Cetho Temple

Tour Destination Cetho Temple in Karanganyar

Cetho Temple is one of the mainstay tourist attractions in Karanganyar in Central Java province. It has an exotic blend of buildings with a backdrop of the mountainside slopes of Mount Lawu.

Cetho Temple which was built around 1451-1470 and also became one of the relics of the Hindu religion. From the historical side is a temple built from the Majapahit royal family that migrated to the west. And until now the surrounding community is still used as a place of worship for Hindus by the people around this temple.

Overview of Cetho Temple

This is according to the inscription from the stone carved in the entrance gate that reads “goh wiku hanahut iku” which means 1397 saka or 1476 AD. The uniqueness of Cetho Temple can be seen from the terraced building art forms such as punden terraces. Then the shape of the statues is also still very simple and has not shown the characteristics of maturity.

Discovered by Van de Vlies, this temple had undergone restoration by the Dutch East Indies government at that time. Cetho Temple is located at an altitude of 1497 meters above sea level. Surrounded by several ancient Javanese buildings such as the limasan house and the joglo house with a structure like a rural house in general.

Cetho temple is one of the temples that was purified by local residents. They still believe in this temple often held rituals to reject reinforcements. When you visit Cetho temple, you are required to wear a bunch of poleng cloth. By using this cloth, as a symbol to appreciate the sanctity of this place.

Around the Cetho Temple complex, there is the Kethek Temple or the Monkey Temple which is located only 250 meters from Cetho Temple. In the area behind Cetho Temple, there is also Taman Taman Saraswati. At Puri Taman Saraswati visitors must take off their shoes. In this area there is a statue of Saraswati, a temple, and a spring whose water is often used to wash face. In fact there are also some visitors who bring home the spring water. The beauty of the tourist attractions at Cetho Temple has natural beauty that you cannot find in other temple tours in Indonesia.