Residents of Siwal village in Sukoharjo regency, Central Java, found a headless cow statue on Monday presumed to date back to the ancient Mataram era.
“Then I called some neighbours to [help] lift the statue because it was very heavy. We needed eight people to lift the statue,” Walidi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The statue is around 1m long, 45cm wide and 60cm tall.
Siwal village secretary Yusuf said ancient artefact collectors had attempted to locate the statue a few years ago. Some people dug in several locations across the village but to no avail, until the statue was unearthed on Monday.
“We will coordinate with the village chief and relevant institutions for the handling of this ancient object,” Yusuf said.
Sukoharjo cultural heritage analyst Bimo Kokor Wijanarko said the statue was assumed to be a relic of the Hindu Mataram kingdom. The statue depicts Lembu Andini, a sacred animal believed to be the carriage of Shiva, he added.
Bimo suspected the statue had been stolen before and then buried, because the head was missing.
“A lot of animal-shaped ancient relics were found headless. Maybe this is because the heads of statues are very valuable,” he said.
Author: Ganug Nugroho Adi | Source: The Jakarta Post [January 10, 2018]