SEAToday.com, Jakarta - The Puhsarang Church in Puhsarang Village, Semen Subdistrict, Kediri District, East Java, has been officially designated as a national cultural heritage by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek).

Head of the History and Antiquities Division of the Kediri District Tourism and Culture Office Eko Priatno explained that the designation of the Puhsarang Church as a national cultural heritage is part of an effort that began in 2019.

"We were invited by the Ministry of Culture's Directorate of Cultural Protection regarding the determination of national-level cultural heritage. There are three locations that are actually targeted for determination, the first is the Puhsarang Church, the second is the Kelud Mountain Mitigation Tunnel, and the third is the Totok Kerot Site, but the decision is that the Puhsarang Church is designated as a national level cultural heritage in the field of structure," said Eko Priatno in Kediri, Sunday, 25 August 2024, as reported by Antara.

Quoted from the page of Disbudpar Prov. East Java - Division of Cultural and Historical Heritage, the Santa Maria Puhsarang Catholic Church complex is part of the missionary work of priests from the Lazaristen congregation as a 'pos missi' (hope of Father Wolters), initiated by Father H. Wolters CM. G.

The church, which was built in 1936-1937, then functioned as a Catholic mission post in Puhsarang, Kediri. Currently, the Church of Santa Maria Puhsarang is part of the Kediri City Parish area in the Surabaya Keusukupan region.

The architect of Santa Maria Puhsarang Catholic Church is Henricus Maclaine Pont who also handled the construction of Trowulan Museum, Mojokerto. During his lifetime Maclaine Pont only built 17 architectural projects (Norbruis, 2022).

The Church of Santa Maria Puhsarang has a unique architectural form and its building materials use local touches and use local materials. Henricus Maclaine Pont also incorporated elements of Javanese culture, Batak-Karo culture, and Hindu-Buddhist elements.

These nuances are combined and adjusted to the architectural concept of a Catholic church building, resulting in a unique building. The combination of various concepts of space and form, both local and western (European), makes Henricus Maclaine Pont's work one of the great architectural works that holds the importance of local elements for a work of architecture.