Discover Indonesia - The Prambanan Temple

Hello again,

Ready for another trip around the world? Let me talk a bit about Indonesia this time.

The Prambanan Temple is the largest Hinduism cultural heritage in Indonesia. This temple does have a charm of its own beauty. Because besides the shape of the building and its layout is amazing, Prambanan also keeps a history and legends that attract tourists. The Temple is located at Prambanan Park approximately 17 km to the east of Yogyakarta. The location is only about 100 m from the Yogya-Solo highway, so it's not hard to find it. The temple was built in the 9th century AD has three main buildings which has beautiful architecture as high as 47 feet. The temples are arranged according to their position and function that represents the Trinity.

The mother temple is the largest and the most important stands in the middle. It is the doctrine of the three main gods of Shiva temple (God of fuser), with the Brahma temple (Lord Keeper) at its south side, and the Vishnu temple (God the Creator) at its north. Then in front of the main building there are three smaller temples as a symbol of the Trinity vehicle. Shiva Temple facing Nandi Temple, in which stands the statue of Nandi God Shiva’s vehicle. Facing the Vishnu Temple is Garuda Temple, the great bird God Vishnu flies upon. Two other temples, called the Apit (meaning ‘to flank’) Temples, stand on each side of group of the three big temples.

THE MAIN TEMPLES
SHIVA TEMPLE

At the time of the discovery, the Shiva temple was in severely damaged condition. Restoration takes quite a long time, which began in 1918 and was completed in 1953. Named Shiva Temple because inside this temple there is a statue of Shiva. Shiva temple is also known as Roro Jonggrang Temple, because in one room there is a statue of Durga Mahisasuramardani, which is often referred to as Rara Jonggrang Arca. The body of the temple stands on a batur about 2.5 m high. Shiva temple, located in the middle of the western ranks, is the largest temple. The basic plan is a square of 34 m2 with a height of 47 m.

Front view Shiva temple

To access veranda on the temple base, stone stairs are placed right in front of the entrance gate. Interestingly, each of the stair is flat, which makes the whole stairs do not look like real stairs from distance. These stone stairs do not have handrails in ukel style, as commonly found in other temples, but on the left hand side there is a badug (low wall) in elbow shape that blocks the side and a part of the front side of the stair base. No such badug (low wall) is found in other temples.

Along the walls of the foot of the temple is decorated with sculptures of two kinds of ornaments that are intermittent. The first is a picture of a lion standing between two kalpataru trees. This decoration is found on all sides of the Shiva temple and the other five large temples.

On the wall of the feet on the north and south of Shiva Temple, the lion's ornament above is flanked by a panil containing a pair of animals sheltering under a kalpataru tree grown in a vase. Various animals are described here, among them: apes, peacocks, antelope, rabbits, goats, and dogs. On top of each tree perched two birds.

On the other side of the walls of the temple's foot, both the foot of the Shiva temple and other large temples, the panels of this animal are replaced with panels with kinari-kinari images, a pair of human-headed birds, also sheltering under the Kalpataru tree.

Shiva statue

To reach the upper terrace, there are stairs in front of each room door. In the body of the temple there are four rooms that surround the main room located in the center of the body of the temple. The entrance to the main room is through a room facing east. This room is an empty room with no statues or any decoration. In the body of the temple there are four rooms that surround the main room located in the center of the body of the temple. The entrance to the main room is through a room facing east. The entrance to the main room lies in line with the entrance to the eastern hall.

Durga statue

The main hall is called the Shiva Room because in the middle of the room there is the statue of Shiva Mahadewa, the Shiva in a standing position on the lotus with one hand raised in front of the chest and other hands flat in front of the stomach. The Shiva statue is located on a pedestal (foundation) about 60 cm tall, yoni-shaped with a drain along the edge of its surface. It is said that this Shiva Statue depicts Balitung King from Mataram Hindu (898 - 910 AD) who is worshiped as Shiva. There is no connecting door between the Shiva Room and the three spaces on the other side. The northern, western, and south spaces have their own doors located directly in front of the stairs going up to the upper terrace.

In the northern space there is Durga Mahisasuramardini statue, which is Durga as the goddess of death, depicting the consort of King Balitung. Durga is portrayed as an eighth-handed goddess standing on a Nandi Ox overlooking Vishnu Temple.One right hand in a reclining position on a gada (kind of big paddle weapon), while the other three hold each arrow, sword and chakra. One left hand holds the head of Asura, the dwarf giant standing on the head of the mahisa (the ox), while the other three arms hold bows, shields and flowers. Durga statue is by the surrounding Indonesian society is also called Roro Jonggrang, because this statue is believed to be the incarnation of Rara Jonggrang. Rara Jonggrang is the daughter of the king in local legend, who is cursed to be a statue by Bandung Bandawasa.

Agastya statue

In the western space there is a Ganesha statue in a crossed position on the padmasana (the throne of the lotus flower) with the soles of the feet meeting each other. Both palms are riding on the knees in a tilted position, while the trunk is on the left arm. This Ganesha statue depicts the crown prince of King Balitung. A sling on the shoulder shows that he is also a warlord.
In the south room there is Arca Agastya or Shiva Mahaguru. This statue has a slightly chubby posture and beard. The Grand Master's Shiva was pictured in a standing position facing Brahma Temple in the south with his right hand holding a beads and his left hand holding a jug. Behind him, on the left there is a fly repellent and on the right there is a trident. It is said that this Grand Shiva Statue depicts a royal advisory pastor.

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This article was done with a big help from a friend in Indonesia, if you would like to get in contact with her, because she is an excellent photograph and make-up artist, here is her Instagram id: elisa_medusart

Until next time, stick around for more interesting adventures. :)