Indonesia says not to blame for missing WWII shipwrecks

Yahoo – AFP, Dessy Sagita, November 17, 2016

The Dutch and Indonesian naval commanders laid a wreath during a 2014 ceremony
 to commemorate the 1150 sailors who died in the Battle of the Java Sea in
1942 (AFP Photo)

Jakarta (AFP) - Indonesia refused to take the blame Thursday for the disappearance of at least six British and Dutch World War II shipwrecks -- considered war graves -- that investigators believe could have been salvaged for scrap.

Former colonial ruler The Netherlands has launched a probe into how three Dutch navy ships seemingly vanished from the bed of the Java Sea, while Britain has urged Indonesia to investigate what has happened to three of its vessels.

It is believed the military wrecks -- lost in 1942 during the Battle of the Java Sea -- were removed by illegal scavengers looking for scrap metal, an effort that could have taken years.

More than 900 Dutch and 250 Indo-Dutch sailors died during the battle in which the Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat by the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Indonesian authorities have sought to distance themselves from the mystery, saying they could not be expected to protect the sites without assistance.

"The Dutch government cannot blame the Indonesian government because they never asked us to protect those ships," said Bambang Budi Utomo, head of the National Archeological Centre under the Ministry of Education and Culture.

"As there was no agreement or announcement, when the ships go missing, it is not our responsibility."

Amateur divers in 2002 discovered the long-lost wrecks of three Dutch ships, 60 years after they sank while in action against Japanese forces.

But an international expedition that sailed to the wreck site ahead of next year's 75th anniversary of the battle was shocked to discover the wrecks had vanished.

Britain expressed its distress at the disappearance of its own warships and asked Indonesia to "take appropriate action" to protect the sites from further disturbance.

But Utomo said Indonesia did not have the resources to maintain a constant patrol over its vast archipelago, a hotspot for other criminal enterprises like illegal fishing and people smuggling.

Row over naval war graves (AFP Photo)

'Looters are fearless'

Treasure hunters and scrap collectors are lured to Indonesia's relic-rich seas, experts say, where countless vessels have gone to a watery grave over centuries of trade, colonial conquest and war.

"Looting is really huge, not only on these World War II shipwrecks, but also on ancient shipwrecks," said Veronique Degroot, a Jakarta-based archaeologist.

The prize find for scavengers targeting the warships would be the huge bronze propellers used to power these juggernauts -- a far more lucrative find than iron or other scrap, according to Utomo.

"The looting must have been going on for years for such a huge ship to disappear," he said.

"Looters are fearless," he added, saying that divers risked death and injury sucking air through tubes to retrieve valuable scrap and antiquities, taking the wreck apart piece by piece.

While some larger, commercial operations use cranes and platforms to wrench heavy loads from the seabed, smaller ventures keep a low profile as they ship metal to scrapyards along Indonesia's thousands of kilometres of coastline.

Australia has been working closely with Indonesia to protect HMAS Perth -- which sunk off Java in World War II, claiming hundreds of lives -- after discovering in 2013 that the warship was being plundered for brass.

A spokesman for the Indonesian navy said the missing ships should not have been disturbed as they were war graves.

"However, the Indonesian navy cannot monitor all areas all the time," spokesman Gig Jonias Mozes Sipasulta told AFP.

"If they ask why the ships are missing, I'm going to ask them back, why didn't they guard the ships? They should have been more proactive."

Naval warships and war graves are protected under international law that makes the desecration of such shipwrecks illegal.

The HNLMS Kortenaer in the 1930s

Related Articles:

British start investigation into vanished Java Sea ships

British second world war shipwrecks in Java Sea destroyed by illegal scavenging

Indonesia's 'hobbits' disappeared earlier than thought: study

Yahoo – AFP, Mariëtte Le Roux, March 30, 2016

The remains of Indonesia's hobbit-sized humans (L) and modern human (R) are
displayed at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on November 5,
2004 (AFP Photo)

Paris (AFP) - A group of extinct human relatives dubbed "hobbits", which left tantalising traces of their existence in an Indonesian cave, disappeared much longer ago than previously thought, archaeologists said on Wednesday.

Homo floresiensis, a primitive, diminutive hominin, inhabited the Liang Bua cave on Flores island from about 190,000 to 50,000 years ago, reported the team, which spent years accurately redating sections of the archaeological site.

