| Abstract: |
Due to their fine sculpture and lush setting, the bathing places of East Java and Bali have long attracted the interest of scholars and travellers alike. Today, Belahan, Jolotundo and Goa Gajah count among the most famous archaeological sites of the Indonesian archipelago. In this paper, I want to bring to mind the existence of similar vestiges in Central Java. I would also like to underling that, since decorated bathing places are unknown in India but constitute a common building type in East Javanese architecture, their existence in Central Java shows the continuity existing between the arts of Central and East Java, the divergences between which have so often been overemphasized. In the following pages I propose to survey and describe briefly the bathing places of Central Java, both extant and lost, to analyse their similarities and differences, and to advance hypotheses about their significance and function.
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