Rewriting prehistory with the Javanese pyramid of Gunung Padang
– our article in Nexus Magazine
One of the most stunning revelations of archaeology in the last decade is the existence of an enormous pyramidal structure in Java Indonesia called Gunung Padang – which means in the local Sundanese language ‘Mountain of Light’. We are very pleased to have our 8 page article about our journey to Gunung Padang in the April/May edition of Nexus Magazine, and also to be presenting at the Nexus Conference in June!
If you do not have a copy of the Nexus article you can read the first two pages of it here, and we will soon be publishing an extended version with many more full color illustrations. As you may have noted from the popup we are offering a free digital copy of the book when it is released in return for joining as a free member of our site so that we can keep in touch 🙂 If you have not seen the popup offer you can access it through the button on the right labelled ‘Join or Login Here’.
This page shares information that was not included in the article due to space restrictions, and also to provide links to important references and related information. We also present here the best Gunung Padang videos we have found online, and posts from a related FB page with latest news etc.
A Quick Recap of Basic Gunung Padang Facts ~
The site was (re)discovered by respected Indonesian geologist Danny Hilman Natawidjaja who earned his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 2003. Danny very generously gave us an extensive presentation he created showing all the scientific evidence and updating us with what is now known about Gunung Padang. And then the next day he showed us around the site for many hours. We all felt very grateful that the mystery of Gunung Padang is in the care of a sincere and spiritually minded scientist!
Why is Gunung Padang so important?
What makes this site so exciting is the claim that it is at least as old as Gobekli Tepe in Turkey which is accepted as being the most ancient temple in the world at 12,000 years old. The site is constructed in at least 3 layers. The most recent layer is thought to be around 4,800 thousand years old, and according to carbon dating of the core samples that have been drilled the oldest layer is possibly 28,000 years old ! It would totally rewrite pre-history to accept that in Indonesia a pyramid of this size was constructed at even 12,000 years BP, making it more than twice as old as the officially accepted dates of the Egyptian pyramids.
Gunung Padang is 4 to 5 hours drive SW of Bandung, which is the third largest city in Indonesia.
Links to important web references and related information (will open in new window)
- Good article with lots of photos of GP
- Latest on Graham Hancock’s site about GP
- Great article by Robert Schoch about his visit to GP
- Sydney Morning Herald article about GP
- Andrew Collins (from Megalithomania) article about GP
Our visit to Gunung Padang
We visited the site in September 2015. Perhaps the biggest revelation, to me at least, was that the site can only be understood in the context of Sundaland, the name for the sunken continent sized landmass that was only submerged in the last 10,000 years. Sundaland included the western Indonesian islands and a vast plain and inland sea. There are many (including Danny Natawijaja) who believe that not only was there an advanced civilization in Sundaland, but that (despite its southern Asian location) it is the best match we have for Plato’s description of Atlantis
Heres a slideshow of our journey to this beautiful, powerful, and profoundly mysterious place.
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Videos about Gunung Padang
Below you will find some videos and links to the best info about Gunung Padang that I have come across so far –
my favourites first …
Robert Schoch geologist interview – 58min
Megalithomania visits Gunung Padang – 8min
Pre flood mapping of the Sundaland subcontinent – 500 year increments of sea level rise
Maritime undersea thoughts about Java Sea – 6min
Indonesian documentary on Gunung Padang, some interesting images – 23min
Conference with Andrew Colling from Megalithomania speaking at 32min into the video
From the Gunung Padang Facebook page
Here are some recent Facebook posts from our page about Gunung Padang. For more Gunung Padang posts click here
