Dr. I. GRONEMAN,
translated from the dutch by J. H.
Druk van H. A. BENJAMINS,
Semarang,
1912.
Preface.
When in 1896 I was obliged to retire from practice, on account of
sickness, I shortly after took up my residence at Jogyåkartå again in
order to devote myself to the antiquarian and ethnological studies dear
to me, and to which purpose I had to establish myself in the
neighbourhood of the principal Hindu ruins in Java, that is, in the
plain of _Parambanan_, and in the valley of _Prågå_ whereas I could not
rely on being assisted by the Dutch Government or whomsoever; I had
grown _too old_ under a system of Government who even refuse a professor
septuagenarian to follow his profession.
As for the Indian antiquities however, there are still many things to be
learned, not only because many a sculpture and symbolical ornament of
building has not yet been explained or, so to say, insufficiently
interpreted, but also because some of these images have been wrongly
understood and expounded. I therefore thought it my duty to have my
knowledge of them increased by a continued study of the antiquities
themselves, and by consulting such writings as I could dispose of with
my limited means.
I also would comply with other people’s wishes by giving a simple
description of the most interesting ruin in the village of _Mĕndut_
situated by the way-side to the _Båråbudur_, and mention the small
_tyanḍi Pawon_ lying in its neighbourhood.
And so I gathered all data for an up-to-date _fifth_ edition in behalf
of the continually increasing number of visitors who come to visit these
incomparable temples, which, in spite of expensive but insufficient
restoration, seem doomed to decay.
_G._
_Jogyårkartå 1906._
Having succeeded at last in finding a person from whose hand both the
editor and myself express a wish to see a good English translation of
this little book, I consequently completed and rewrote the former text
(1906-1907.).