The pint-sized creatures were previously said to have lived in the cave until as recently as 12,000 years ago.

This would have meant they survived until long after modern humans reached Southeast Asia some 50,000 years ago, and may even have lived side-by-side with our ancestors.

The redating of the dig site, which has yielded fossils of hobbits and their stone tools, did not make it any clearer whether H. floresiensis were likely to have crossed paths with Homo sapiens.

"Whether H. floresiensis survived after (50,000 years) ago -- potentially encountering modern humans on Flores... -- is an open question," the team wrote in the journal Nature.

The hobbits of Liang Bua have been the cause of much scientific controversy since their remains were first discovered in 2003.

Were they a human ancestor? A different species altogether? Or humans suffering from dwarfism or microcephaly, the brain-shrinking disease afflicting babies in Latin America and the Caribbean today?

Different studies have yielded different answers.

Big feet, small brain

An adult hobbit stood about a metre (three feet) tall and weighed about 25 kilogrammes (55 pounds).

Dubbed hobbits by scientists, after the short, hairy-footed creatures in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, they had small brains, about the size of a chimpanzee's, and relatively large feet for their stature.

H. floresiensis shared Flores island with pygmy elephants and giant rats, storks and lizards -- species which went extinct at about the same time as all traces of hobbits are now known to have disappeared from the cave... and coinciding with the arrival of modern humans.

There is no scientific evidence they ever met, but Flores locals tell stories of an ancient people called "ebu gogo" which lived in caves, were short, stocky and not all that bright, stole food and could not cook.

Some have suggested these legends may be fact rather than fiction -- retold memories of encounters with H. floresiensis passed down from generation to generation.

For the new study, an international team of researchers re-examined the fossil-containing layers at the dig site, and found that some areas had been incorrectly dated.

"We dated charcoal, sediments, flowstones, volcanic ash and even the H. floresiensis bones themselves using the most up-to-date scientific methods available," said study co-author Richard Roberts of the University of Wollongong in Australia.

Related Articles:

"The Big Picture - You Are Not Alone" - Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“… Your Story

Several hundred thousand years ago, Humans began to form into the Human that you recognize today. That's just yesterday. Don't confuse this with Human development. You have had that going on for a very long time. But the DNA that is within your body is not the DNA that developed naturally on the planet. Yours is outside of the system of Earth-based evolutionary processes, and the scientists are starting to see this. The "missing link" that they speak of is not Human.

So again, we tell you that the ones who came to help seed you approximately 100,000 to 200,000 Earth years ago were the Pleiadians who had gone into graduate status and who had changed consciousness. They had become quantum with free choice, and you have parts of their DNA within you.

New information for you: The seeding process was not a one-time event. This is why we give you these large sections of time where the Pleiadians worked with you. It was done over time and in many places. It was not all simultaneous, and this was for reasons that will remain unknown to you for now, but will later explain why you will find other Human types that now are extinct. Now you only have one Human type, and that is counterintuitive to all mammal development on the planet. This was a design, and it took more than 100,000 years to create this for humanity as you know it.

It's your Human bias that has the creation story of the knowledge of light and dark being given to Humans in one day in a garden involving a talking snake and other mythology. Spiritual logic should tell you that these stories are simply metaphors of a real truth, that indeed there was a major shift of consciousness, but over a longer period of time and not instantly. The same mythology has the earth created in seven days. However, this only represents a numerological truth [7 is the number of divinity], meaning that there was a divine design in the creation of the planet. It's time to start using spiritual logic within the teachings you have about spiritual history, for the revelations will be wonderful and lead to fuller understanding.

Now, what really is in your DNA? It's the Pleiadians' code, and it's the ones before them, and even the ones before them. You can't remember it, for that is not the set-up. The system is that your Akashic record is only from Earth, but your "divine remembrance" will take you back to the beginning, where system after system after system created that which you see as the divinity within the galaxy and the Universe.

Who are they? They're your "divine" parents. They're the seed divinity in you and they visit here. They're not all Pleiadians, did you know that? Instead, they're from all over the galaxy. You see, they also represent the seeds of the Pleiadians, and they keep you safe. You wouldn't have it any other way, would you? "Safe from what?" you might ask. ….”

