Prambanan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Indonesia, consisting of a large Hindu temple complex built in the mid-9th century. The complex includes three main sanctuaries, each dedicated to a specific Hindu god, and features ornate bas-reliefs depicting scenes from Hindu legends. The Durga shrine is a popular attraction, with a legend surrounding its creation. Prambanan also has some Buddhist temples, including Candi Sewu. The complex suffered damage in a 2006 earthquake, but still contains impressive examples of Hindu architecture.
Prambanan is a huge temple complex found in Indonesia. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has been since 1991. Prambanan is the largest Hindi temple complex in Indonesia and one of the largest in Southeast Asia.
Prambanan was probably built in the mid-9th century by Rakai Pikatan of the Matarm dynasty. The complex consists of three main sanctuaries, known as candis, five other main candis and about 9 smaller candis in the area.
Each of the three main candi, collectively referred to as Trisakti, is constructed for a specific of the three main gods. One is built for Brahma, one for Vishnu and one for Shiva. Shiva temple contains four shrines, one of which, the shrine of his wife Durga, is one of the most popular attractions in Prambanan.
Legend has it that the Durga shrine was adorned with statues as a result of a challenge from a princess, and the shrine is sometimes called the Shrine of the Slender Virgin, or Loro Jonggrang. This princess was forced to marry a prince she didn’t want to marry, so she issued a challenge to him to build a thousand statues between sunset and sunrise.
The prince, Bandung Bondowoso, enlisted the help of a multitude of spirits to help him build the statues. They worked feverishly through the night, and in the end they had finished 999. The princess then built a great fire in the east, tricking her roosters into thinking the sun was rising, so they began to crow. This made the spirits believe that the sun was coming, and as they could not bear the sun, they fled. The prince was furious, so he turned the princess into stone, making her the thousandth and most beautiful of the statues.
Many of the candis feature ornate bas-reliefs, which depict scenes from various Hindi legends. Many of the smaller candi are dedicated to minor figures, such as the mounts of the major gods. One of the most famous of the bas-reliefs found at Prambanan shows the story of Ramayana, where Sita is kidnapped by an ogre and finally rescued by Hanuman and his army. This famous story is performed as a ballet every full moon in Prambanan and is a hugely popular tourist attraction in Indonesia.
Apart from Hindi candis there are also some Buddhist temples in Prambanan. Candi Sewu is the most famous of these, with a huge temple surrounded by smaller temples. Two smaller Buddhist temples, Bubrah and Lumbung, are also nearby, although they are not open to the public.
Prambanan suffered quite extensive damage during the great earthquake that rocked Java in 2006. As a result a number of the previously open temples are fenced off and are not open to the public until they have been fully renovated. However, Prambanan still contains some of the most accessible and impressive examples of Hindi architecture on Java, or indeed in all of Southeast Asia.
Although nearby Borobudur receives most of the tourist traffic, due to its sheer size, Prambanan contains more pyramid-style buildings which most people associate with the Hindi style.
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