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Although most Indonesians know about the popular Borobudur and Prambanan temples, they might not be familiar with the unique Javanese-Hindu temples Sukuh and Cetho, despite the fact that both are also located in Central Java.

I visited Sukuh, a rare erotic temple, in the morning. Getting there from Solo took about an hour and a half by car. The temple was located in Sukuh village in Karanganyar district on the slope of Mount Lawu. On the jagged roads, I passed several small villages, but the temple was easy to find as the villagers were very familiar with it.

When I arrived at the temple complex, it was quiet. There were only a few visitors. Despite the bright sunlight, the air was cool. But I knew it could turn chilly as soon as the fog appeared.

The 5,500 square meter complex seemed carefully maintained, covered with clean, green grass. Since it was situated on an elevated area, in the distance I could see part of Karanganyar town about 20 kilometers away.

The structure of the temple, which was rediscovered in 1815 by Sir Thomas Raffles, was different from the others I had seen in Java.

According to Pak Sarjono, the temple guide, Sukuh temple was built in the 15th century during the Majapahit era when Queen Suhita was in power, making it one of the youngest Hindu temples in Java.

Sukuh faces west and has three open, terraced spaces, each with its own gate. The tallest part was trapezoid-shaped and located in the farthest part of the complex. And like other Hindu temples, that was the most sacred part.

The three terraces symbolize the human journey through life. The first terrace symbolizes for the bottom world, while the second represented the middle world and the third the upper world, the final phase of nirvana.

The thing visitors notice most is the erotic nature of the temple because throughout there are numerous, reliefs and statues depicting human organs, but Sarjono said the temple had more to offer.

“All of the temple’s art is about the phases of human life,” he said. “For example, how we should behave in life and how we educate our children.”

The gate to the first terrace yard is called the Paduraksa gate. On the bottom, a relief depicts the union of the lingga and the yoni, which represent the male and female human sex organs.

“The gate was closed in 1982 for technical reasons,” Sarjono said.

Indeed, the gate was now protected by a wooden fence. “The gate represents ‘sacredness,’” he added.

The union of the lingga and yoni is a symbol of fertility in Hinduism. The gate’s purpose was to ward off impurities of people who entered the temple. According to legend, if a non-virgin woman stepped on the relief, her kemben top would fall. This, however, would not happen to a virgin.

The first terrace symbolizes a profane and harsh world. The difficulty of human life is caused by mala (dirt), which exists in mind and soul.

The gate to the second terrace is broken and has been replaced with some newer-looking stones. The second terrace represents a semi-sacred world. Here, visitors are reminded that in order to shed the mala inside them, they must perform a purification ceremony with sacred water.

The third terrace, which symbolizes the sacred world, has artifacts and more reliefs. Being among the andesite rock structures, I felt a sense of energy and serenity.

I stopped to look at a big statue of a womb. It was not graphic at all, but instead a rendition of the microcosmic world. In Javanese philosophy, the microcosmic world resembles the macrocosmic world.

Another statue caught my eye: A decapitated man holding his erected phallus. Sarjono said it symbolized masculinity and physical power, with the phallus as the symbol of the creation of human beings.

I stood in front of the temple, between two flat turtle statues — the turtle is the symbol of the creation of universe — then walked up to the top of the temple. The steps were slanting and narrow, meant to symbolize the journey to the origin of life. People who have reached this phase have achieved nirvana.

The top of the temple was flat. I could see that some stones had been restored. Several offerings had been placed in the area, probably by Hindus who perform ceremonies here on certain occasion. From my elevated position, the view was amazing.

But I didn’t want to miss the other temple, Cetho, which was located nearby. So I continued on to Gumeng village in the Jenawi subdistrict, also in Karanganyar district.

The trip to Cetho temple was very enjoyable. I passed beautiful views of tea plantations in the valley, vegetables fields and villages passed along the way.

Cetho (Javanese for “clear”) also faces west and is situated about 1,400 meters above sea level. With more fog, the air carried a noticeable chill. Since the asphalted road to the temple itself was so steep, I had to go on foot.

Like Sukuh, the temple grounds at Cetho was lush with green grass and looked well-maintained. Cetho was constructed around the 15th century out of andesite rock. When it was excavated in 1928 by Dutch archaeologists, it was in ruins.

Unlike Sukuh, which had only three terraces, Cetho had 14, but renovation efforts have restored only nine of the levels. The renovation in 1970 has changed the original structure significantly with new additions including the big front gate, a columned pendopo pavilion for meditation, several statues on the seventh and eighth terrace and a new structure at the top.

Reaching the temple summit meant traversing a long, terraced alley that passed through several gates. The most eye-catching segment came on the third terrace, where visitors could see a big flat turtle and phallus reliefs embossed on the ground, which was meant to represent the creation of the universe and human beings.

At the top there was no fog, and I was rewarded with a breathtaking view.

Like Sukuh, Cetho is still used by Hindus for ceremonies. Visiting both was like looking back into ancient Javanese times, where symbols speak out loud.