Prambanan Temple

Prambanan Temple or also known as Lara Jonggrang Temple is the largest Hindu temple complex in
Indonesia. It is precisely located in about 17 km northeast of Yogyakarta city, Central Java. It was built in
9th century during the reign of Sanjaya dynasty and dedicated to the three main Hindu Gods or Trimurti;
Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Its greatness and magnificence attracts many visitors from around the globe
every year.

Prambanan Temple was built on a four-square plane. Each plane is separated by four walls with four
large gates on the middle as the entrance. The whole temple complex is divided into three major zones;
the outer, middle, and inner zone. The outer zone is an open space and the bottommost terrace of the
temple. The second area is the middle zone where hundreds of small temples were standing. The last
area is the inner zone. It is the holiest and highest terrace of the temple. There are three major temples
of Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma that are standing on the inner zone, together with three small temple of
their animal vehicle

Prambanan Temple

Prambanan temple is the largest and the most beautiful Hindu temple which ever built on the Java
island. The temple was built during the Hindu kingdoms in Indonesia in the 10th century. Prambanan
temple was built by Rakai Pikatan as a rival to Borobudur and Sewu Temple located not far from
Prambanan temple. However, a legend tells that It is a temple built by Bondowoso as a promise to marry
Rorojonggrang. However, the construction of this temple was not completed because the ruse of
Rorojonggrang. Finally Bondowoso cursed Rorojonggrang become a statue to complete the temple.

As the temple which is very beautiful and gorgeous, the building complex of Prambanan temple located
at an altitude of 154 m above sea level and becomes one of the tourist destinations in Jogjakarta. It is
located in Prambanan village, District Bokoharjo. It is approximately 17 miles from Jogjakarta. The
location is only about 100 m from the highway of Yogya-Solo so that it must be easy to reach.

The Height of Prambanan temple is about 47 meters. It is 5 meters higher than Borobudur. The complex
of Prambanan temple shaped rectangular consists of 4 main parts: the outer courtyard, Jaba Yard (outer
court), Central Court, and Njeron court (Back Court).

The outdoor courtyard is an open area which has no the temple. The outdoor courtyard surrounds the
outer court which shaped square with an area of 390 m2. It does not have a single temple inside. At first
the outer courtyard surrounded by a stone fence, but now the stone fence is not there anymore.

After the outer court, there is a central courtyard which shaped rectangular with an area 222 m2. In the
middle of the central courtyard there are 4 terraces in which the deeper of the terrace location, the
higher it is. The first terrace which is the lowest terrace has 68 small temples which are lined and divided
into four lines that connect between entrances to every yard. In the second terrace, there are 60
temples, in the third terrace there are 52 temples and the last, top terrace or fourth terrace has 44
temples which has same size 6 m X 14 m2. However, almost all the temples in the fourth terrace of the
only remain the ruins because of natural disasters.

Back Court or inner court is the highest and the most holy place in the Prambanan temple. The Court
shaped rectangular with an area of 110 m2 and height is about 1.5 m. Back court is surrounded by a
stone fence. On its four sides, there are gate which arch-shaped or also called Padaruksa. In front of the
court gate, there is a small temple which shaped square with the area of 1.5 m2 and the height is about
4 m.

Inside the back court, there are 2 temples which line from north to south and 3 temples in the west
overlook east. In the back court, there are also temples which are representing three gods in Hinduism
namely Vishnu temple in the northern, Brahmin temple on the south, and in the middle, there is a Shiva
temple. In front of each of these temples, there are vehicle temples which represent the vehicle of god.

The Vehicle temples are Garuda temple located in front of Vishnu temple, Nandi temple (Ox) in front of
Shiva temple, and Swans temple in front of Brahma temple. The area of these sixth temples is 15 m2
with 25 m in height. They face each other and form a hallway.