Shiwa -
Buddha
In the year A.D. 1359, on his return from an
extended tour of the eastern provinces, King Hayam Wuruk of Majapahit stopped off at the
temple of Jajawa (Candi Jawi) at Pandaan, in the foothills of Mt Welirang. His purpose was
to place offerings at the shrine of his great-grandfather Kertanagara, last king of
Singosari, in
Candi
Jawi, at Pandaan, dates from around A.D. 1300
whose memory the temple had been built. The Nagarakertagama
describes in detail the magnificence of the sacred compound. The principal monument,
in particular, was unique in that it was a Shiwaite sanctuary crowned with a Buddhist
ornament. It thus reflected clearly the advanced religious philosophy expounded by
Kertanagara, who is said to have returned, on his death, to the realm of 'ShiwaBuddha'.
The shrine further contained two mortuary statues of the king, representing the essence of
both religions. Yet, as Prapanca explains in his poem, the image of the Buddha Akshobya
had mysteriously disappeared at a time when the monument had been struck by lightning, in
1331. While regretting that the statue had vanished, it was accepted as a sign of the
Buddha's supreme manifestation, i.e. that of Non-Being! |