Prambanan

Prambanan

The Prambanan Temple Compound, built in the 9th century, is the largest temple compound dedicated to Shiva in Indonesia. The UNESCO World Heritage site is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia and the second largest after Angkor Wat in Southeast Asia. It is dominated by the towering and pointed architecture of Hindu buildings, with a central building 47 meters high within a large complex of separate temples. The Prambanan temple compound which originally consisted of 240 temple structures, is considered a masterpiece of the Hindu art and architecture of ancient Java and a work of art from Indonesia's classical period. It's no wonder that Prambanan attracts so many visitors from all over the world. The Temple Compounds include the Prambanan Temple, the Sewu Temple, the Bubrah Temple and the Lumbung Temple. All of these temples comprise the Prambanan Archaeological Park and were built during the height of the mighty Javanese dynasty of Sailendra in the 8th century AD. While the 9th century Loro Jonggrang is a shining example of Hindu religious bas-relief, Sewu, featuring four pairs of giant Dwarapala statues, is Indonesia's biggest Buddhist complex, which includes the Lumbung, Bubrah and Asu temples. These Hindu temples are adorned with reliefs that illustrate the Indonesian version of the Ramayana epic, a masterwork of stone carving. These are encircled by hundreds of shrines, divided into three sections, which show the high level of stone building technology and architecture in 8th century AD Java.