Prambanan Temple

Prambanan Temple

This is the most famous and also the most magnificent of Central Java's temples or more precisely complex of temples. Situated about 17 kilometers from Yogyakarta, the top of the main shrine is visible from a great distance and rises high above the scattered ruins of the former temples. Prambanan is the masterpiece of Hindu culture of the tenth century. The slim building soaring up to 47 meters makes its beautiful architecture incomparable. Seventeen kilometers east of Yogyakarta, King Balitung Maha Sambu built the Prambanan temple in the middle of the ninth century. Its parapets are adorned with bas-reliefs depicting the famous Ramayana story. This magnificent Shivaite temple derives it name from the village where it is located.

Prambanan Temple is locally known as the Roro Jonggrang Temple, or the Temple of the "Slender Virgin", it is the biggest and most beautiful Hindu temple in Indonesia. The temple complex of Prambanan lies among green fields and villages. It has eight shrines, of which the three main ones are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. The main temple of Shiva rises to a height of 130 feet and houses the magnificent statue of Shiva's consort, Durga. There are 224 temples in the complex; three of them, the main temples are Brahma Temple in the north, Vishnu Temple in the south, and the biggest among the three which lies between Brahma and Vishnu temples is Shiva Temple (47 meters high).