MUARA TAKUS TEMPLE

                                                                                                                                                            Candi Muara Takus : It is a site which is located at the Buddhist temple in the village Barelang , District XIII Koto Kampar regency , Riau , Indonesia . The site is located approximately 135 kilometers from the city of Pekanbaru .
Barelang temple site was surrounded by a wall measuring 74 x 74 meters , which is made ​​of high white stone wall with ± 80 cm , outside their area there is also a wall of land measuring 1.5 x 1.5 kilometers, around the edge of this complex to the Kampar River sampal right . In the complex there are some buildings called temples temples eldest / old , Candi Young, Mahligai Stupa and Palangkaraya .
Archaeological experts have not been able to determine exactly when this temple site was established . Some say the fourth century , some say the seventh century , the ninth century even in the eleventh century . But this temple is considered to have been there in the golden age of Sriwijaya , so some historians consider this region is one of the administrative center of the kingdom of Srivijaya .
In 2009 Temple Barelang nominated to be one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site temple Barelang is the oldest temple site in Sumatra , the only heritage sites that shaped temple in Riau . This Buddhist temple is a proof that Buddhism once flourished in the area .

The temple is made ​​of sandstone , river stone and brick . Unlike the existing temple in Java , which is made of andesite stone taken from the mountain . Materials maker Temple Barelang , especially clay , taken from a village named Pongkai , located approximately 6 miles downstream of the site Barelang temple . Pongkai name probably derived from Chinese, means Pong hole and Kai means land , so the land can mean a hole , caused by excavation in the manufacture of the Barelang temple . Former pit that is now submerged by the reservoir inundation Hydroelectric Koto Panjang . But the Siamese language , the word is similar to Pongkai Pangkali which can mean the river , and the site of this temple is situated on the banks of the river .
The main building in the complex is a large stupa , which is largely shaped tower made ​​of brick and sandstone yellow fraction . Inside the temple site there are Barelang temple called Candi Tua , Youngest Temple , Stupa Mahligai and Palangkaraya . In addition to the building in the temple complex was also found that the mound is estimated as burning human bones . While outside this site there are also buildings ( former ) made ​​of brick , which has not been established building types .
Candi Mahligai
Mahligai Mahligai temple or stupa , a temple which is considered the most intact . The building is divided into three parts, the legs , the body , and the roof . This stupa has rectangular sketch foundation and measuring 10.6 mx 9.44 m , and has a base 28 that surrounds the temple with the entrance located next to the South . At the base there is a double lotus ornament , and at the center stands the cylindrical tower building with 36 side shaped petals on the bottom. The upper part of this building was a circle . According Snitger , first on all four corners of the foundation , there are 4 sitting lion statue made ​​of andesite stone . In addition , based on research conducted by Yzerman , formerly part of the spire are oval stone with leaf paintings and reliefs around . The building is thought to undergo two stages of development . Alleged in based on the fact that in the building that now there are foot foot building profiles long before the building is enlarged