Abstract
Meru has meaning as a symbol of Mount Mahameru, symbol of God and the universe that serves as a place of worship of the gods and ancestors. Meru is found in large temples in Bali, Indonesia with its trademark characteristic that the roof has a high overlapping reaching 10 meters or more with the number of roofs always odd so that Meru becomes a landmark in every temple in Bali. Meru is a very beautiful sacred building that was built based on the accuracy of proportions, the logic of construction techniques and the beauty of decoration, which holds fast to local wisdom based on Traditional Balinese Architecture. This study aims to explore the meaning and philosophy of Meru and why the construction of Meru as an earthquake resistant building. With a qualitative explorative study of primary data collection such as: surveys, observations and interviews and combined with secondary data in the form of old legacy writing, study shows that Meru not only has beauty as a sacred building but also is an earthquake-resistant building construction that has proven its reliability compared to other Hindu sacred buildings.
Highlights
Meru, Hindu, Sacred Building, Architecture, High Roof, Resistant, Earthquakes landmark in a temple in Bali [15] [16]
The Meaning of Meru as a Symbol of the Mountain, Worship of Gods and Ancestors which is the ceremony of the atman, and the last order of ceremony is the departure of the God of Pitara
The meaning of Meru, based on quotations listed in the lontar-ancestral heritage, as stated in the Lontar Andha Bhunana, explained that the symbolic meaning or philosophy of Meru comes from the word „me‟ means meme = mother = pradana tattwa, whereas „ru‟ means teacher = father = purusa tattwa, so that the Meru has the meaning batur keletak plot
Summary
Hindu, Sacred Building, Architecture, High Roof, Resistant, Earthquakes landmark in a temple in Bali [15] [16]. Meru is a very beautiful sacred building that is built based on the accuracy of proportions, the logic of construction techniques and the beauty of decoration, which holds fast to local wisdom of Balinese Traditional Architecture (Hasta Kosali Kosala, Hasta Bumi, Andha Buana Lontar, Lontar Jananthaka, etc) [23] [25] [42]. Meru construction is earthquake resistant construction that has proven its reliability compared to temple buildings or other forms. A very powerful earthquake with enormous power has ever happened in Bali (such as in Seririt District, Buleleng Regency in 1976), where many modern construction buildings have collapsed, but sacred buildings in Bali, especially Meru still stand firmly, strong, stable, and upright [19] [20] [43]. Understanding the power behind the local wisdom, this paper wants to explore the philosophy of Meru and why the construction of Meru as an earthquake resistant building
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