REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MAGELANG -- The District Administration of Magelang, Central Java province, has begun collecting and registering some 400 ancient artifacts scattered across regions in the district.

These regions are known to be the locations of several famous temples, including the Borobudur Temple.

"Some ancient artifacts, such as yonis, linggas, nandis, and padmasanas, as well as ruins of temples, were found," a technical staff member of the Division of Ancient History of the Culture and Tourism Office of Magelang, Lilik Eko K., said here on Tuesday.

The administration has excavated a few yonis from several rice fields and plantations owned by locals in Banyuwangi village, Bandongan sub-district, of Magelang.

While a yoni is a cubical artifact with a square hole in the center and is the symbol of the female genitalia, a lingga is the symbol of the male genitalia.

Relics of six yonis and two umpaks, or pedestals, from the Hindunese Era of the seventh and eighth centuries were found.

The yoni was used by Hindunese people in rituals. In 1980's, some nandis, or statues of the bull, were also found in the region and secured by the office.

To prevent causing damage to these relics, the authority will collect the historical artifacts and unearth those buried in several locations.

"Finding a yoni in a region tells us that it was densely populated in ancient times. A yoni is usually found around a temple. Therefore, as we have found six yonis, we might find six temples," Eko pointed out.

However, the artifacts found were kept in the village hall because relics of those kinds were abundant in number and the government did not need to keep them in museums.

"We might keep those artifacts on display so students can learn about them," he noted.

The district of Magelang is famous for its Buddhist temple of Borobudur from the ninth century, as well as for several other temples scattered across the region.

The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 statues of Buddha.

The Buddhist temple has the world's largest main dome at the center of the top platform. It is surrounded by 72 statues of Buddha, each of which is placed inside a perforated stupa.

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