"The Timing of Creation"– Aug  12, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“…. The First Look

About 200,000 years ago is when it literally began. The concept of the "divine seeding" of planet Earth happened at that point, and the fields metaphorically started to be ploughed. There is an issue and we're going to call it the way species work with Gaia. This is something that happened simultaneously with the grid creation of Gaia. For now we give you something that no one has thought about. When we speak of the grids of the planet, you make an assumption that these grids always existed on the planet. For the planet is old and you might say, "Well the grids have always been there." But I'm here to tell you that only one was always there, and that's the magnetic grid. But it was spiritually void. That is to say, it only had that which was created from the Earth's core movement. Today, when we talk about the grids of the planet, our conversation involves the consciousness of humanity, which is imbued upon the magnetic grid. We also tell you about the Crystalline Grid and about the Grid of Gaia consciousness. Both of these react to Human compassion.

Now, here is the puzzle: If you don't have divine Human consciousness, then what about the grids? Do they exist without the Human Being? The answer is that they needed to be created simultaneously with the seeding of divine DNA. So what the Pleiadians did was not only to start the seeds of humanity's change into divine DNA, but they created the conscious grids of Gaia as well. They had to, for the conscious grids of Gaia are a confluence of humanity's decisions brought to Gaia's energy. The consciousness that we are talking about is the spiritually sanctioned Human Being that exists with a piece of God inside him, and with DNA that has 23 chromosomes instead of the common 24 that all the others have through biological evolution.

Let us back up and say it again and make it simpler, my partner [admonition to Lee to speak more plainly]. The triad of grids on this planet that we have spoken of over and over are the consciousness grids of Gaia, and were created at the same time as the seeding of humanity with Pleiadian DNA. For all the teachings we've been giving, especially about the Crystalline Grid, these grids have been reacting to Human consciousness and compassion. Therefore, the very essence of the current Gaia energy is also related to the creation of humanity.

These are the attributes of the Pleiadians work 200,000 years ago, and it was done quantumly in ways that you have no conscious awareness of at the moment. For these things are beyond your ability to understand right now, since you are still in a single-digit dimensionality. But the result back then was "a conscious Gaia." So you might say Gaia itself was actually created quantumly from the Seven Sisters energy, just like you.

The Gaia that existed before then was still Gaia, but not as it is now. It was a Gaia that was creating the dirt on the earth and the energy of biological life of the earth. It was the mother of all life on the planet, but not a Gaia that responded to Human consciousness. That's very different. So Gaia greatly expanded when the Pleiadians came, and that was by design.

It took 110,000 years for this to settle itself, and for the ground to be ready for more than 16 species of Human Beings to leave so that only one was left. When that occurred at approximately 90,000 years ago is when you can start calibrating who Humans were and who they became.

The Others

Now, what about all of those other types of Humans, and how did they leave? I'm  going to give you an attribute of something that exists even today. This is difficult for my partner, for he has not heard this before. This information has not been brought in this fashion before. Go slowly, my partner.

The variety of species on this planet comes and goes accordingly as they are needed for the energy they create. So one of the tasks of Gaia is to create and eliminate species. When they are no longer needed for the purpose of Gaia's development, they cease to exist and they die out. If new life is necessary, if new concepts of life are needed, Gaia is cooperative and they are then created. The actual creation of species is something that environmentalists have not clearly seen. That is to say the mechanics of how it works is not fully recognized as something that is strongly coordinated with your weather. But you have already seen the mechanics of some of this in your long-term studies, for you have already noted the coming and going of many species through the ages. It's ongoing.

The Appropriateness of the Elimination of Species

Now, along come Humans and they see all this coming and going of living things, but they want to save them all - all the species that exist. For in their linear mind, all species should remain and exist, since they are here. The attribute of Gaia, however, is to eliminate them, cull them out, to bring in new ones. I just gave you the mechanics of the reasons species come and go. It's appropriate and is a natural building process for new species.

When the Pleiadians started to create the grids of the planet, Gaia cooperated in what was to come, knew the purpose, and what was needed for survival of this new spiritual Human. Gaia knew this since the energy of Gaia had seen it before [reason given below]. So the old attribute, which needed many kinds of Human Beings, slowly died out. It was natural. There was not a war. There were no horrible plagues. There were no volcanoes or tsunamis that consumed them. Through attrition, appropriateness, and 110,000 years, they disappeared.

