Dieng Plateau: an unknown wonder of the world

There is something magical about Dieng Plateau.. the weather to start: a mix of everlasting epic cloud battles in the sky, violent rains and freezing wind that blows in your ears as if trying to say something. The road up to the Plateau is absolutely gorgeous, as if these mountains led to a second life, second world. The people of the plateau are poor yet give away smiles with pleasure. The temples were quite amazing, even though small. There a more than 1 000 ruins all over the plateau. Basically, one can nearly see the divinity of it all and how it was when it used to be a sacred place.

Dieng Plateau, is a marshy plateau that forms the floor of a caldera complex on the Dieng active volcano complex, and is located near Wonosobo, Central Java, Indonesia.

It is the site for eight small Hindu temples from the 7th and 8th centuries, the oldest Hindu temples in Central Java, and the first known standing stone structures in Java. They are originally thought to have numbered 400 but only 8 remain. The Dieng structures were small and relatively plain, but stone architecture developed substantially in only a matter of decades resulting in masterpieces such as the Prambanan complex and Borobudur. The name "Dieng" comes from Di Hyang which means "Abode of the Gods" [1] Its misty location almost 2000 m above sea level, and its mists, poisonous effusions and sulphur-coloured lakes make it a particularly auspicious place for religious tribute. The temples are small shrines built as monuments to the god-ancestors, rather than as a convenience to man.