The Shady Place of the Church of Puhsarang

An area of 13.5 acres as a place of worship for Catholics and Christians who visited before the celebration of Christmas day, the Church of Puhsarang has been known for its ancient reliefs buildings church with Europe and Javanese nuanced.

This area became crowded with tourists visiting from the various religions and no longer just a place of worship and pilgrimage for the followers of Christianity, but became the natural attractions with the environment around the Cave of Maria Lourdes that offers the elegance and beauty scenery.

There are churches in this region, was founded at the initiative of Fr Jan Wolters CM with the help of famed architect Henri Maclaine Pont on June 11, 1936 with the beauty of Javanese architecture carved in the church building, while Romo Wolters provide in-depth understanding of the meaning of the spirit of a church building with a lot of symbolism to catechesis of the Catholic faith.

From a distance the church buildings of Puhsarang looks like a boat stuck on a building-like mountain. Buildings like mountain symbolize or depict Mount Ararat where Noah's ark boat was stranded after the flood.

Tourists visiting the church region can enter the Cave of Maria Lourdes and saw the Statue of Virgin Mary which is a duplicate of the statue at Lourdes, France with the height reached 3.5 meters, then the ancient ornament replica of the Cross with 15 symbols trip of Jesus punishment by Pontius Pilate and the Rosario hut.

"The uniqueness of this church lies not only in combination with reliefs of ancient European architecture and its ancient Hindu-Javanese, but also in one location there is a Cave of Maria Lourdes and the statue of the Virgin Mary is said to be the largest in Asia," said Lasio, a tour guide of the Church of Puhsarang area.

Cool region at the foot of Mount Wilis, Puh Sarang Village, Semen, Kediri, East Java increasingly crowded with visitors from different places and countries, like Holland and Germany, enjoying a religious tourist trip back to the past time.

The smell of freshness and peace was felt while visiting the Church of Puhsarang, an oasis, especially for the tourists to see the different religions together to enjoy its natural shade.

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(Various sources /Images Kediri East-Java)