Candi, Space and Landscape by Véronique Degroot discusses the relationship between the physical and religious landscape. The press release can be found after the jump, and more information (including ordering) can be found here.
Archaeologist Véronique Degroot has explored the correlations between temple distribution, natural surroundings and architectural design in Central Java (Indonesia). The aim was to understand how Central Javanese people structured the space around them, and how a religious landscape was developed. The results of her research have now been published in the book Candi, Space and Landscape.
Central Javanese temples were not built anywhere and anyhow. On the contrary: their positions within the landscape and their architectural designs were determined by socio-cultural, religious and economic factors. This book explores the correlations between temple distribution, natural surroundings and architectural design to explain how Central Javanese people structured the space around them, and how the religious landscape thus created developed.
Besides questions related to territory and landscape, this book analyzes the structure of the built space and its possible relations with conceptualized space, showing the influence of imported Indian concepts, as well as their limits. Going off the beaten track, this study explores the hundreds of small sites that scatter the landscape of Central Java. It is also one of very few studies to apply the methods of spatial archaeology to Central Javanese temples and the first in almost one century to present a descriptive inventory of the remains of this region.
From 2010 onwards the series Mededelingen van het Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde will be published by Sidestone Press in co-operation with the Dutch National Museum of Ethnology. This series consists of scientific studies on subjects related to the museum. Volume 38, Candi, Space and Landscape is available now.
Candi, Space and Landscape. A study on the distribution, orientation and spatial organization of Central Javanese temple remains
Author: V.M.Y. Degroot
Category: Anthropology, Archaeology of Indonesia / Asia
ISBN: 978-90-8890-039-6
Form: Paperback
No. pages: 512
Prize: € 49,95 (Incl. VAT, excl. shipping)
More Information:
Sidestone Press
www.sidestone.nl/rmv
info(at)sidestone.nl