Muara Takus

Muara Takus sits in a walled enclosure near the Kampar Kanan river in Riau and is the most substantial standing Buddhist site in central Sumatra: four main structures of brick and sandstone - Candi Tua, Candi Bungsu, Candi Mahligai and the Palangka - inside a rectangular precinct, thought to date to the eleventh and twelfth centuries and generally associated with the Srivijayan sphere, though the specifics of who built it and when remain unsettled. Candi Mahligai is a stupa on an octagonal base with a shaft rising from it. The site matters because Srivijaya, for all its documented importance as a maritime power, left remarkably little standing architecture, so this is one of the few places where any of it can be walked around. Interpretation on site is thin.

History

The complex was built by the Srivijaya empire in the 11th century and may have been extensively renovated in the 12th, serving as both a religious and a trade centre. It was abandoned for many centuries until Cornet de Groot rediscovered it in 1860, W. P. Groenveld surveyed it in 1880, and research in 1983 mapped the remains of an ancient embankment and the Mahligai temple compound (Wikipedia, Muara Takus).

What to look for

• Four standing brick structures - Candi Tua, Bungsu, Mahligai and the Palangka.
• A walled precinct - the rectangular enclosure containing the group.
• Rare Srivijayan-era architecture - one of few sites where any survives standing.
• An unresolved date - attributions range across several centuries.

When to go

May to September. Half a day.

What to expect

Interpretation is minimal and the dating is genuinely uncertain, so signage is vague. It is remote, hot and exposed. Visitor numbers are very low and facilities are basic.

Nearby

Bangkinang and Pekanbaru are east; Payakumbuh and West Sumatra are west.

Key facts