Dieng is famous for 9 temple tours and natural scenery. Apparently, Dieng had hundreds of temples to the golden statue.
Behind the beautiful tourist attractions in Wonosobo in the form of a Dieng plateau panorama, stored sad stories about the remaining historical sites. The Dutch East Indies government recorded 117 temples in the ancient mountain range.
But the current generation, can only see nine Dieng temples that are still intact. While 108 others have been lost.
Some Dutch researchers found andesite temples along Dieng Wetan and Dieng Kulon highways. It is possible, the surrounding community took the stones from the temple part to make a road foundation.
“News from the Netherlands, in 1800 they invaded 117 temples. They also photographed them. There were 4 large temples namely Parikesit, Nakula Sadewa, Nala Gareng and Prahu. But strangely, everything is now gone. Most likely, the stone is a road foundation along Dieng Wetan and Dieng kulon, “said Head of UPT Dieng Aryadi Darwanto to AFP on Sunday (06/16/2019).
Arya continued, the Dutch conducted a survey in Dieng in 1807. And all the results of this survey were documented neatly by Raffles in 1814. That year, the Dutch made restoration efforts on several sites and temples found in the Dieng region.
But there were negative excesses from the restoration. The results of the restoration, besides finding several parts of the temple, the Netherlands also found thousands of statues. The statues are made of andesite stone carvings, many of them made from gold. But, most of the statues were found, then traded as souvenirs abroad.
“There is a location called Dieng Pesanggarah. That’s where all the statues are found in the ruins or temple area. But at night, the statues are then sold as souvenirs abroad. The price is that of 7 gulden andesite stone sculptures (around Rp. 7 million), while the golden statue was sold for 70 guilders (around Rp. 70 million), “explained Arya.
After a massive restoration was carried out, the Dutch Government opened the Dieng area as a tourist destination. That happened around 1830 with the name Dieng Pleateu.
We are presented with a series of nine large temples that can still be enjoyed today. Namely Arjuna Temple as the main temple, then one area is Semar, Srikandi, Sembadra and Puntadewa temples. Then in a location not far from there, there are Gatotkaca, Bima and Dwarawati temples in three different locations.
Until now, some researchers still often find sites such as patirtan or temple foundations. But the Indonesian Government has not yet taken further steps to unmask the history of the new findings.
“Maybe the government is still focusing on other problems. And the Dieng Temple area is very wide. Starting from Prau Temple in Wonosobo to Telaga Sidlingo or Dringo in Pekasiran Village, Batur, Banjarnegara. This requires a lot of funds, time and energy,” he concluded .