Candi Surowono

    Desa Canggu, Pare, Kediri East Java

It was gloomy outside. I could see it from my window, I got up in a good mood, I brushed my teeth, I washed my face, dried it out and put some sunscreen on.  I changed my clothes and had my breakfast. I put my slipper on and I walked to the front gate with my red folded umbrella in my hand. The road was crowded. Most people were biking to the west and east. I waved my hand to stop becak—three wheel public transportation that usually biked or driven. One of becaks got closer and stopped in front of me. “Mau dianter ke mana mbak?” He spoke Indonesian in very thick Javanese accent. “Saya mau pergi ke Candi Surowono” I answer politely, as soft as I could. I got onto the becak after short bargaining. We made a deal that IDR 50,000 for taking me to three places—Candi Surowono, Surowono Cave and Pare Square.

I sat quietly, looked out the road, the crowd, the grey cloud then spoiled by paddies field and fish ponds. It took about 15 minutes to get to Surowono from Kampung Inggris. The becak driver dropped me in front of a small black gate. A man welcomed me, he handed me a blue pen. I wrote my name and signed the guest book. Most of the visitors are the students who studied in Pare. I put IDR 4,000 in a box that written donation on its front side. A few steps from the entrance, there is a blue painted bulletin board. I stopped, stood for a while to read some information.

As I walked in the aisle, there were more than 6 rows of a concrete bars on which hundreds of remains lied. I flashed my camera couple times and walked ahead to the main part. Candi Surowono was built around 14 Century by Majapahit Kingdom for honoring Bre Wengker. As written in the script of Negarakertagama, king is devoted after 12 years of his death. This square candi (7.8 m x 7.8 m) consists of many reliefs such as Siva, Gana—a giant in Hindus mythology, lamb, birds and two thin and fat people who face each other. Those reliefs are about the story of Tantri, Bubuksan and Arjunawiwaha. I don’t know what language Surowono word derived from, I could not find the information.

In Candi Surowo, visitors are allowed to climb up to the top of the candi, visitors even can climb through the wall. Many tourists took pictures while seated on a concrete in the middle of the wall, they pretended to be one of the reliefs. I needed less than 30 minutes to go around, to read the information and taking picture. After enjoying this historical site, I went to Surowono Cave which is located around 1 km from Candi Surowono.