Candi Sukuh carving, keris mythology

A. G. Maisey · 20th December 2015, 10:21 PM

David, I have a fairly lengthy involvement with Candi Sukuh. My first visit was over 40 years ago, and when I live in Solo, actually in Palur, a little town out of Solo, my house is only a short drive from Sukuh. If I try to total up the actual time I have spent at Sukuh during the time I have been visiting that site, it totals to something in the neighbourhood of about 4 months' worth of 8 hour days. I've spent a lot of time at Candi Sukuh.

Everybody knows the stele shown in this thread, but what most people are not aware of is that there are a lot of other carvings there too, and those other carvings also tell a story.

Sukuh is really a bit of a mystery, and to my knowledge, the academic community is not yet in full agreement in respect of many of the matters surrounding Candi Sukuh. Even the name we give it:- 'candi' may not be accurate. Arguably, it has now assumed the status of a candi, but was it built as a candi? Very probably not.

There is now, and I feel, always has been, some misunderstandings about Sukuh. Certainly, the way in which the present generation of people in the area where it is located, have some ideas about it that vary widely from most of the academic opinions or ideas.

Back in the 1980's I did a pretty complete photographic record of Sukuh, but I've never digitised it. During my last visits in January to April this year I did another fairly complete photographic record on a digital camera. I intend to make this record available for viewing when I have processed the images.

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20th December 2015, 10:21 PM	#32
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,991	David, I have a fairly lengthy involvement with Candi Sukuh. My first visit was over 40 years ago, and when I live in Solo, actually in Palur, a little town out of Solo, my house is only a short drive from Sukuh. If I try to total up the actual time I have spent at Sukuh during the time I have been visiting that site, it totals to something in the neighbourhood of about 4 months' worth of 8 hour days. I've spent a lot of time at Candi Sukuh. Everybody knows the stele shown in this thread, but what most people are not aware of is that there are a lot of other carvings there too, and those other carvings also tell a story. Sukuh is really a bit of a mystery, and to my knowledge, the academic community is not yet in full agreement in respect of many of the matters surrounding Candi Sukuh. Even the name we give it:- 'candi' may not be accurate. Arguably, it has now assumed the status of a candi, but was it built as a candi? Very probably not. There is now, and I feel, always has been, some misunderstandings about Sukuh. Certainly, the way in which the present generation of people in the area where it is located, have some ideas about it that vary widely from most of the academic opinions or ideas. Back in the 1980's I did a pretty complete photographic record of Sukuh, but I've never digitised it. During my last visits in January to April this year I did another fairly complete photographic record on a digital camera. I intend to make this record available for viewing when I have processed the images.