So approximately 110,000 years ago, there was only one kind left, and this is science, for everything that you study will bear this out, and anthropologists have already seen it and have asked, "What happened back then at this time that would have eliminated these other kinds of Human variety?" It's a puzzle in science that I have just answered, for science looks only for physical events as triggers. But instead, it's the marriage of Gaia consciousness that you call "Mother Nature," which facilitated this. It's the same today when you see a variety of species diminish as Humans take over a greater portion of the earth. I'll call this "the appropriate elimination of unique life forms, which allow for the growth of global awareness and quantum evolution." Some species only exist to allow others to climb the ladder of nature, then they disappear. Gaia knows what the ladder looks like. You don't. ... ”

"The Physics of Consciousness - The Future Revealed" - June 29, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ …You're a young civilization, dear one, so young that it's difficult to even give you a perspective of how young you are. Your solar system, with your civilization as part of it, hasn't even orbited the galaxy one time yet! It has only moved a fraction of the distance of one revolution [rev]. It takes almost 200 million Earth years to travel around the center of the galaxy one time [one rev]. How does it make you feel to know that there are societies and civilizations on other worlds far from you who have been around three revs? The Pleiadians (your seed biology) – half a rev. This is just to show you how old some life is in this galaxy. Some of them visit you, but none of them, none of them are able to influence you to the degree that you can influence yourselves. The galaxy teams with life and you're well hidden, by the way. Until now.

We've seen planetary maturity happen before, so I want to give you a bigger picture. Your age as a Human on this planet starts to explain why the earth has been through such a horrendous time. Historic Earth civilization history looks ugly to you, doesn't it? Your past and your history are filled with survival energy: killing, ugly weaponry, mass destruction and no elegance or respect for life at all. Torture was common, and public execution was a sport. Dear one, all those planets went through that! They all did, because civilization does this; it builds itself through time and growth. Part of growth doesn't always go the way of maturity. It has the ability to destroy itself, or the seeds of its knowledge, along the way. Sometimes that happens, and sometimes it does not. As you know, your Earth just passed a point where that was a possible scenario. …”

Bagan ban: Myanmar stops tourists scaling prized pagodas

Yahoo – AFP, 23 February 2016

Built between the 10th and 14th centuries as part of a powerful early kingdom, 

Bagan's temples are deeply revered in the Buddhist-majority Myanmar and are also

one of the country's most popular tourist destinations (AFP Photo/Ye Aung Thu)

Yangon (AFP) - Visitors to Myanmar's ancient capital Bagan will no longer be able to climb the venerated pagodas for a view of the country's most famous archaeological site, following a government edict railing against "disgraceful" tourist behaviour.

The ban, which starts March 1, will end the daily ritual that sees hundreds of tourists and local pilgrims scaling the ancient structures to watch the sun set over a vast plain dotted with more than 2,500 Buddhist monuments.

Myanmar's Ministry of Culture said the move would protect the buildings, considered holy sites by many locals, while also averting potential danger for those climbing.

Tourists wait for sunset over the pagodas

in Myanmar's northern ancient town of 

Bagan (AFP Photo)

"Furthermore, despite warnings, people who climb the pagodas often behave badly, in a way that is culturally disgraceful such as wearing inappropriate clothing, dancing and sleeping (on the monuments)," the ministry said in a post on its official Facebook page.

"We would like to announce that no one will be permitted to climb on the pagodas for any reason from March 1 onwards," it concluded in the statement published on Monday.

Built between the 10th and 14th centuries as part of a powerful early kingdom, Bagan's temples are deeply revered in the Buddhist-majority nation and are also one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.

After years in the wilderness under an isolationist junta, Myanmar was quickly embraced as a hot choice for holidays after outright military rule ended in 2011.

The country began appearing on lists of must-visit destinations, often accompanied by bird's eye view images of Bagan's pagodas scattered across a mist-drenched landscape.

Even the Ministry of Tourism has declared that "a panoramic view of this land at sunset will leave you with a lingering sense of awe and wonder".

According to its figures, nearly half a million foreign tourists, including package tourists and independent travellers, arrived through Myanmar's main city gateway Yangon last year, more than double the number in 2011.

Many make a beeline for Bagan, a trend that is expected to continue despite the new rules.

"Bagan can offer other pleasures for tourists," said Naung Naung Han, of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association, which represents private tour operators.

But he said those not able to climb the structures to see a sunset at Bagan would be missing out.

