Tour to Sanggrahan Temple in Tulungagung, East Java - Just Menong

Towards the end of 2018, I had the opportunity to visit Tulungagung city, a city on the coast of East Java, ± 150 km from Surabaya. Arriving at the Airport Juanda, Surabaya, at almost 11 pm, we drove straight through the city of Kediri with an estimate that we will arrive in Tulungagung early in the morning. Sanggrahan Temple became our first chat when we arrived there.

In the middle of the night, we stopped at Pak Yusuf's Chicken Lodho. This restaurant is located in the Pogalan area, a connecting highway between Trenggalek and Tulungagung. Accompanied by a glass of super sweet tea (for me, who is not used to it), we couldn't resist the tempting chicken lodho appetizer. Not just any chicken, Lodho chicken is made from young native chickens boiled, baked, and steamed again before being exposed, complete with the marinade. Lodho chicken broth is made from coconut milk (thick coconut milk) and leftover chicken oil and added whole lamb cayenne pepper. The taste… hmmmm… yummy….

Although only had the opportunity to tour in one day, the city of marble producers This largest city in Indonesia deserves to be a vacation destination. The atmosphere of Tulungagung is not too crowded and the village atmosphere is still felt. Bolangers can make Tulungagung become an alternative tour because of the many destinations that can be visited, starting from historical relics, agro-tourism, and waterfalls in the mountains to the beach. Maybe I felt this view when I visited the Mount Padang Cianjur site

Sangrahan Temple

The next day, I was invited to stop by Sanggrahan Temple (Cungkup Temple or Proetoeng Temple), a temple built during the Majapahit era during the reign of Hayam Wuruk (1359–1389 AD). Sanggrahan Temple was built as a resting place for the body carrier of Buddhist priestess Majapahit kingdom named Gayatri, who holds Rajapadmi, who will be brought from the Majapahit palace to be burned around Boyolangu, ± 3 km to the west.

The temple is square in shape and consists of building legs, a body, and a roof. Part of the roof of the temple has collapsed and the remaining part is the foot of the temple and a bit of the body of the temple. The main building of the temple is 12.60 m long, 9.05 m wide and 5.86 m high. In general the Sanggrahan Temple complex consists of a main building and 2 remaining ancillary buildings (temples complementary to the enshrinement complex).

There is something unique about this temple because it was arranged over 2 different rocks. The main building uses andesite stones with brick fillings. This building consists of 4 levels, each of which is laid out rectilinearly with the direction facing west. The perwara section, which is next door to the east, is made of red brick. Sanggrahan Temple building on the terrace/steps not less than 2 meters high.

To the east of the main building there used to be 5 Buddha statues, each in a mudra position (hand position Buddhist symbols) that are different. Now these five mudras are kept in the Museum Wajakensis (Tulungagung Regional Museum).

Unlike temples in general, this temple does not have relief decoration on the body of the temple. Animal relief ornaments such as lions and wolves can be found on the lower temple wall or the foot of the temple is in a rectangular box.

The atmosphere around the temple is quite quiet because it is located right in a rural area, Sanggrahan village to be precise, which is easily accessible by two- or four-wheeled vehicles. Bolangers can enter the temple area without an entrance or buy tickets in advance because the temple area is only limited by a simple wire fence.

Menong friends can also climb the red brick steps to enter the temple area. Even though it's not too high, don't forget to pay attention when Menong's friends climb up steps because there is no handrail beside the steps.

Boyolangu Temple

The second destination is Boyolangu or Pendarmaan Temple Gayatri. Pendarmaan is a Hindu or Buddhist worship as a tribute to the exalted. Boyolangu Temple is a tribute to Gayatri or Rajapatni is one of the wives of Raden Wijaya, the first king of Majapahit. Boyolangu Temple itself is a repository of Gayatri's ashes. 

Like Sanggrahan Temple and Boyolangu Temple, it is also located in the countryside and flanked by residential communities in Dadapan Hamlet, Village Boyolangu. There are no flashy clues except for the entrance gate to the location temple. When I got there, the gate of the temple was locked so that I could only just peek outside.

The temple, which was discovered in 1914, consists of 3 ancillary buildings, each facing west. The largest buildingis the main Perwara building and is in the middle. The main building, Perwara, consists of 2 terraced terraces, of which only the legs are now left. The shape of the building is square with a length and width of 11.40 m with a remaining height of ± 2.3 m. In this main building there is a statue of a Buddhist woman, namely Gayatri, which is damaged (parts of the hands and feet are missing) but still looks good.

After the journey to retrace the footsteps of Majapahit Sanggrahan Temple in Tulungagung. Needless to say, it was time to return home. Before going home, don't forget to buy rambak, buffalo skin crackers, typical of Tulungagung.