Restorations of ancient temples in Java: a cross-cultural exploration along the lines of time, changing attitudes, and perspectives

Abstract

Between 1913 and 1942, the Dutch Archaeological Service was responsible for the conservation of cultural heritage in the former Dutch East Indies. For a significant part this concerned Javanese temples from the Buddhist and Hindu era (roughly 700 AD-1550 AD). Although the restoration of temples, and the ways they were presented to the public, were strongly influenced by European views, restoration appeared to be a concern already in the fifteenth century during the heydays of the Hindu Majapahit empire. Old Javanese manuscripts report of the need for restoration as volcanic circumstances and the tropical climate impacted temples from the moment of construction onwards. In the centuries following Majapahit, Buddhist-Hindu and animistic beliefs kept on resonating. Temples and temple ruins gradually became home to the spirits to which people offered, where spirits were worshipped, or where ritualistic meals were held. Official heritage policy often clashed with such practices. For many local people, the maintenance of the spiritual balance seemed even more important than that of the material remains. To better understand the possible tensions between material preservation and (local) meaning, the policy of the Dutch Archaeological Service, will in this article be placed first within the much older tradition of heritage preservation dating back to Majapahit. This will then be contrasted with the actual attitudes and practices towards heritage, as were still common amongst Javanese people in the twentieth century, to finally assess what can be learned from these tensions regarding possible heritage policies for the future.