Nearly half a million foreign tourists, including package tourists and independent

 travellers, arrived through Myanmar's main city gateway Yangon in 2015, more 

than double the number in 2011 (AFP Photo/Ye Aung Thu)

"For a foreign tourist, such an experience could be an unforgettable moment in their life," he told AFP.

Tour operator Phyoe Wai Yar Zar, who heads the Myanmar Tourism Marketing industry group, said there was likely to be an impact on business.

"Tourism is a way to display our cultural heritage and this news of a ban in the way heritage is shown will affect the tourism business," he told AFP.

Myanmar is eager to see Bagan designated as a UNESCO world heritage site.

But experts say haphazard renovation work on some of the temples under the junta, including building hundreds of new structures over ancient foundations, has irreversibly damaged the landscape.

Photos emerge of incredible Easter Island discovery

News.com.au, June 10, 2015

Archaeologists dig up the famous statues. Picture: Easter Island Statue
Project Source: Supplied

THERE’S a lot more to Easter Island’s famous statues than first meets the eye.

A new series of photographs of the 2012 excavation has emerged that captures the moment archaeologists dug out the previously hidden stone bodies, discovering a surprising secret along the way; the monoliths were covered in detailed ancient tattoos.

The images have been shared widely on social media, being viewed more than 1 million times on Imgur.

They show intricate markings such as crescents, which academics say represent the canoes of the local Polynesians, the UK’s Mirror reports. Little else is known about the markings yet.

Detailed markings are visible. Picture: The Easter Island Statue Project
Source: Supplied

There are 887 huge statues carved between AD 100 and 1800 — which are up to 10 metres tall. Members of the Easter Island Statue Project have been excavating the statues for years, and provided the first photos of their torsos in 2012. This surprised many, with people believing they only had heads.

“The reason people think they are (only) heads is there are about 150 statues buried up to the shoulders on the slope of a volcano, and these are the most famous, most beautiful and most photographed of all the Easter Island statues,” Jo Anne Van Tilburg from the Easter Island Statue Project said.

“This suggested to people who had not seen photos of (other unearthed statues) that they are heads only.”

They are fascinating. Picture: The Easter Island Statue Project Source: Supplied

In 1919 pictures of the first excavations by the Mana Expedition to Easter Island revealed that some statues were full sized. The discovery was confirmed in 1955 by the explorer Thor Heyerdahl when his Norwegian Archaeological Expedition excavated a statue.

Over subsequent decades the discoveries were gradually forgotten, known by archaeologists but not by tourists, who began visiting the isolated island in the 1990s.

They’re discovering an island that was first settled by Polynesian people who arrived by canoe as part of a great wave of Pacific colonisation.

Much remains unknown about the statues — how were they made? How was such a remote island populated? How were they moved around the island? And what happened to the society that had resorted to cannibalism by the time Captain James Cook visited in 1774?

Related Articles:

The Mysteries Revealed of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) (5) - Oct 18-21, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"The Timing of Creation" – Aug 12, 2012 (a message from Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

Mysterious Ancient Palace Ratu Boko, the Perfect Spot to Catch Yogyakarta’s Sunset

Jakarta Globe, Wahyuni Kamah, Jan 14, 2015

Ratu Boko is the locals’ best-kept secret for sunset and sunrise viewing in the
 tourist spots surrounding Yogyakarta. The complex offers a wealth of history.
(JG Photo/Wahyuni Kamah)

When the chief executive of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, visited Indonesia October last year, he went to Borobudur Temple in Yogyakarta to watch the sunrise.

Following the tycoon’s lead I asked, where is the best site to view the sunrise? “Ratu Boko,” answered Ari, my Yogyakarta driver.

Out of curiosity, I asked Ari to take me to the site one afternoon to catch the sunset. Ratu Boko is about 18 kilometers to the east of Yogyakarta, situated at the top of a 196-meter-high hill.

The road to reach the site curves with sharp turns.

“It’s challenging for a big bus to pass this road,” said Ari. During the hot season all I could see from the road was the villagers’ huts on bare soil. “Water is scarce in this area during hot season,” Ari said.

The Ratu Boko complex is located across two villages, Sambirejo and Bokoharjo, in Prambanan, Sleman district, Yogyakarta.

As I approached the complex a number of visitors were taking selfies by the entrance. A number of people carried professional cameras to capture the sunset.

The Ratu Boko site’s location on the hilltop offers gorgeous surrounding scenery: the Prambanan Temple to the north with Mount Merapi in the background and villages in the area. Indeed a good spot for photos.

