Candi Laras and Candi Agung: Chronology and Cultural Contact of Classic Indonesia

by Vida Pervaya Rusianti Kusmartono

Abstract

Since the initial development of Classic Indonesia in the early 5th Century in East Kalimantan, the expansion of the classical culture did not occurred successively in Kalimantan, instead it appeared to leap to West Java, Sumatera, Central and East Java and progressing toward the eastern part of Indonesia. Nevertheless, the discovery of Candi Laras and Candi agung in South Kalimantan proves that the Classic Indonesia had also developed in other parts of Kalimantan. Candi Laras and Candi Agung are familiar to the Banjarese in South Kalimantan, since both names are frequently mentioned in their local narrative, the Hikajat Bandjar, and believed to be the sites of the remains of two ancient kingdoms. The chronological analysis indicates that the relative dating of Candi Laras: 7th-9th Century; and the absolute dating of Candi Agung: 8th Century. By and large these chronologies lead to the assumption that there were two channels of cultural interaction in Kalimantan: 1) the north, which produced the development of classical culture/s in East Kalimantan; and 2) the west, resulting cultures in South Kalimantan. However, until today the written resources that directly indicate Candi Laras and Candi Agung have not been found. Therefore it is difficult to obtain the general idea of their precise positions in the framework of ancient kingdoms of Classic Indonesia. This article will discuss the existence of Candi Laras and Candi Agung in South Kalimantan in order to understand their temporal setting and development during the interaction between the indigenous cultures and Indic influences in Indonesia.

(resource: publication Naditira Widya Nomor 14, Oktober 2005:55-63; ISSN 1410-0932)