Prambanan: Java's Great Hindu Temple Compound

Prambanan is a ninth-century Hindu temple compound in Central Java, Indonesia, built around 850 by kings of the Mataram kingdom. Dedicated to the Hindu trinity of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, it is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. Its soaring central tower, Ramayana reliefs and long history of collapse and restoration make it one of the most celebrated monuments of early Java.

Background: Hindu and Buddhist Java

In the eighth and ninth centuries the fertile plains of Central Java were ruled by kings who built temples in stone on a grand scale. Some, especially the Sailendra dynasty, were Mahayana Buddhists and created monuments such as Borobudur and Sewu. Others worshipped Shiva and other Hindu gods.

Historians still debate how these royal lines were related. A traditional view holds that the Hindu prince Rakai Pikatan married a Sailendra princess, Pramodhawardhani, uniting the two traditions, though this reconstruction has been questioned. Either way, Hindu and Buddhist temples were built side by side: the Buddhist temple of Sewu stands less than a kilometre north of Prambanan.

Building the temple compound

Prambanan is usually dated to around 850. The key evidence is the Shivagrha inscription, dated 856, which records the consecration of a great temple to Shiva at the end of Rakai Pikatan’s reign. It also mentions that a river was diverted near the temple, which matches the course of the Opak river beside the site. Most scholars therefore identify the “house of Shiva” in the inscription with Prambanan. Later kings, possibly including Balitung in the early tenth century, added to the complex.

The compound was laid out in three concentric courtyards:

• The inner courtyard holds 16 temples. The three largest are dedicated to Shiva in the centre, Brahma to the south and Vishnu to the north. Facing them are three smaller temples for the gods’ animal mounts: the bull Nandi, the goose Hamsa and the eagle Garuda.
• The middle courtyard originally contained 224 small shrines, known as perwara temples, arranged in four rows.
• The outer courtyard is a large open space, whose original use is uncertain.

In total there were 240 temples. The main Shiva temple rises about 47 metres, with a tall, pointed form meant to represent Mount Meru, the mountain at the centre of the Hindu cosmos.

The temples were built of andesite, a grey volcanic stone, laid in blocks without mortar and held together by interlocking joints. Much of the carving was probably done after the blocks were in place. Each main temple stands on a raised platform with a terrace and balustrade, so that worshippers could walk around it clockwise, a ritual known as pradakshina.

The outer walls are richly decorated. A motif so typical of the site that it is often called the “Prambanan panel” shows a lion in a niche flanked by wish-granting trees, with pairs of half-human, half-bird celestial beings called kinnaras. Above the doorways are fierce Kala heads, guardian faces common in Javanese temple art. Compared with Borobudur, built only a few decades earlier, Prambanan reaches upward rather than spreading outward: its slender central tower was designed to dominate the plain.

The Shiva temple and its statues

The Shiva temple has four chambers. The main, eastern chamber holds a three-metre statue of Shiva as Mahadeva, the great god. The other chambers contain images of the sage Agastya, Shiva’s son Ganesha, and the warrior goddess Durga killing the buffalo demon Mahishasura.

Because of a local legend, the Durga statue is popularly called Rara Jonggrang (“slender maiden”), and the whole complex is often known by that name. In the story, the princess Rara Jonggrang was courted by Bandung Bondowoso, who had killed her father. She agreed to marry him only if he built a thousand temples in a single night. With the help of spirits he nearly succeeded, but she tricked them into thinking dawn had come. In fury he turned her into stone to become the thousandth image. The legend is folklore, not history, but it remains part of how Javanese people talk about the temple.

The Ramayana reliefs

The inner walls of the balustrades around the Shiva and Brahma temples are carved with the story of the Ramayana, the Sanskrit epic of Prince Rama, his wife Sita and her rescue from the demon king Ravana. The narrative begins on the Shiva temple and continues on the Brahma temple, read clockwise. The Vishnu temple carries scenes from the life of Krishna.

The reliefs are lively and detailed, showing monkeys, birds, palaces and battle scenes. Some episodes differ from the best-known Indian versions of the epic, suggesting that Javanese artists drew on local retellings. The Ramayana remains important in Javanese culture, and since 1961 a Ramayana ballet has been performed at an open-air theatre near the temple.

Abandonment and collapse

In the early tenth century the centre of royal power moved from Central to East Java, and by around 929 the court was based in the east. Prambanan lost its royal patrons and was gradually abandoned. The reasons for the move are debated; volcanic eruptions of Mount Merapi, political conflict and new trade opportunities have all been suggested.

Over the following centuries the temples collapsed, probably helped by earthquakes, and the site became a field of scattered stones overgrown with vegetation. Local people remembered the ruins and their legend, but the monument itself was largely in ruins by the time Europeans took an interest.

Rediscovery and restoration

In 1811, during the British occupation of Java, the Scottish surveyor Colin Mackenzie, working for Thomas Stamford Raffles, surveyed the site. Over the nineteenth century the ruins were cleared, but stones were also taken away for buildings and as souvenirs, and some sculptures were removed.

Serious restoration began under the Dutch archaeological service in 1918. Rebuilding the temples was slow work, since every stone had to be identified and placed in its original position. The Shiva temple was completed and inaugurated in 1953, after Indonesian independence. The Brahma temple followed in 1987 and the Vishnu temple in 1991. Only a handful of the 224 small shrines have been rebuilt, because too many of their original stones are missing.

The earthquake of 27 May 2006, centred near Yogyakarta, caused new damage, cracking structures and dislodging stones. Repairs took several years. In 1991 the Prambanan Temple Compounds were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Timeline

• c. 850: Construction of the main temples at Prambanan under the Mataram kingdom.
• 856: The Shivagrha inscription records the consecration of a great Shiva temple.
• c. 929: The royal court moves to East Java; Prambanan is gradually abandoned.
• 1811: Colin Mackenzie surveys the ruins for Thomas Stamford Raffles.
• 1918: Dutch archaeologists begin systematic restoration.
• 1953: The rebuilt Shiva temple is inaugurated.
• 1991: Prambanan is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site; the Vishnu temple’s rebuilding is completed.
• 2006, 27 May: An earthquake near Yogyakarta damages the compound.

Why it matters

Prambanan is the greatest monument of Hindu Java and a masterpiece of Southeast Asian temple architecture. Standing close to Buddhist Sewu and not far from Borobudur, it shows a ninth-century society in which different religions flourished side by side. Its Ramayana reliefs, like the carvings of the Kailasa temple at Ellora in India, show how Indian epics were adopted and reshaped across Asia.