The complex has three levels, or terraces. On the first terrace, no ruins remain but the rock wall supporting the second terrace, several steps above.

A 3.5-meter wall of andesite rock divides the second and third terrace. A small tunnel which may have been a moat also marks the division. To the south, I could see scattered rocks of on-going archaeological works.

A few meters from one of the many second terrace entrances lies the small Temple of White Stones. Stepping to the second entrance, I reached the square in the center of Ratu Boko site.

The breeze blew softly. Before the dusk it generated a sense of quietness and serenity.

The path leading to Ratu boko. (JG Photo/Wahyuni Kamah)

Setting it aside from other ancient buildings in Central Java which are mostly temples and for religious purposes, this complex suggests it had once been a grand residence.

It is still not clear what Ratu Boko once was. Only archaeological evidence like inscriptions and artefacts can help to reveal its history.

According to the evidence, Ratu Boko is an ancient archaeological site that has both Hindu and Buddhist influences.

As written in the ancient Abhayagiri vihara inscription dated 792 CE discovered in the Ratu Boko complex, the site was originally built as a place for seclusion and spiritual tranquility, a monastery for the monks.

Remains of Buddhist stupas (structures containing relics, including the remains of monks) were also found on the site.

Other inscriptions told that the complex had then become a residential palace of Hindu ruler Rakai Walaing Pu Kumbayoni, a descendant of the Sailendra dynasty, beginning in the ninth century.

Some ceramics from the dynasties of China, including Ming (from the 14th to 17th centuries) and Sung (stretching from the 11th to 13th centuries) were also discovered.

In 1915, F.D.K. Bosch, a Dutch archaeologist, named the ruins “Kraton van Ratoe Boko.” The excavation of the complex begun in 1938 and continues.

Sunset at Ratu Boko. (JG Photo/
Wahyuni Kamah)

I stood for a while enjoying the spectacular panorama from the hilltop. When I looked up at the sky, I thought it a matter of luck to be able to catch the sunset as the cloud started to cover the sun.

The signage in the square pointed to the pendopo in the southeast which I would’ve liked to explore. However, on-going archaeological works left some scattered rocks making it too difficult. As the sunset approached, my best option was to follow the sign pointing towards the best view.

There are steps leading to the platform. On top is a small open house for visitors to view the surrounding scenery or to meditate. From there, I could see Prambanan temple in the distance.

At dusk, I was almost face to face with the sunset when the cloud unfortunately started to hide it.

Despite failing to catch the sunset it was a nice experience to be in the Ratu Boko complex — named after the local legend Roro Jonggrang.

According to the legend, it was the palace of Ratu Boko (literally “king of stork”), the king of Boko, who had a daughter named Roro Jonggrang.

The legend Roro Jonggrang also explains the origin of Prambanan complex.

With its mysterious background, Ratu Boko site is indeed attractive; the atmosphere, surroundings, ruins, the peacefulness and mystique are something not to be missed.

On the way out of the complex, I stopped by the Plaza Andrawina. This is the best spot to get a breathtaking view of the valley, part of Yogyakarta and different angles of Prambanan Temple and Mount Merapi in the distance.

A 19-Year Journey Into Javanese Folklore

Jakarta Globe, Ari Susanto, Sep 28, 2014

German archeologist and art historian
Lydia Kieven. (JG Photos/Ari Susanto)

Nothing exerts a pull on Lydia Kieven, 58, in life more than temple reliefs. For more than 19 years, she has searched for stone artifacts to reveal the mysterious story of the Javanese prince, Panji, and was astonished to discover a journey of spirituality rather than love.

Through her personal journey of learning ancient Javanese language, art and culture, the German archeologist became transfixed by the chronicles of Panji, which originated from the 14th-century Majapahit era. Kieven stumbled across the stories of Panji during a hike of East Java’s Mount Penanggungan sanctuary in 1996 to seek out reliefs depicting the epic Mahabharata poem’s Arjuna and Bima at Kendalisodo temple.

Unfortunately, her trip had been in vain as the panels were nowhere to be found. Instead, Kieven discovered four reliefs portraying a couple’s journey with the romantic backdrops of mountains, forests and the ocean. The woman had long, flowing hair, while her male companion seemed to be wearing a cap.

