CAMPUS TOUR: MEETING THE UNEARTHED TEMPLE AT UII

Friday, January 11 (afternoon)

After we had our lunch, our buddies toured us in UII campus. However, the highlight of this tour is when we went to their 3-story library called Gedung Mohammad Hatta. What I found unusual in the structure of the building is its shape. It looks like letter U. As we get nearer and nearer the building, I now get the answer to my question. There is a temple dated back hundreds of years ago unearthed at the supposed to be the center of the building.

Kimpulan Temple is a Hinduist temple unearthed during the construction of the Mohammad Hatta Library on 2010. Surprised by this discovery, the engineers decided to avoid the area that is the reason why the building shape’s like U. It truly shows how UII and Indonesian government gave importance to their heritage and culture. They are willing to adjust their plans just to restore and preserve it.

The unearthed Kimpulan Temple at the center of Mohammad Hatta Library.

Well, the temple clearly depicts the rich culture and the faith of people once worship here. Actually, the library has a museum where replicas of the artifacts were exhibited. Today, people at UII believed they are more temples hidden in their campus just waiting to be discovered.