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Dwarapala ~ Color Crazy – Sepia Week

I took this picture last year in a restaurant. This statue is a statue of Dwarapala which is a statue of a gatekeeper or door in the teachings of Shiva and Buddha. Usually, Dwarapala is placed outside the temple, temple or other building to protect the sacred place or sacred place inside. Dwarapala is usually described as a scary creature. Depending on the prosperity of a temple, the number of Dwarapala statues can be alone, in pairs, or in groups.

The largest Dwarapala on Java is in Singosari, made of 3.7 meters high intact andesite. On the islands of Java and Bali, the Dwarapala statue is usually carved out of andesite stone, has a fat stature, and is depicted in a half-kneeling position, holding a mace. While Dwarapala in Cambodia and Thailand have a slimmer body stature with an upright body position holding a mace in the middle right between his legs. The Dwarapala statue in Thailand is made from clay pottery coated with pale milk glazing. Statues like this were made during the Sukhothai and Ayutthaya kingdoms (14th to 15th centuries) produced by several kiln pots in northern Thailand.

Small sacred buildings usually have only one Dwarapala statue. Often Dwarapala is placed in pairs between the entrance gate. some of the larger sacred building sites have four, eight, and even twelve Dwarapala statues guarding the four cardinal points as Lokapala, the guardian deity of four or eight cardinal points.

In Javanese culture, Dwarapala is used as a guardian figure of the palace, for example, it can be found at the entrance gate of the Yogyakarta Palace and Kamandungan Lor  (north; Javanese) gate Surakarta Palace.

The initial idea of posting this picture is actually to talk about who our guardians are as human beings and how to get close to them and utilize them for our success in life, but I doubt if you are bored with that kind of topic.

  • Question of

    Have you ever seen a statue like that?

    • Yes
    • No
  • Question of

    Do you know who is your guard(s)?

    • Yes
    • No

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  1. God, it’s 3.7 meters high. I would look like a dwarf if I stood in front of her. When Carol made her series about the Beautiful Islands of Indonesia, I thought of you. I know in many of your posts you wrote about Java and Bali. I’m glad you shared this

    1
    • Yes, the statue is very big, dear Elenka.

      What? Carol made a series about Indonesia? Ah, I have to look for those posts. Thank you for the info.

      Yes, Java and Bali are like the “center” of my country even though they actually consist of thousands of islands, large and small, and I am a Javanese, living in Jakarta – a “point” in the north of West Java.

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