TWHS: Muara Takus Compound Site
Rounding up this swing through Sumatra, last tentative World Heritage Site we’ll check out is
The Muara Takus Temple compound was utilized as place for settlement and for worship near the water sheds of Kampar Kanan River. This heritage demonstrates the genius, deliberation, wisdom, and nobility of the ancestors living at that time. The selection of this region as an ideal settlement was based on the following factors:
- This compound is situated on the higher grounds that are not affected by floods from the Kampar Kanan River.
- The embankment serves as the region’s border line, as a flood guard, and as a part of a drainage system in managing overflowing rainwater. This is evident from several dikes/gaps on the embankment that are parallel with ditches.
- In the centre of the embankment is the Umpamo River that flows into the Kampar Kanan River. This stream serves as a water drainage for rainwater flowing into embankment.
- In the inner part of the embankment, there is a relatively flat land.
- From the above descriptions, the ancestors were not only capable of creating structures from bricks with various shapes and sizes between one temple and the other, but they also had the wisdom and genius qualities to select the location and face the environmental challenges in supporting their livelihoods.
- Besides that, the Muara Takus Temple Site reflects the values of a masterpiece deriving from the ability and the genius process to maintain the awareness of harmonious relationships between the Creator (God), humans, and nature with a Buddhism background.
It’s fairly interesting because while it strongly resembles Bhuddist stupas from elsewhere around the region, it’s not exactly like anywhere else in particular and guesses of when it was built run from the 2nd to the 9th century … and who knows if any of those are even close.
There don’t seem to be any ruins of similar vintage known in the region either, which makes this place nigh on a genuine mystery. And who doesn’t love a good mystery?
Not many foreigners, that’s for sure; there were a bunch of local students around, and they were very friendly…
… very very friendly indeed. Boring piles of old bricks are good to get a day off school, sure, but funny looking foreigners? Now that’s a treat!
Long as we were there, with the audience to entertain and all, figured this would be a good opporunity to take Sparky on her second flight:
Still got a lot to learn here, but hey, not trying to ram her into a tree until her battery runs out is a distinct improvement. Baby steps, baby steps.
So yep, not one of the more visually spectacular sites, more for the keenly curious about remnants of kingdoms lost to the historical record; but if you happen to be wandering through the middle of Sumatra, might as well stop by!