The statue of the Minakjingga Temple

 The statue of the Minakjingga Temple



The name of the temple comes from the statue in the form of a winged giant which the local community calls Minakjingga, the antagonist in Serat Damarwulan. Strong suspicion, the found statue is a statue of an Garuda. Unfortunately, the beak of the Garuda statue has been damaged. The existence of an eagle statue indicates the Hindu style of Minakjingga Temple because the Garuda is a vehicle (riding vehicle) of Lord Vishnu.



Meanwhile, the Minakjingga Temple can be traced from the writings of Raffles, The History of Java (1817). In the book, it is stated that in the ancient site of Majapahit there are statues of Ganesha and other statues of Hindu mythology. Near the pond there is a statue with a human-shaped bottom and a bird-shaped upper body.



The first research on Candi Minakjingga was carried out in 1907 by Knebel as Rapporten van de Commissie in Nederlandsch-indie voor Oudheidkundig Onderzoek op Java en Madoera. The report states that there is an earth-covered rock mound that can be climbed through the remaining ten steps. In the place where there is a mound there is a statue. The local people call it the Minakjingga statue. Knebel interpreted the Minakjingga statue as Batara Yama, if the statue had no wings.



The first research on the independence era was carried out in 1977 by the National Archaeological Research Center. It is known that there are structures and loose stones in the mound of the temple. Further research was carried out by BPCB Trowulan in 2007. In this study, fragments of terracotta, Uang Kepeng, ceramic fragments from the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) were found, fragments of miniature houses, tiles, relief fragments, and frog statues made of white stone.



In 2010, because the site had been excavated and was open to a large extent, BPCB Trowulan installed a roof to prevent damage to the bricks that make up Minakjingga Temple. Some of the excavated objects from Candi Minakjingga are stored at BP3 (old name of BPCB) Trowulan and Majapahit Museum.