Prambanan Temple

Prambanan Temple has been described to be the Most Beautiful Hindu Temple in the World!

 

 Prambanan temple extraordinarily beautiful building was constructed in the ninth century by the Mataram Kingdom, rulers of central Java and defeaters of the Sailendra Dynasty.

The present name Prambanan, was derived from the name of Prambanan village where the temple stood, it is one of the most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia.

It has an area of 39.8 hectares and rise as high as 47 feet or five meters higher than Borobudur temple making it the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia, even in Southeast Asia! 
It has many steep stairs to climb, I suggest to wear your sporty/flat shoes.

This temple is located 17 kilometers from the city center, among an area that now functions as beautiful park. 






On the right is my grandma talking enthusiastically to my mum as she isn't strong enough to walk up the steep steps of the Temples.

 Prambanan also has panels of relief describing the story of Ramayana. Experts say that the relief is similar to the story of Ramayana that is told orally from generation to generation.

The three main shrines of Pramabanan are called Trimurti ("three forms"), they are dedicated to the three gods: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Sustainer, and Shiva the Destroyer.
I wonder what this picture below of a relief describes? hehehe...

This magnificent Hindu temple remain to stand strong after surviving from many disastrous events starting in the early 930s where 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 and a major earthquake in the 16th century causing the temples themselves to collapse. Fortunately in 1811 during Britain’s short-lived rule of the Dutch East Indies, Collin Mackenzie, a surveyor in the service of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, came upon the temples by chance. Reconstruction of the compound began in 1918, and proper restoration only in 1930. Efforts at restoration continue to this day.

But on May 2006 the temple was damaged again significantly in the Java earthquake causing large pieces of debris, including carvings to scatter over the ground and made the temple closed to visitors until the damage could be fully assessed.

However, some weeks later in 2006 the site was re-opened for visitors. In 2008, 856,029 Indonesian visitors and 114,951 foreign visitors have 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.

When I visited Prambanan with my parents, my grandma, my two brothers and two of my cousins in 2010, the site was still in under constructions so some parts were restricted to see. But it was still looking extraordinary.
You may also know the Prambanan compound as Loro Jonggrang complex; it was named after the popular legend of Loro Jonggrang.  The statues and the ruins became the theme and the inspiration for the Loro Jonggrang folktale. So why Prambanan Temple is also called Rara Jonggrang might you ask? Well, this is related to a legend that Javanese people believed to be part of this temple. 

“Once, a prince named Bandung Bondowoso fell in love with a beautiful princess looks, Jonggrang benama Rara. To refuse his love, Jonggrang asked Bondowoso to make her a temple with 1,000 statues only in one-night time. The request was nearly fulfilled, before finally managed to ask for help Jonggrang villagers to pound rice and make a big fire in order to impress the morning the situation was.  The request was nearly fulfilled when Jonggrang asked the villagers to pound rice and to set a fire in order to look like morning had broken. Feeling to be cheated, Bondowoso who only completed 999 statues cursed Jonggrang to be the thousandth statue.”

The picture on the left is a statue of Jonggrang benama Rara.

People say in the evening, especially during the full moon, the temple hosts a dance performance taken from the epic Ramayana. Ramayana Ballet is a performance art that unites various Javanese arts such as dance, drama, and music on one stage and one momentum to bring the story of the Ramayana, the legendary epic written by Valmiki in Sanskrit. The story of Ramayana is sung in this show is a translation of reliefs engraved on Prambanan temple. The stage is located strategically so that the temple becomes the backdrop of the performance.

 An open-air theatre inside the park, just west of Prambanan Temple, has ballet performances of the great Hindu epic Ramayana on four nights during each full moon between May and October.

Each episode lasts about 1.5 hours. The “full story” is a compilation of the four episodes and lasts about 2 hours, with a 15-minute refreshments break.

So do make sure you plan your visit to Prambanan during these months so you wouldn't miss out!

But do not worry! There is a museum located in the temple complex to complete the visitor’s curiosity of the Prambanan temple where they can enjoy the audio visual about the history of the discovery of the Prambanan temple until the renovations are complete. For tourists visiting with family, Prambanan temple also has a playground for the kids and a mini train that can take visitors around the tourist areas.

How To Get There: (from Wikipedia)

The nearest major cities are Yogyakarta, 17 kilometres to the south west and Solo about 40 kilometres to the north east. It's exact address is Jl. Solo Km 16, Desa Prambanan,. The main road connecting these two large cities passes right by Prambanan and this makes transport links very straightforward. The nearest actual town to Prambanan is Klaten, about 3 km to the north.

By plane:

 -> Yogyakarta airport is well served by domestic flights from Jakarta, Bali, and other major domestic destinations and internationally from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It is just ten kilometres from here to Prambanan. A taxi direct from the airport should cost about Rp 40,000 and take about 20 minutes. –

-> Solo airport is much smaller but has several flights each day from Jakarta and is also connected internationally from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Prambanan is about 90 minutes by bus from Solo airport.

By Bus:

 -> TransJogja, Yogyakarta’s newest bus service, also serves a direct route to Prambanan. The bus is air-conditioned and comfortable, but sometimes can be overcrowded. Take number 1A from Malioboro street (Rp 3 000 one way). The first one leaves around 6AM, then every 20 minutes. Depending on traffic, the journey can take one hour. From the terminal station it is just 5 minute walk.

-> There are regular buses from Yogyakarta's Umbulharjo bus station (30 minutes), as well as a wide variety of tour agency-operated minibuses shuttling directly from Yogyakarta's backpacker haunts. Local buses to/from Solo are also easy to find (90 minutes).

By Taxi

 -> A taxi from the centre of Yogyakarta costs around Rp. 60,000. The driver may be prepared to wait free of charge for an hour or so and then take you back for the same price, giving a total cost of Rp. 120,000.

GETTING AROUND:

The main site of modern day Prambanan complex is inside a large, landscaped park. The complex is open daily from 6AM to 6PM. Try to get there early to beat the heat.

Prambanan can be fairly easily covered on foot. But if the midday heat is too much, a toy train shuttles around the park for Rp 5,000 a throw.

Ticket Prices:

  Prambanan Temple tourist attraction open every day starting at 08.00-17.00 WIB.
 Locals:
Monday– Friday: Rp 15.000 (Adults) and Rp 10.000 (Children/Students)
Saturday, Sunday and National Holidays: Rp 17.500 (Adults) and Rp 11.000 (Children/Students)
Non-locals:
USD $ 13 (adults) and USD $ 7 (Children)