1000 years old Ancient Hindu Temple Uncovered in Yogyakarta, Indonesia under Islamic University...
The intricately carved statues and reliefs are some of the best preserved in Indonesia, but the dig is being conducted under tight security to protect the site from well-organised relic thieves. The temple was found on the grounds of Yogyakarta's Islamic University as workers probed the ground to lay foundations for a new library, and they realised the earth beneath their feet was not stable.
Digging soon revealed an extraordinary find: three meters underground were still-standing temple walls. Heavy rains then exposed the top of a statue of the god Ganesha in pristine condition. A few weeks into the excavation, archaeologists are declaring the temple and its rare and beautiful statues an important discovery that could provide insights into Indonesia's pre-Islamic culture.
"This temple is important for understanding the culture of our ancestors."
"This temple is a quite significant and very valuable because we have never found a temple as whole and intact as this one," said archaeologist Dr Budhy Sancoyo, who is one of the researchers painstakingly cleaning up the temple.
"For example, looking at where the statues are placed in this temple, they are in their original positions, unlike the other temples.
A volcanic eruption is thought most likely to have covered the temple around the 10th century, about 100 years after it was built. The eruption preserved its statues and reliefs in better condition than almost everything else discovered in Indonesia from that period, including the Borobodur and Prambanan temple complexes.