“[The reliefs] were beautiful; they caught my attention and reminded me of a photograph I had once seen of Panji,” Kieven says.

The archeologist returned to Germany and immersed herself in old literature about the prince written by Dutch authors, but none satisfied her curiosity, so she decided to return to Java, where she reconstructed the relief carvings that had captured her attention, instead of focusing solely on text.

The story of Panji can be traced as far back as the 1300s, appearing in various cultures and parts of Southeast Asia, including Kalimantan, Bali, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia. The tale was adapted in each tradition and given various titles but bore the same storyline. Throughout the centuries, the Panji epic has been developed into various artistic performance, including the shadow puppet show of Wayang Beber and the mask dance Topeng Dalang.

The series of stories followed the journey of Prince Panji (or Inu Kertapat) from the kingdom of Kahuripan and Princess Galuh Candrakirana (or Dewi Sekartaji) from Kediri. The two monarchies ruled in East Java prior to the Majapahit period. The narrative begins when the two engaged lovers are torn apart and must each embark on a journey — in disguise — to be reunited.

“The couple’s journey to find each other is not a love story, but rather a spiritual journey to seek sanctity, purity, and peace. In the reliefs, we could find Panji’s finger pointing at objects as if he is asking us to follow the path of spirituality, such as dipping in water — for purifying — and meeting the spiritual guru,” she says.

Lydia Kieven has dedicated nearly
two decades of her life to the ancient
Javanese folklore of Prince Panji and
his love, Princess Galuh. (JG Photo/
Ari Susanto)

What mesmerizes Kieven is not the story itself, but rather the symbolism found in ancient Javanese agrarian culture. Panji is a masterpiece that is completely different from both the Mahabharata and Ramayana, which feature gods and goddesses manifested in human forms.

“Panji represents a human, like us, who searches for [spirituality] through stages depicted in the reliefs. Both Panji and Galuh are presented as being modest and humble, leaving their royal lives for adventure,” she says.

Kieven’s mission to capture the lingering traces of Panji throughout Java, Kalimantan and Bali has not been without its challenges, but the archeologist says she gained inspiration from the ancient tale she has dedicated her life to.

“Panji and Galuh were very steadfast in their efforts to find on another. No obstacles could stop them,” Kieven says.

Two months after her first encounter with the reliefs depicting Panji and Galuh, doctors diagnosed Kieven with a malignant form of cancer that required surgery and chemotherapy. Despite her weakened condition, the German continued with her research paper on narrative sculptures and literary traditions of Southeast Asia, presenting a complete draft in September 1996, to the Netherlands’ Leiden University.

Then, while still reeling from the devitalizing effects of radiation, Kieven once again traveled to Java to complete her research. Back in the archipelago, however, she was faced with another obstacle: lack of funds. The resilient art historian didn’t let a debilitating illness stop her expedition, nor would she allow something as trivial as money to keep her away from Panji and Galuh’s adventures, so Kieven took up work as a travel guide, leading German tourists.

She continued her work, scrutinizing reliefs from temple to temple, including the Penataran, the largest Hindu temple complex of East Java and home to multiple intricately-carved reliefs and two statues of Panji and Galuh. In 2000 alone, she visited 20 sites for her research.

The two statues have since been moved and are now conserved separately: Panji is kept in the art library of the Bandung Institute of Technology in West Java, while Galuh is housed in Jakarta’s National Museum. Kieven hopes the two will once again be united, as described in the epic tale of their spiritual journey

How a Hunch Led to Stunning Claim on Buddha Birth Date

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Ammu Kannampilly, January 5, 2014

Monks chant under the Bodhi tree, adjacent to the Maya Devi Temple, in Lumbini,
some 200 km west of Kathmandu, on April 18, 2013. (AFP Photo/Kyle Knight)

Kathmandu. The two archaeologists had a hunch that the Buddha’s birthplace in southern Nepal held secrets that could transform how the world understood the emergence and spread of Buddhism.

Their pursuit would eventually see them excavate the sacred site of Lumbini as monks prayed nearby, leading to the stunning claim that the Buddha was born in the sixth century BC, two centuries earlier than thought.

Veteran Nepalese archaeologist Kosh Prasad Acharya had carried out excavations in Lumbini before in the early 1990s, when Nepal was still ruled by a king and a Maoist insurgency had yet to kick off.

The project ended in 1996 but Acharya remained unsatisfied with the results.

