Chapter I: Front Matter

Ruins of Buddhistic Temples
IN
Prågå-Valley.

Tyanḍis Båråbudur, Mĕndut and Pawon

BY

Dr. I. GRONEMAN,

translated from the dutch by J. H.

Druk van H. A. BENJAMINS,
Semarang,
1912.

Preface.

When in 1896 I was obliged to retire from practice, on account of sickness, I shortly after took up my residence at Jogyåkartå again in order to devote myself to the antiquarian and ethnological studies dear to me, and to which purpose I had to establish myself in the neighbourhood of the principal Hindu ruins in Java, that is, in the plain of _Parambanan_, and in the valley of _Prågå_ whereas I could not rely on being assisted by the Dutch Government or whomsoever; I had grown _too old_ under a system of Government who even refuse a professor septuagenarian to follow his profession.

As for the Indian antiquities however, there are still many things to be learned, not only because many a sculpture and symbolical ornament of building has not yet been explained or, so to say, insufficiently interpreted, but also because some of these images have been wrongly understood and expounded. I therefore thought it my duty to have my knowledge of them increased by a continued study of the antiquities themselves, and by consulting such writings as I could dispose of with my limited means.

I also would comply with other people’s wishes by giving a simple description of the most interesting ruin in the village of _Mĕndut_ situated by the way-side to the _Båråbudur_, and mention the small _tyanḍi Pawon_ lying in its neighbourhood.

And so I gathered all data for an up-to-date _fifth_ edition in behalf of the continually increasing number of visitors who come to visit these incomparable temples, which, in spite of expensive but insufficient restoration, seem doomed to decay.

_G._
_Jogyårkartå 1906._

Having succeeded at last in finding a person from whose hand both the editor and myself express a wish to see a good English translation of this little book, I consequently completed and rewrote the former text (1906-1907.).

CONTENTS.

Page.
Preface 3
Buddhistic temples in Prågå-valley 5
Tyanḍi Mĕndut 13
Tyanḍi Pawon 23
Tyanḍi Båråbudur 26
Concluding word 90
Errata 92

Ruins of Buddhistic temples in Prågå-valley.