Skip to main content

Kewu Plain

The Kewu Plain or Prambanan Plain is a fertile volcanic plain stretching between the southern slopes of Mount Merapi and north-west of the Sewu Mountains. This plain is now included in Sleman Regency in Yogyakarta Province and Klaten Regency in Central Java Province, Indonesia.

The Kewu Plain was the seat of the Medang Empire during the 8th century AD to the 10th century AD and the Mataram Sultanate in the 16th century AD. For more than a thousand years this region played an important role in the history of ancient Indonesia and had many important historical relics.

Dlium Kewu Plain

If each temple is counted, the Javanese period in the 9th century has produced thousands of Hindu and Buddhist temples spread from the Dieng Plateau, Kedu Plain, to the Kewu Plain in the early history of Indonesia.

The area is very rich in monuments where many archeological sites are only a few kilometers away, even some Hindu and Buddhist sites are only a few meters away. The Prambanan Plain is the center of important political, religious, social and urban life in the history of civilization in Indonesia.

The Kewu Plain has been shadowed for centuries by Mount Merapi, which is known as a fertile agricultural land and is very good for rice plants. The Javanese economy was heavily dependent on rice farming and ancient Javanese political institutions with organized political, social and economic systems had grown and developed based on this plain.

Pictures of rice farming activities are found in relief carvings in Borobudur and Prambanan. The kingdom of Medang depends on the rice harvest and the tax on rice drawn from its people and ultimately rice farming plays a role in the rapid growth of the population on the island of Java.

Archaeological sites

Ganesha statue, Gupolo statue, Banyunibo, Barong, Bubrah, Dawangsari, Dharma Shanti, Gebang, Ijo, Kalasan, Kedulan, Lumbung, Miri, Morangan, Plaosan Lor and Plaosan Kidul, Prambanan, Pustakasala, Ratu Boko, Sari, Sewu, Sambisari, Sojiwan, Watu Gudig.

Cultural tradition

Rose in graveyard

Flora

Blue porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis), Broad-leaved paperbark (Melaleuca quinquenervia), Cajuput (Melaleuca cajuputi), Candle bush (Senna alata), Crêpe ginger (Cheilocostus speciosus), Crown flower (Calotropis gigantea), Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius), Flamboyant (Delonix regia), Flame lily (Gloriosa superba), Frangipani (Plumeria rubra)

Gadis perindu (Sphagneticola calendulacea), Giant sensitive plant (Mimosa diplotricha), Giant sensitive tree (Mimosa pigra), Golden bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris vittata), Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia), Kenikir (Cosmos caudatus), Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), Minnieroot (Ruellia tuberosa), Marigold (Tagetes erecta)

Red cotton tree (Bombax ceiba), Rougeplant (Rivina humilis), Sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica), Sonosiso (Dalbergia sissoo), Streaked rattlepod (Crotalaria pallida), Small-leaved mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), Talok (Muntingia calabura), Teak (Tectona grandis), Turi (Sesbania grandiflora), Umbelanterna (Lantana camara)

Fauna

Asiatic rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinocerus), Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis), Chocolate grass yellow (Eurema sari), Common tree frog (Polypedates leucomystax), Eastern great egret (Ardea alba modesta), Giant Asian mantis (Hierodula patellifera), Golden tortoise beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata), Great eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina), Green marsh hawk (Orthetrum sabina), Javan pond heron (Ardeola speciosa)

Javanese grasshopper (Valanga nigricornis), Kangkang (Anoplocnemis phasianus), Kangkang gunung (Prionolomia heros), Kismo bee (Xylocopa aestuans), Lesser banded hornet (Vespa affinis), Little egret (Egretta garzetta), Maned forest lizard (Bronchocela jubata), Scaly-breasted munia (Lonchura punctulata), Scarlet skimmer (Crocothemis servilia), Sooty headed bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster) (Pycnonotus aurigaster)

Spotted tortoise beetle (Aspidimorpha miliaris), Striped albatross (Appias libythea), Sweetpotato bug (Physomerus grossipes), Yellow garden spider (Argiope appensa).

Popular Posts

Purhepecha oak (Quercus purhepecha), new species of shrub oak endemic to the state of Michoacán, Mexico

NEWS - In Mexico, several Quercus shrubby species are taxonomically very problematic including 8 taxa with similar characteristics. Now researchers report the purhepecha oak ( Quercus purhepecha De Luna-Bonilla, S. Valencia & Coombes sp. nov.) as a new tomentose shrubby white oak species with a distribution only in the Cuitzeo basin in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB). Quercus Linnaeus (1753) subdivided into 2 subgenera and 8 sections of which section Quercus (white oaks) has the widest distribution in the Americas, Asia and Europe. This section is very diverse in Mexico and Central America with phylogenomic evidence indicating recent and accelerated speciation in these regions. The number of shrubby oak species in Mexico is still uncertain. De Luna-Bonilla of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and colleagues found at least 3 taxa in the TMVB, specifically Quercus frutex Trelease (1924), Quercus microphylla Née (1801) and Quercus repanda Bonpland (1809). In 2016,...

Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar (Amanita javanica)

OPINION - Javan mocca or Javan slender caesar ( Amanita javanica ) is a mysterious fungus species and has been enigmatic since it was first reported by Boedijn in 1951 and after that no explanation or reporting of specimens is believed to be the same as expected. Boedijn (1951) described A. javanica which grew on Java island as having the characteristics covered in the Amanita genus. Corner and Bas in 1962 tried to describe Javan mocca and all species in Amanita based on specimens in Singapore. Over time some reports say that they have found A. javanica specimens in other Southeast Asia including also China, Japan, India and Nepal. But there is no definitive knowledge and many doubt whether the specimen is the same as described by Boedijn (1951). I was fortunate to have seen this species one afternoon and soon I took out a camera for some shots. In fact, I've only met this mushroom species once. Javan mocca is an endangered species and I have never seen in my experience in...

Lesser banded hornet (Vespa affinis)

Tawon ndas or lesser banded hornet ( Vespa affinis ) are medium wasps with queens up to 30mm, males 26mm and average workers 22-25mm. The head is dark red, brown and black. Segmented stomachs are dark brown except the first and second segments are yellowish orange to brown. V. affinis has at least 10 subspecies with different color variations is V. a. alduini , V. a. alticincta , V. a. archiboldi , V. a. continentalis , V. a. hainensis , V. a. indosinensis , V. a. moluccana , V. a. nigriventris , V. a. picea and V. a. rufonigrans . Tawon ndas forages in grassy areas, farmland, forests and deserts. They eat carbohydrates such as tree sap, nectar and fruit, while proteins such as larvae, carrion, paper wasps (Polistinae) and bees (Apidae). These insects often carry meat from new dead animals and flies that perch on the carcass. Nests are built on trees and people's homes. Nests are generally elongated or pear in the tropics and oval with rounded tops in subtropical regions. ...