Ganjuran Church/Church of the sacred Heart, Ganjuran, Yogyakarta Special Region, Central Java - Catholic church that are built following Majapahit Hindu temple.
he land on which Ganjuran Church is now located was once part of a sugar factory, run by the Dutch brothers Joseph and Julius Schmutzer. In 1912 they began practising workers' rights as outlined in the Rerum Novarum; they then began working on establishing educational facilities on the land, with seven boys' schools opened in 1919 and a girls' school opened in 1920. They also promoted Catholicism amongst their employees. With the proceeds from their factory, the Schmutzers established St Elisabeth Hospital in Ganjuran, first as a clinic. They also established Onder de Bogen (now Panti Rapih Hospital) in Yogyakarta proper. St Elisabeth is now managed by the Order of Carolus Borromeus.
Also in 1920, Pr. van Driessch, a member of the Society of Jesus who had taught at Xaverius College in Muntilan, began giving sermons and working to establish a Catholic community in the area. By 1922 there were 22 native Javanese Catholics, a number which increased rapidly. On 16 April 1924 the Schmutzers established a church on their grounds, with van Driessch as its first pastor. The carvings and other facets were worked on by a Javanese sculptor named Iko
Three years later the congregation began construction of a 10-metre (33 ft) tall Hindu-styled temple (candi), resembling the one at Prambanan Temple; Iko set statues of Mary and Jesus as Javanese royalty and teachers, which were adorned with batik motives. Stones were taken from the slopes of Mount Merapi to the north, while the entrance was pointed to southern sea; this orientation reflected a Javanese belief in the harmony between north and south. The temple was formalised on 11 February 1930 by Bishop of Batavia Antonius van Velsen.
The original structure have been toppled by the 2006 earthquake, the candi altar however remain standing, the current one are rebuilt in Javanese palace architecture.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/89026403
http://jeannie1976.wordpress.com/category/religious/
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Gereja Ganjuran by Dian Utomo, on Flickr
