Kebon Kopi I inscription
Also known asTapak Gajah Inscription
Datedc. 401–500 CE
Photo RXerself , Creutzen · CC BY-SA 4.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
The Kebon Kopi I inscription, also known as the Tapak Gajah inscription (elephant footprint inscription), is a stele from Kebon Kopi village, Bogor, in Indonesia. It is one of several inscriptions dated from the era of the Tarumanagara Kingdom, circa 5th century.
It bears the image of an elephant footprint, which was copied from the elephant ride of King Purnawarman of Tarumanagara.
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Article
Kebon Kopi I inscription
The inscription is written in Pallawa script in Sanskrit, arranged into the form of an Anustubh metrum Shloka, which is flanked by a pair of carved images of the elephant's foot.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kebon Kopi I inscriptionCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kebon Kopi I inscriptionCC BY-SA 4.0
The inscription is written in Pallawa script in Sanskrit, arranged into the form of an Anustubh metrum Shloka, which is flanked by a pair of carved images of the elephant's foot. The reading is incomplete and in places uncertain. In English it runs roughly: 'Behold, here it looks like a pair of feet ... like Airavata, the elephant ride of the great Taruma ruler in ... and glory.'
InterpretationSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kebon Kopi I inscriptionCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kebon Kopi I inscriptionCC BY-SA 4.0
The elephant of King Purnawarman is equated with Airavata, the elephant vahana (vehicle) of Indra.
NameSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kebon Kopi I inscriptionCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kebon Kopi I inscriptionCC BY-SA 4.0
The inscription was discovered in Kebon Kopi village, Bogor, near the Kebon Kopi II inscription. It is named Kebon Kopi I to differ it from that later inscription, which dates from the Sunda Kingdom era.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kebon Kopi I inscriptionCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kebon Kopi I inscriptionCC BY-SA 4.0
Indonesia is one of the few places where megalith-building is still a living tradition. Among the Nias of North Sumatra, the Batak of the interior of North Sumatra, the people of Flores and Sumba in East Nusa Tenggara, and the Toraja of the interior of South Sulawesi, megalithic cultures remained preserved, isolated and undisturbed well into the late nineteenth century. Menhirs, dolmens, stone tables and ancestral stone statues are also found in sites in Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands and New Guinea.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Megalith traditions of Indonesia
Indonesia is one of the few places where megalith-building is still a living tradition. Among the Nias of North Sumatra, the Batak of the interior of North Sumatra, the people of Flores and Sumba in East Nusa Tenggara, and the Toraja of the interior of South Sulawesi, megalithic cultures remained preserved, isolated and undisturbed well into the late nineteenth century. Menhirs, dolmens, stone tables and ancestral stone statues are also found in sites in Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands and New Guinea.
On Sumba, the megalithic burials found in the central regions of the island go back thousands of years. This stone-based burial tradition is still kept alive by the Sumba people, and has become a "living ancient tradition" that scholars can observe today. The megalithic remains on the island include dolmen tombs, upright stones, megalithic statues, stone enclosures and levelled terraces, built and carved to a high standard. Quadrangular adzes unearthed in the Anakalang area are among the notable finds. Nias is best known for its festivals, including stone jumping, a manhood ritual in which young men leap over stone towers about two metres high; some historians and archaeologists have called its culture one of the few remaining megalithic cultures in existence, though this point of view is hotly debated.
Because the tradition has not stopped, it is hard to give a single date to a monument. Megalithic culture still flourished in places such as Nias and Toraja when other parts of Indonesia had already begun their historical periods, and script was unknown there. The Atlas gives such sites a broad range, and dating is often impossible without excavation.
When visiting, remember that these are the burial places and ritual landscapes of living communities. Ask permission and do not move stones.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Megalith, Wikipedia: Sumba, Wikipedia: Nias, Wikipedia: Prehistoric Indonesia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photographs
8 photographs, each with its author and licence
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Where it stands
Indonesia
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 6°31′40″ S, 106°41′25″ EFor a GPS or map app: -6.52773, 106.69030
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q2750295wikidata.org
- 02Wikipedia: Kebon Kopi I inscriptionen.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Kebon Kopi I Inscription as it is.jpgRXerself , CreutzenCC BY-SA 4.0
- Kebon Kopi I Inscription 5 cm scale.jpgRXerself , CreutzenCC BY-SA 4.0
- Kebon Kopi I Inscription text 5 cm scale.jpgRXerself , CreutzenCC BY-SA 4.0
- Accompanying stone of Kebon Kopi I Inscription.jpgRXerself , CreutzenCC BY-SA 4.0
- Kebon Kopi I Inscription house.jpgRXerself , CreutzenCC BY-SA 4.0
- Kebon kopi I 140101-0072 cia.JPGWibowo Djatmiko ( Wie146 )CC BY-SA 3.0
- Kebon kopi I 140101-0075 cia.JPGWibowo Djatmiko ( Wie146 )CC BY-SA 3.0
- Prasasti Kebon Kopi.JPGTaman RenyahCC BY 3.0
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Around this place
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Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Kebon Kopi I inscription" (English), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors