Sunday, July 05, 2009

Candi Belahan - Sumber Tetek

On the second morning, we ordered “roti bakar” (toasted bread) from the eatery across the road from our hotel.

When our orders arrived, we got a surprise. The “roti bakar” was totally not the usual toast. I think it should be called “roti goreng” (fried bread) as it was pan fried, burger style! - Two slices of bread, drenched in margarine, cut into four pieces and decorated with colourful 'hundreds and thousands' sprinkles.

What a wonderful source of energy for the morning!

After our sweet breakfast, we continued our journey out of Surabaya toward east. Our first stop was Candi Belahan or Sumber Tetek as it is known to the locals.

This little unique ruin is located at the hillside of Mt. Penanggungan at Gempol district, East Jawa. The ruin is dated back to the 11th century. It is said that ashes of Airlangga King, the ruler of Jawa at that time was stored here.

There are two statues on the wall – one of Goddess Laksmi, holding her two erm…mammary glands, sort of like squeezing the water into the shallow pool (6x4 meter in dimension). The other one is Goddess Sri. Both Goddesses are symbols of fertility and prosperity.

According to the locals the water never runs dry from the two nipples even at the driest seasons. The locals use the water source for daily chores like bathing, cooking, drinking etc.

When we arrived, there was a family having a picnic at the Candi. The air was filled with laughter from the kids, frolicking naked in the pool.

We stopped briefly to take some pictures.

I took one, posing just like this boy. (Too shy to be posted here).

The water is cool and refreshing, originating from the mountainous springs. I drank some too, straight from the source. It is erm...invigorating. Heheh!

Check out the video.

ENJOY!

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