Latest / The Srivijaya Empire: Southeast Asia's Forgotten Maritime Superpower — Fexingo History / Srivijaya's Gold: Buddhist Art and the Candi Muara Takus
Transcript
- Lucas: We've spent a lot of time around the Musi River and Palembang, the heart of Srivijaya. But the empire stretched far inland, and today I want to take us to a place that feels completely different — Candi Muara Takus, up in Riau province. Luna: I've heard the name, but I don't know much about it. Isn't it a temple complex? Lucas: It is, and it's one of the most mysterious Buddhist sites in Sumatra. Unlike the brick temples of Muaro Jambi, which sit right on the Batanghari River, Muara Takus is way up the Kampar Kanan River, about 120 kilometres inland from the coast. It's a cluster of stupas and temples made of stone and brick, and the biggest one — the Mahligai stupa — is this massive bell-shaped structure that looks a lot like Borobudur's central stupa. Luna: So it's a mountain-style stupa, like Borobudur? Lucas: Exactly. But here's the thing — Muara Takus was built much later, probably around the 11th century, during the Sailendra period. Some scholars think it was founded by a king named Adityawarman, who was a Sailendra prince who later ruled in West Sumatra. The site has several structures: the Mahligai, which is the main stupa; then Candi Sulung, which is smaller and has a square base; and Candi Bungsu, which is a small temple. There are also remnants of a monastery and a vihara. Luna: What makes it mysterious? Lucas: First, its location. Why build a major Buddhist complex so far inland? The Kampar Kanan is navigable by small boats, but it's not a major trade artery. The most likely reason is that it was a sacred retreat — a place where the maharajas could go for meditation and ritual. There's no evidence of a large settlement around it. Second, the architecture is unique in Sumatra. The Mahligai stupa is made of river stones and bricks, and it has a distinctive lotus-shaped base. That's very similar to the stupas at Nalanda in India, which suggests direct contact with the Pala Empire. Luna: So it's like a Nalanda-style stupa in the middle of the Sumatran jungle. Lucas: Right. And that ties into something we've talked about before — Srivijaya's deep connection to the Pala monasteries. But what I find fascinating is the gold connection. Sumatra was rich in gold, especially in the highlands of Minangkabau. The rivers carried gold dust down to the coast, and Srivijaya controlled that trade. Muara Takus might have been a ritual centre where gold was offered to the gods — a kind of sacred treasury. Luna: Did they find gold there? Lucas: Not at the temple itself — most of the precious objects were looted long ago. But there's a famous hoard called the 'Srivijaya Gold' that was discovered in the 1930s near the Musi River. It contained gold rings, coins, and jewellery, some of which had Buddhist iconography. That hoard probably came from a shipwreck or a merchant's stash. But it shows the kind of wealth that was flowing through Srivijaya. And Muara Takus, being inland, was a safe place to store treasures away from pirate raids. Luna: I want to hear more about that gold hoard, but first — can we pause for a second? Lucas: Sure. Luna: I just wanted to say, if you've been getting something out of these deep dives into Srivijaya, the way we keep this show ad-free is through listener support. It's a little thing, but if today was useful to you, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, that's exactly what keeps us going. No sponsors, no ads — just people who love history chipping in. So thank you to anyone who's done that. Now, back to the gold — the Musi River hoard. Luna: What was in it? Lucas: It was discovered by a Dutch engineer named B. H. M. Vlekke in 1935, while he was dredging the river near Palembang. He found a clay pot filled with gold objects: finger rings, earrings, coins, and little figurines. One of the rings had a Buddhist mantra inscribed on it. The coins were mostly from the Song dynasty, but there were also local gold coins called 'mas'. The hoard is now in the National Museum of Indonesia in Jakarta. It's a glimpse into the personal wealth of a Srivijayan merchant or noble. Luna: So that gold could have come from the same mines that supplied Muara Takus? Lucas: Probably. Sumatra's gold mines were legendary. The Chinese called the island 'Jinzhou' — 'Gold Island' — and they traded silk and porcelain for Sumatran gold. Srivijaya's control of both the coast and the inland rivers allowed them to monopolise that trade. And Muara Takus, sitting on the Kampar Kanan, was a way to project power inland. It was a statement: the maharaja's authority reached all the way to the mountains. Luna: It's like a Buddhist version of a castle in the highlands. Lucas: Exactly. And there's an inscription at Muara Takus that confirms this — it's called the 'Muara Takus inscription', dated to 1286 CE. It's written in Old Malay and mentions a king named Adityawarman, who calls himself 'the lord of the mountains'. That's a title we also see in the Tanjore inscription, remember — 'king of the mountain' for the Srivijayan rulers. So the same imagery was used for the inland kings. Luna: Wait, 1286 — that's after the Chola invasion. So Srivijaya was still around? Lucas: Barely. By the late 13th century, Srivijaya was a shadow of its former self. The Chola raid in 1025 had weakened it, and then the rise of Majapahit in Java squeezed it further. But Adityawarman seems to have been a local ruler who revived some of the old glory. He even sent an embassy to China in 1281. So Muara Takus might represent a last flicker of Srivijayan Buddhist power before the empire faded into history. Luna: So it's like a final monument — a last hurrah. Lucas: Precisely. And it's still standing today, though it's not as well-known as Borobudur. The site is peaceful, surrounded by jungle, with the sound of the Kampar Kanan river. If you ever get to Sumatra, it's worth the journey. You can see the Mahligai stupa, and you can imagine the monks chanting there a thousand years ago, while gold was being unloaded from boats downstream. Luna: I'd love to see that. So what happened to Muara Takus after Srivijaya fell? Lucas: It was abandoned, probably by the 14th century. The jungle took over. Local people knew about it, but it wasn't 'discovered' by Western archaeologists until the 19th century. The first detailed survey was done by a Dutchman named J. L. Moens in the 1920s. Since then, there have been some restoration efforts, but it's still a quiet, off-the-beaten-path site. In a way, that's its charm — you can experience it without the crowds. Luna: It sounds like the perfect ending for our Srivijaya series — a hidden gem that reminds us of the empire's reach. Lucas: It does. And it also reminds us that Srivijaya was more than just a maritime power. It reached into the mountains, controlled gold mines, and built Buddhist monuments that still inspire awe. So next time you think of Srivijaya, don't just picture ships and harbours — think of the Mahligai stupa, rising out of the Sumatran jungle.