Pawon Temple in Magelang, 1911

Photo: Jean Demmeni/Leiden University

In a straight line, there are three Buddhist temples built during the Syailendra dynasty, namely Borobudur, Pawon, and Mendut. There may be a purpose behind the arrangement of these temples.

Pawon in Javanese means kitchen, which is rooted from the word awu which means ash. It could be that this temple was used as a place to store the ashes of the kings of the Syailendra dynasty after they died before their spirits ascended to Borobudur, which is a larger temple complex.