Prambanan Temple is said to be the most beautiful Hindu temple in the world. It is the biggest temple complex in Java with three main temples dedicated to the three great Hindu divinities, Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, the symbols of Trimurti in Hindu belief.
According to the history, Rakai Pikatan, a Hindu prince from Sanjaya Dynasty, who had married into the ruling Buddhist Sailendra monarchy built all the temples in the Prambanan archaeological park in the 8th century AD. In its original form, the temple complex contained over 250 large and small temples. The temple compound was expanded by successive Mataram kings with the addition of the hundreds of perwara temples around the central temples. It served as the royal temple of the Kingdom of Mataram for its religious ceremonies and sacrifices. However, in the 10thcentury the temple was largely abandoned because the Mataram dynasty moved to East Java. It then collapsed during a major earthquake in the 16th century.
Also locally known as Roro Jonggrang, legend has it that the 1,000th statue of the temple was the statue of a slender virgin lady named Roro Jonggrang, who turned into stone by a young and powerful man named Bandung Bondowoso after her attempt to thwart Bondowoso’s effort in building a thousand temples and two wells in one night for the lady failed. Bondowoso was in love with Roro Jonggrang and asked her to marry him. However, Roro Jonggrang was full of hatred because Bondowoso killed her father; hence she tried to refuse his proposal by asking him a seemingly impossible task. As a man who had unseen troop of spirits, it was easy for Bondowoso to finish the task. After nearly a thousand temples had been built, Roro Jonggrang asked the villagers to pound rice and to set a fire in order to look like the morning had broken. This way, the spirits had no choice but left before completing the last one temple. Bondowoso realised that the lady had cheated him so he turned Roro Jonggrang into the 1,000th statue. This is a very interesting folklore that local people love to share.
PRAMBANAN, Beautiful Hindu Temple in the World
Prambanan Temple or Temple of Loro Jonggrang is the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia, which was built in the 9th century BC. This temple is dedicated to Trimurti, the three main Hindu gods Brahma as the creator god, Vishnu as the preserver god, and the god Shiva as the destroyer. Based on the inscription Siwagrha original name of this temple complex is Siwagrha (Sanskrit which means ‘house of Shiva’), and indeed in garbagriha (main hall) This temple sits a statue of Shiva Mahadeva three meters high which shows that in this temple of Lord Shiva are preferred. This temple is including the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia, and one of the most beautiful temples in Southeast Asia. The architecture of the building is tall and slender shape in accordance with Hindu architecture in general with the Shiva temple as the main temple has a height reached 47 meters towering over the center of the complex cluster of temples are smaller.
