Candi Prambanan or Candi Rara Jonggrang is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Central Java, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Shiva). The temple compound is located approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of the city of Yogyakarta on the boundary between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces.
The temple compound, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia, and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia. It is characterized by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the towering 47-metre-high (154 ft) central building inside a large complex of individual temples. Prambanan attracts many visitors from across the world.
The Prambanan temple compound amid the morning mist.
Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple of ancient Java, and the construction of this royal temple was probably started by Rakai Pikatan as the Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty's answer to the Buddhist Sailendra Dynasty's Borobudur and Sewu
temples nearby. Historians suggest that the construction of Prambanan
probably was meant to mark the return of the Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty to
power in Central Java after almost a century of Buddhist Sailendra
Dynasty domination. Nevertheless, the construction of this massive Hindu
temple signifies that the Medang court had shifted the focus of its patronage from Mahayana Buddhism to Shivaist Hinduism.
A temple was first built at the site around 850 CE by Rakai Pikatan and expanded extensively by King Lokapala and Balitung Maha Sambu the Sanjaya king of the Mataram Kingdom. According to the Shivagrha inscription of 856 CE, the temple was built to honor Lord Shiva and its original name was Shiva-grha (the House of Shiva) or Shiva-laya (the Realm of Shiva). According to Shivagrha inscription, a public water project to change the course of a river near Shivagrha Temple was conducted during the construction of the temple. The river, identified as the Opak River, now runs north to south on the western side of the Prambanan temple compound. Historians suggest that originally the river was curved further to east and was deemed too near to the main temple. The project was done by cutting the river along a north to south axis along the outer wall of the Shivagrha Temple compound. The former river course was filled in and made level to create a wider space for the temple expansion, the space for rows of pervara (complementary) temples.
Some archaeologists propose that the statue of Shiva in the garbhagriha (central chamber) of the main temple was modelled after King Balitung, serving as a depiction of his deified self after death. The present name Prambanan, was derived from the name of Prambanan village where the temple stood, this name probably being the corrupted Javanese pronunciation of "Para Brahman" ("The Supreme Brahman").
The temple compound was expanded by successive Mataram kings such as Daksa and Tulodong with the addition of hundreds of perwara temples around the chief temple. Prambanan served as the royal temple of the Kingdom of Mataram, with most of the state's religious ceremonies and sacrifices being conducted there. At the height of kingdom, scholars estimate that hundreds of brahmins with their disciples lived within the outer wall of the temple compound. The urban center and the court of Mataram were located nearby, somewhere in the Prambanan Plain.
The temples themselves collapsed during a major earthquake in the 16th century. Although the temple ceased to be an important center of worship, the ruins scattered around the area were still recognizable and known to the local Javanese people in later times. The statues and the ruins become the theme and the inspiration for the Loro Jonggrang folktale. After the division of Mataram Sultanate in 1755, the temple ruins and the Opak River were used to demarcate the boundary between Yogyakarta and Surakarta (Solo) Sultanates.
The ruins of Prambanan soon after their rediscovery.
The Javanese locals in the surrounding villages were aware of the
temple's existence already before rediscovery. However, they didn't know
about its historical background: which kingdoms ruled or which king
commissioned the construction of the monuments. As a result, the locals
developed tales and legends trying to explain the origin of temples,
infused with myths of giants, a cursed princess, and thus gave Prambanan
and Sewu a wondorous origin said to be created by multitude of demons
under the order of Bandung Bondowoso, according to Loro Jonggrang legend.
The temple officially caught the international attention in early 19th century. In 1811 during Britain’s short-lived rule of the Dutch East Indies, Colin Mackenzie, a surveyor in the service of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, came upon the temples by chance. Although Sir Thomas subsequently commissioned a full survey of the ruins, they remained neglected for decades, with Dutch residents carting off sculptures as garden ornaments and native villagers using the foundation stones for construction material.
Half-hearted excavations by archaeologists in the 1880s merely facilitated looting. Reconstruction of the compound began in 1918, and proper restoration only in 1930. Efforts at restoration continue to this day. The reconstruction of the main Shiva temple was completed around 1953 and inaugurated by Sukarno. Since much of the original stonework has been stolen and reused at remote construction sites, restoration was hampered considerably. Shrines were only rebuilt if at least 75% of their original masonry was available. Most of the smaller shrines are therefore now only visible in their foundations, with no plans for their reconstruction existing.
Ramayana dance performance in Prambanan.
Prambanan nightview from the Trimurti open-air stage.
In the early 1990s the government removed the market that had sprung
up near the temple and transformed the surrounding villages and rice
paddies into an archaeological park. The park covers a large area, from
Yogyakarta-Solo main road in the south, encompassing the whole Prambanan
complex, the ruins of Lumbung and Bubrah temples, and as far as the
Sewu temple compound in the north. In 1992 the Indonesian government
created a State-owned Limited Liability Enterprise (PERSERO) of PT Taman
Wisata Candi Borobudur, Prambanan, dan Ratu Boko. This enterprise is
the authority for the park management of Borobudur Prambanan Ratu Boko
and the surrounding region. Prambanan is one of the most visited tourist
attraction in Indonesia.
The open-air and indoor stages on the west side of the temple right across the Opak river, were built to stage the Ramayana ballet. This traditional Javanese dance is the centuries old dance of the Javanese court, performed every full moon night in the Prambanan temple since the 1960s. Since then, Prambanan has become one of the major archaeological and cultural tourism attractions in Indonesia.
