Dieng

The Dieng plateau lies high among the volcanic mountains of central Java. Here stand some of the island's oldest surviving Hindu stone temples, built around the seventh and eighth centuries. Their original names and patrons are no longer known; Javanese tradition instead calls them after figures from the Mahabharata, including Arjuna. An inscription near the Arjuna temple, dated to the early ninth century, shows that the sanctuary remained inhabited after its construction. By 1814 a shallow lake covered part of the temple ground.