| Abstract: |
The last decade of the Majapahit period left behind three kinds of sacred sites: terraced sanctuaries, sacred bathing places (patīrthān), and meditation caves (gua pertapaan). Many of the terraced sanctuaries are found on slopes of mountains, for instance on the slope of Mount Penanggungan, Mount Sukuh, Mount Wilis, Mount Arjuna, and Mount Lawu. According to some opinions these terraced sanctuaries were used for the worship of ancestors. From the author's previous study it appears that these terraced sanctuaries were used by the ṛṣis to worship Paramaśiwa who was thought to dwell on the peak of the mountain. The term ṛṣi is found in Airlangga's inscriptions. In written sources from the Majapahit period ṛṣis are mentioned together with other kinds of priests, sometimes in a group of three (tripaksa), ṛṣii-śaiwa-sogata, or a fourfold grouping (caturdwija), rsi-śaiwa-sogata-mahābrāhmana. In Java there are two types of ṛṣis: the mythical figures such as Narada, Bharadwaja, Marichi, Pulastya
and people who had reached the level of wānaprastha and sannyāsin, who retreated into the wilderness and other isolated places to practice asceticism and find the way to redemption (moksa, kalĕpasan). They had their own sacred places which are generally called karĕsyan, patapan, or wanāśrama. Among the wanāśramas there was a religious institute known as kadewaguruan which is also called mandala. The rsi's religion was a mixture of Javanese/Balinese Śaiwasiddhānta and folk beliefs. They worshiped Paramaśiva who was thought to live on top of mountains in antar pūjā. For this reason no images or emblems of deities were found on the altars of the terraced sanctuaries.
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