Watugudig, King Boko’s Resting Place

The Watugudig site is located 2km to the south of the Prambanan, at the Watugudig hamlet, village of Bokoharjo, Prambanan district. To reach it, turn right (south) at the Prambanan junction on the Jogjakarta-Solo highway, going to the direction of Piyungan for 2km. At the foot of the hill of Ratu Boko there is a litte road turning right with signpost indicating the site. The location is 50m from the road.

Watugudig is a group of umpak or pole sitting with variuos dimensions, the largest being 80cm in diameter. This group of umpaks is made of andesite rocks, scaterred on an area of about 200m sq. The form of umpak is like a Javanese gong, with a protruding part in the middle. There are about 40 umpaks, and it is thought that there are still many others burried.
From the spreading of the umpaks, it is likely that the place was a pendopo (hall) with wooden pillar and roof, which are now vanished. Fro the similarty of pattern on the umpaks found in near locations, these are believed to date from the VIIIth-IXth century, at the epoch of the Ratu Boko palace.

Watugudig means “wound stones”, reffering to the stones’ abscess-resembling appearance. The locals believe that they are the ruins of a resting place for the King Boko of the nearby palace.

Source: Situs-Situs Marjinal Jogja (Sanctuaires Retrouvés/ Sites Out of Sight) - M. Rizky Sasono, Jean-Pascal Elbaz, Agung 'Leak' Kurniawan (Enrique indonesia, Yogyakarta: 1997).