Bahal Temples

The Padang Lawas plain in North Sumatra holds a scatter of brick temple ruins - biaro - from a Buddhist polity usually identified with Panai, active roughly between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries and connected to the Srivijayan world and to Tantric practice; inscriptions and iconography point to Vajrayana Buddhism. Bahal I, II and III near Portibi are the best preserved and partly restored: square brick platforms with stairways, mouldings and stupa-topped shrines, with carved figures including dancing yaksa and makara. They are built entirely of brick rather than the andesite used in Java, which is why they have weathered as they have. The sites are quiet, spread across farmland, and receive very few visitors compared with the Javanese temples, with almost no interpretation on site.

History

Candi Bahal is one of a group of temples on the Padang Lawas plain, a strategic route between the east and west coasts of Sumatra, dated to between the 11th and 13th centuries and possibly linked with the Pannai kingdom, a trading port under the Srivijayan mandala. Its other names come from biaro, from vihara, "monastery", and the Batak portibi, from prithivi, "earth"; Bahal I was restored in 1977-1978 and 1982-1983, and Bahal II in 1991-1992 (Wikipedia, Bahal temple).

What you'll find

• Brick Buddhist temples - platforms, stairs and stupas, built without stone.
• Carved yaksa and makara - the figures worked into the brickwork.
• A Tantric Buddhist polity - the Panai world, connected to Srivijaya.
• Farmland setting - the three main biaro standing among fields near Portibi.

When to go

May to September; mornings before the heat. Half a day.

Things to know

There is almost no interpretation and few visitors. Sites are spread out and need a vehicle. The plain is hot and exposed. Padang Lawas is a long way from anywhere.

Nearby

Padang Sidempuan is south-west; Gunung Tua is the nearest town.

Key facts