A Sacred Legacy: Current Interpretation of Natural Landscape Modification on Mount Penanggungan, East Java, in the 9th-15th CE and Its Relevance to Cultural Heritage Management

Citra Iqliyah Darojah1*, Agra Bayu Rahadi2, Larsito Daru Prakoso2, Ahmad Surya Ramadhan2, Anglir Bawono2, Reidika Haris Banu Niksa2, Muhammad Firman Taufiq2, Unggul Satrio Wicaksono2, and Candrika Ilham Wijaya2

The mountain has long been perceived as a natural landscape that amused and inspired humans. Since the beginning of Megalithic culture, ancient people have marked the highlands, hills and mountains as part of their cultural landscape. Particularly in Java, the concept of sacred mountain is closely related to Indian influence. The concept of higher places as ancestral dwellings intertwined the pre-Indian culture, so-called megalithic, with the Indian concept of mandala. Mount Penanggungan granted its title as Pawitra, means ‘holy’, ‘sacred’ and ‘purifying’ in Sanskrit. Archaeological objects such as a modest stone altar to the secluded hermitage cave to the unique terraced temple. First recorded by W.F. Stutterheim (1936-1939) and then studied by Lydia Kieven (1996-present), it is considered one of the most researched archaeological sites in East Java. Recently, an attempt at a collaborative project between Indonesia and France applied LiDAR to map the area. This paper aims to explain the interpretation and the relevance of Mount Penanggungan as sacred landscape based on ground surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, and literature reviews conducted in 2025. It shows that the mountain gains its popularity amidst vulnerability status. While its natural setting plays a role as organic protection, the development and utilisation of the sites as hiking tracks as well as pilgrimage routes gradually break the barriers. Thus, the stakeholders and site managers proposed a management plan to ensure the stability and sustainability of Mount Penanggungan as an archaeological site.