134 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TEAVEL 



sides are covered with bas-reliefs, elaborately executed 

 in hard stone, and illustrative of Hindu mythology in 

 the strangest mixture of Buddhism and Brahmanism. 

 These sculptures have been estimated to occupy an 

 extent of wall of nearly three miles in length, and the 

 amount of labour and skill expended upon this stupendous 

 temple must have been as great as, if not greater than, 

 that required to build the Great Pyramid. Unlike the 

 dagobas of Ceylon, the apical cupola — which is 50 feet 

 in diameter — is a hollow chamber, which shows no trace 

 of a shrine. The enigmatical verse, which, as in the case 

 of the Hindus, serves as Javanese chronology, places the 

 date of the construction of the building at a.d. 1344, 

 which may possibly be correct, for the perfect preserva- 

 tion of the greater part of the structure is against its 

 being of any great antiquity. 



Although few or no remains of temples are to be 

 found in the mountainous Sunda lands, where, indeed, 

 the Hindu influence never established itself, the moun- 

 tains of Central and Eastern Java were special objects 

 of veneration by those who followed the cult of Siva, 

 and innumerable chandis or temples are found upon 

 their slopes and summits. The plateau of Dieng, over- 

 looking the vast extinct crater of Gunong Prau, has the 

 most remarkable group of this nature. Vast flights of 

 steps lead up to it from opposite sides of the mountain, 

 each flight consisting of more than 1000 steps. Traces 

 of nearly 400 temples have been found here and in the 

 neighbourhood, all of which appear to have been decorated 

 with rich and delicate sculptures, and others of smaller 

 size are met with at or near the actual summit of the 

 mountain. Upon the great volcano Lawu, to the south- 

 west of Samarang, are temples of a later date and 

 different character. They rise in terraces one above the 



