Cibuaya, Archaeological site in Karawang, Indonesia.
Cibuaya is an archaeological site in Karawang, West Java, about 6 km from the north coast. Its visible monument, Lemah Duwur Lanang, is a brick platform with two terraces, topped by a small lingam about 1 m high and 0.40 m in diameter. A door and stair on its east side mark it as a Shivaite structure.
Cibuaya gained attention in 1951 when a well digger named Warsinah found a 63 cm four-armed Vishnu statue, now in Jakarta's National Museum. A second Vishnu, 48 cm tall, was handed to the archaeological service in 1957. French sources date these statues to the 7th–8th centuries and link the site to Java's earliest known kingdom. Candi Cibuaya II, a Shivaite mound with a lingam, was found in 1984.
The Vishnu statues from Cibuaya are now kept in Jakarta's National Museum, not at the site. The standing Cibuaya I figure, 63 cm tall with four arms, follows the Pallava style of Mamallapuram; the 48 cm Cibuaya II is polished black stone in the Pala manner of Bihar and Bengal. The visible Candi Cibuaya II is a Shivaite monument: a 9 m square, 2 m high mound topped by a lingam 1 m tall and 0.40 m in diameter, with a door and stair facing east.
The site sits within working rice fields, so a local guide helps navigate the scattered mounds and ongoing excavation areas. Visit during the dry season when fields are not flooded to access the structures more easily.
The visible monument, Candi Cibuaya II, was found in 1984: a 9-metre-square, 2-metre-high mound topped by a lingam 1 metre tall and 0.40 metre in diameter. A doorway and stair facing east identify it as a Shivaite structure. The Vishnu statues found nearby are kept in Jakarta's National Museum, not on site.
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