“My belief was that there was another cultural deposit below, which we had not uncovered,” the 62-year-old told AFP.

He headed back to his government job in the capital Kathmandu and waited to retire, restless to return to Lumbini.

The Buddha’s birthplace was lost and overgrown by jungle before its rediscovery in 1896, when the presence of a third century BC pillar bearing inscriptions allowed historians to identify it as Lumbini.

Since then, it has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site, visited by millions of Buddhists every year, with numbers expected to rise exponentially in the following decades.

Acharya had just retired from his last job, as the director general of the department of archaeology, when UNESCO asked him to co-direct an investigation of Lumbini’s foundations.

The cultural organization asked Acharya and his longtime collaborator, Robin Coningham, Britain’s leading South Asian archaeologist, to head a team that would examine the site so conservators could develop it for growing numbers of visitors.

“In 2010, our first year there, we were pretty much the handmaidens to the conservators,” Coningham told AFP in a phone interview from his office at Britain’s Durham University, which helped fund the UNESCO project.

“The Eureka moment came in 2011, when we came across a brick temple located below the existing Asokan temple, and below that a sort of void.

“It became clear then that there was much more to this excavation.”

Over the next two years, archaeologists, geophysicists and hired workmen from Nepal and Britain worked on the site, digging in the presence of meditating monks and nuns.

“It was a very moving, very special experience to dig for traces while pilgrims prayed and paid homage,” Acharya said.

They dug for a few weeks each year and sent the samples to laboratories for analysis.

Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence techniques were used to date fragments of charcoal and grains of sand found at the site.

The archaeologists also found holes, apparently meant to secure posts, in the open void below the brick temple.

“The intact holes suggested that whoever had built the brick temple had taken care not to damage the ancient structure below, suggesting the site was always considered holy,” Coningham said.

Lab tests confirmed the existence of roots within the void below the brick structure, suggesting it may have been a shrine where a tree once grew, possibly the hardwood sal tree under which many believe the Buddha was born.

The discovery, revealed in November, sparked huge excitement, but some historians have urged caution, saying the ancient tree shrine could have been built by pre-Buddhist believers.

“The worship of trees, often at simple altars, was a ubiquitous feature of ancient Indian religions,” Julia Shaw, a lecturer in South Asian archaeology at University College London told National Geographic’s online edition.

“It is also possible that what is being described represents an older tree shrine quite disconnected from the worship of the historical Buddha,” Shaw added.

According to Coningham, however, if the Buddhists had appropriated the tree shrine from non-Buddhists, the site would not have survived relatively unscathed.

“Also, the inscriptions at Bodhgaya [where the Buddha achieved enlightenment] reveal a thriving culture of tree worship, which suggests continuity,” he added.

Much of what is known about the Buddha’s life has its origins in oral tradition. The earliest decipherable written records in the region, the inscriptions of India’s Buddhist emperor Asoka, are dated about 250 BC.

Prior to this discovery, most scholars said that the Buddha – who renounced material wealth to embrace and preach a life of non-attachment – lived during the fourth century BC, founding a religion that now counts 500 million followers.

Buddhists in Nepal and Sri Lanka, however, have always believed that the sage was born around 623 BC, a date that now seems more accurate.

“It’s one of the great puzzles, this discovery reveals the endurance of oral traditions,” Coningham said.

“This is one of those very rare times when tradition, belief and archaeology all come together.”

Agence France-Presse

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RI, Chinese museums hold joint exhibition

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 04/25/2011

Working in cooperation with the Guangxi Museum of Nationalities, China, the National Museum of Indonesia is featuring a colletion of 200 historical and archeological artifacts from both countries in an exhibition called the “Color of Uniqueness”.

The exhibition will first be in Indonesia from April 25 to May 31, and from there it will move to the Guangxi Museum where it will be held from July 1 to Nov. 1.

The exhibition will present 106 artefacts related to Chinese culture from the National Museum, 92 pieces from the Guangxi Museum, and two from the Trowulan Bureau for the Preservation of Ancient Relics.

Museum of Indonesia director Retno Sulistyaningsih said ties between Indonesia and China could be improved through the exhibition.

“The exhibition will explain that there has been an acculturation of Chinese culture into Indonesian culture, presented in traditional textiles, architecture, carvings, art performances, and ceramics," Retno said during the opening ceremony of the exhibition on Monday