Relics from Hindu temples as old as eighth century from central Java have passed into the hands of privates collectors mainly due to ignorance and official apathy. People of the village sold these relics thinking as old stone in the 80s. Some of the pillars were used by locals to build their houses.
Jakarta Post reports
During the independence struggle of the 1940s, many temple ruins could be found in the area between Paren hamlet to Sekere Hill in Sidomulyo, Sukirman said.
"We considered them to be just temple ruins and of no value, except as black rocks. The government also didn't take care of them," he said.
As the area became more densely populated, nearly all the temple ruins were tampered with or damaged, and a number of intact statues were bought by middlemen and antique collectors.
What remains are mostly small fragments, such as a statue of a dragon and a turtle, believed to be remnants of the Syiwa temple from the Kalingga kingdom.