Prambanan

We also recently visited another ancient temple complex near Jogja--this time a Hindu one called Prambanan, also built in the 9th century. How the Buddhist temple of Borobudur and the Hindu temple of Prambanan get built so close together at about the same time? One possible explanation is that there was a marriage in the ruling classes around that time between a Hindu and Buddhist line.

As Islam begin to spread through Java between 1200 and 1500, both temples were abandoned. Local stories about the temples changed their tone from admiration to fearful superstition. Perhaps it's unsurprising that ancient abandoned temples in the jungle would seem scary. Visiting or even seeing the temples was supposed to cause many ill-effects. When the nearby volcano Mt Merapi erupted in the 16th century, destroying much of both temples, there was no one left interested to repair them until they were re-discovered by westerners in the early 20th century.

Borobudur was re-constructed between 1907 and 1911, while Prambanan's took 35 years, between 1918 and 1953. Why? One reason is that Borobudur was built on bedrock and is wider than it is tall. Prambanan's main temple, however, stands 150ft tall, and was constructed with interlocking stones so they could build it without the aide of concrete, using only gravity to hold it together.

Like Borobudur, Prambanan has many bas relief panels depicting stories from scripture. Prambanan's include panels depicting parts of the Ramayana (the same story about Rama that we saw enacted in Bali), and parts of the Krishnarama (which tells the story of lord Krishna). One of the common re-occuring motives is the tree of life, guarded by two birds (often depicted with eagle or human heads). This motive occurs hundreds of times throughout the temple complex.

In the innermost area of the complex are the three main temples for the gods Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the keeper), and the largest temple for Shiva (the destroyer). Across from each temple is a small shrine containing each god's major mode of transport. Across the from the Shiva temple, for example, is a shrine containing a statue of Ananda, Shiva's bull.

In its original design, there were 224 smaller towers surrounding the innermost area whose original sites are depicted here.

Unfortunately most where destroyed and only very few have been rebuilt. Many of the original stones are missing as they had been carried off and used in other building sites. Even the smaller shrines were ornate towers over 30ft tall, however. I can only imagine what it must have been like originally. Here is a shot of Jen amongst the contemporary ruins.