ABSTRACT
Muarajambi is an archaeological site that had experienced numerous events of archaeological ruins in the period of 9th–12th century AD. The structural ruins at this site showed the influence of Buddhism on both the layout and art in the structures, buildings and sculptures. On the basis of the influence of Buddhism on these premises, this site was considered a Buddhist archaeological site. This claim was supported by the latest theory, according to which the Muarajambi archaeological site was a Mahavihara, that is, a Buddhist teaching centre in Nusantara. The theory was developed on the basis of the archaeological ruins and the historical information collected from the journals written by I-Tsing in the 7th Century AD. I-Tsing was a Buddhist monk who travelled from China to India and lived in Muarajambi for 6 months. Thus, we can assume that the greater area of the Muarajambi site was also populated by quite a number of people and, therefore, it required some type of water resource to support the activities taking place inside the Mahavihara. The hypothesis that the site was located near a water resource could be true because of the presence of a river watershed near the site. In addition, there were traces of water channels, ponds and reservoirs on the site, all of which were likely built by the monks who lived there in the past.
