Towering Reminders of Hinduism!

Prambanan Temple in Indonesia

Travelogue 33

 

 

Soaring Spires of the Prambanan Hindu Temple Complex in Central Java, Indonesia

 

Prelude

One of my previous articles (see here) was about the great Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia, one of the wonders of the world, which was exclusively a Hindu religious shrine in both conception and execution. But, in course of time, and due to the decline of Hinduism in Southeast Asia in later centuries, it became transformed into a symbol of Buddhism as well. Today, it is generally referred to as a Hindu-Buddhist temple, belying its true Hindu origins.

Another of my previous articles (see here) was about the great Buddhist temple at Borobudur in central Java, Indonesia.  Though primarily representative of Buddhism, it drew heavily from Hindu mythology for the stories that its friezes and reliefs depicted in abundance all around the monument.  This is perhaps understandable since the roots of Buddhism lay firmly in ancient India.

Yet another equally remarkable heritage, wholly of Hindu origin, is the group of temples at Prambanan, not far from Borobudur, also in central Java, Indonesia.  The construction of this massive temple complex was probably meant as the Hindu Sanjaya dynasty’s answer to the Buddhist Sailendra dynasty’s Borobudur nearby, and was meant to mark the return of the Hindu Sanjaya dynasty to power in the region after nearly a century of Buddhist domination. The construction of this impressive Hindu temple also signified a shift in patronage from Mahayana Buddhism to Shaivite Hinduism. Prambanan served as the royal temple of the Kingdom of Mataram, with most of the state's religious ceremonies and sacrifices being conducted there.

After a rain affected visit to Borobudur on the morning of 21 Jan 2018, the same tourist bus took us to Prambanan that afternoon, with the rain following us all the way, and staying with us for the rest of the day.  Below is a picture of how it looked near the entrance to this large site, as beautiful and richly green as the one at Borobudur earlier that morning. As at Borobudur, I had to protect myself as well as my precious camera with a large umbrella held over my head with one hand. 

Location

The map below shows the location of the temple complex within the larger Prambanan Archaeological Park and its surroundings. 

While the Hindu temple complex is the main attraction in the Prambanan Archaeological Park, the Mahayana Buddhist temple of Sewu, located about 800 m north of Prambanan, happens to be the second largest Buddhist temple complex in Indonesia after Borobudur, which I had visited earlier that day.

The Temple Complex

As in Borobudur, tourist facilities at Prambanan are excellent, and surrounded by rich greenery within a huge area.  Below is a picture of the visitors’ information center and support facilities:

Near the main entrance to the temple complex, the visitor is greeted with a huge bilingual display at the left (see picture below) that gives extensive graphic details about its past history and recent restoration work done. 

Further to the right inside the entrance is a stunning view (see below) of most of the towering spires, each a separate temple stretching skyward. 

Near the entrance is a large plaque (see picture below) giving a bilingual description of the temple complex.  It is rather puzzling that such poor English translation has crept into the display in an otherwise impressively organized tourist site. 

Original Site

Originally there was a vast complex of 240 temples constructed in Prambanan as can be made out from the visuals below:

The Prambanan compound consisted of:

• Three Trimurti temples dedicated to the triumvirate Hindu gods Shiva, Vishnu and Bramha, the one for Shiva, located centrally between those of the other two, being the tallest,
• Three smaller Vahana temples in front of the Trimurti temples, dedicated to Nandi, Garuda and Hamsa, the animal mounts traditionally used by the three gods respectively,
• Two Apit temples, located on the north and south sides between the rows of Trimurti and Vahana temples,
• Four Kelir temples, small shrines located on four cardinal directions beyond the main gates of the inner zone,
• Four Patok temples, small shrines located on the corners of the inner zone, and
• 224 Pervara temples, very small structures arranged in four concentric squares.

The Prambanan compound is also known as Rara Jonggrang complex, named after the popular legend of Rara Jonggrang. All of eight main temples and eight small shrines in the inner zone have been reconstructed, but only six out of the Pervara temples are renovated.

Over a period of several centuries, the Prambanan temples suffered extensive damage from repeated volcanic eruptions in a nearby mountain, a well as earthquakes, and went into disuse and near-extinction until rediscovered and partially restored in modern times. Here is a part of the scattered remains of some outlying temples still in their unrestored condition:

Shiva Temple

At the heart of the Prambanan complex is the majestic Shiva temple, soaring to a height of 47 m and width of 34 m at the base. Here is a distant view of it that I captured as I walked towards it, with the rain abating somewhat: 

As I approached closer, the gigantic size of the structure began to unfold. Here is a picture from closer up: 

Below is a sketch showing the basic design of the Shiva temple:

Finally, as I approached a point close to the entrance to the temple, I captured the following close-up view showing how big the temple structure really is: 

To complete my collection of pictures showing the exterior of the great Shiva temple, here is a super zoom view of the soaring spire at its top: 

Bramha and Vishnu Temples

The smaller Bramha and Vishnu temples, located on either side of the massive Shiva temple, are shown in the pictures below. On the left is the Bramha temple and on the right, the Vishnu Temple as seen from the Shiva temple in between. 

Inside the temples

Inside each of the major temples in the Prambanan complex can be found one or more stone sculptured statues in dimly lit surroundings. Here is a set of four such statues, three of them representing the triumvirate deities of Bramha, Vishnu and Maheshwara (Shiva) and the other one, the highly popular Ganesha with its elephant head: 

Temple Exterior

As in most temples of its type, the exterior of the Prambanan temples is decorated all around with sculptured friezes depicting Hindu mythological characters and tales from epics like the Ramayana.  Here are two representative samples: 

Sunset at Ratu Boko

About 3 km south of Prambanan is the elevated Ratu Boko ‘palace’ complex (see picture below from another source), also a part of the archaeological park, from which the main temple complex is known to be visible against the background of the volcanic Mount Merapi. It is even more famous as a view point for watching the Sun set, at the end of a generally eventful and satisfying day for most visitors. However, continuing drizzle and overcast skies dissuaded me from even visiting this site. 

My day ended just the way it had begun, in a pall of gloom!  In between, the time was well spent. 

Epilogue

Though geographically far removed from the country of their origin, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, and Indonesia’s Borobudur and Prambanan, represent the pinnacle of Hindu and Buddhist culture and heritage in southeast Asia. The superb preservation of the latter two in particular as world heritage centers is a matter of immense satisfaction. The fact that this is seen in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country is even more so, and stands out as a shining example for the rest of the world.