temple estimate is the same age with the temple Bima dieng Temple complex. This can be seen from kudhu and makara which is contained in Merak temple similar to that in Bima temple.