After the reconstruction of the main temples in 1990s, Prambanan once again reclaim its status as an important religious center for Hindu rituals and ceremonies in Java. The religious significance revival of Prambanan was due to Balinese and Javanese Hindu communities in Yogyakarta and Central Java that annually perform their sacred ceremonies in Prambanan, such as Galungan, Tawur Kesanga, and Nyepi.
The temple was damaged during the May 2006 Java earthquake. Early photos suggested that although the complex was structurally intact, the damage was significant. Large pieces of debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground. The temple was closed to visitors until the damage could be fully assessed. Eventually, the head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency stated that it would take months to identify the precise extent of the damage. However, some weeks later in 2006 the site was re-opened for visitors. In 2008, 856,029 Indonesian visitors and 114,951 foreign visitors has visited Prambanan. In 6 January 2009 the reconstruction of Nandi temple finished. As of 2009, the interior of most of the temples remains off-limits for safety reasons
The temple compound, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia, and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia. It is characterized by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the towering 47-metre-high (154 ft) central building inside a large complex of individual temples. Prambanan attracts many visitors from across the world.
History
Construction
A temple was first built at the site around 850 CE by Rakai Pikatan and expanded extensively by King Lokapala and Balitung Maha Sambu the Sanjaya king of the Mataram Kingdom. According to the Shivagrha inscription of 856 CE, the temple was built to honor Lord Shiva and its original name was Shiva-grha (the House of Shiva) or Shiva-laya (the Realm of Shiva). According to Shivagrha inscription, a public water project to change the course of a river near Shivagrha Temple was conducted during the construction of the temple. The river, identified as the Opak River, now runs north to south on the western side of the Prambanan temple compound. Historians suggest that originally the river was curved further to east and was deemed too near to the main temple. The project was done by cutting the river along a north to south axis along the outer wall of the Shivagrha Temple compound. The former river course was filled in and made level to create a wider space for the temple expansion, the space for rows of pervara (complementary) temples.
Some archaeologists propose that the statue of Shiva in the garbhagriha (central chamber) of the main temple was modelled after King Balitung, serving as a depiction of his deified self after death. The present name Prambanan, was derived from the name of Prambanan village where the temple stood, this name probably being the corrupted Javanese pronunciation of "Para Brahman" ("The Supreme Brahman").
The temple compound was expanded by successive Mataram kings such as Daksa and Tulodong with the addition of hundreds of perwara temples around the chief temple. Prambanan served as the royal temple of the Kingdom of Mataram, with most of the state's religious ceremonies and sacrifices being conducted there. At the height of kingdom, scholars estimate that hundreds of brahmins with their disciples lived within the outer wall of the temple compound. The urban center and the court of Mataram were located nearby, somewhere in the Prambanan Plain.
Abandonment
In the 930s, the court was shifted to East Java by Mpu Sindok, who established the Isyana Dynasty. An eruption of Mount Merapi volcano, located north of Prambanan in central Java, or a power struggle probably caused the shift. That marked the beginning of the decline of the temple. It was soon abandoned and began to deteriorate.The temples themselves collapsed during a major earthquake in the 16th century. Although the temple ceased to be an important center of worship, the ruins scattered around the area were still recognizable and known to the local Javanese people in later times. The statues and the ruins become the theme and the inspiration for the Loro Jonggrang folktale. After the division of Mataram Sultanate in 1755, the temple ruins and the Opak River were used to demarcate the boundary between Yogyakarta and Surakarta (Solo) Sultanates.
Rediscovery
The temple officially caught the international attention in early 19th century. In 1811 during Britain’s short-lived rule of the Dutch East Indies, Colin Mackenzie, a surveyor in the service of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, came upon the temples by chance. Although Sir Thomas subsequently commissioned a full survey of the ruins, they remained neglected for decades, with Dutch residents carting off sculptures as garden ornaments and native villagers using the foundation stones for construction material.
Half-hearted excavations by archaeologists in the 1880s merely facilitated looting. Reconstruction of the compound began in 1918, and proper restoration only in 1930. Efforts at restoration continue to this day. The reconstruction of the main Shiva temple was completed around 1953 and inaugurated by Sukarno. Since much of the original stonework has been stolen and reused at remote construction sites, restoration was hampered considerably. Shrines were only rebuilt if at least 75% of their original masonry was available. Most of the smaller shrines are therefore now only visible in their foundations, with no plans for their reconstruction existing.
Contemporary events
The open-air and indoor stages on the west side of the temple right across the Opak river, were built to stage the Ramayana ballet. This traditional Javanese dance is the centuries old dance of the Javanese court, performed every full moon night in the Prambanan temple since the 1960s. Since then, Prambanan has become one of the major archaeological and cultural tourism attractions in Indonesia.
After the reconstruction of the main temples in 1990s, Prambanan once again reclaim its status as an important religious center for Hindu rituals and ceremonies in Java. The religious significance revival of Prambanan was due to Balinese and Javanese Hindu communities in Yogyakarta and Central Java that annually perform their sacred ceremonies in Prambanan, such as Galungan, Tawur Kesanga, and Nyepi.
The temple was damaged during the May 2006 Java earthquake. Early photos suggested that although the complex was structurally intact, the damage was significant. Large pieces of debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground. The temple was closed to visitors until the damage could be fully assessed. Eventually, the head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency stated that it would take months to identify the precise extent of the damage. However, some weeks later in 2006 the site was re-opened for visitors. In 2008, 856,029 Indonesian visitors and 114,951 foreign visitors has visited Prambanan. In 6 January 2009 the reconstruction of Nandi temple finished. As of 2009, the interior of most of the temples remains off-limits for safety reasons
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