Indonesia is indeed rich in tourist attractions, so many tourist attractions that you can visit, ranging from natural attractions, historical tours to tours related to food. One of them is Prambanan Temple, a legend about the princess in Yogyakarta. This princess is a tall girl, the daughter of the king, namely Prabu Boko.
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| Prambanan Temple (Photo: google.com/maps/place/Candi+Prambanan) |
This temple is indeed very interesting, especially for those of you who like historical stories or historical tourism.
Location of Prambanan Temple
Prambanan Temple is also called Loro Jonggrang Temple, which is located on the border of the provinces of the Special Region of Yogyakarta and the province of Central Java, approximately 17 kilometers to the east of Yogyakarta City or approximately 53 kilometers west of Solo.
The Prambanan Temple complex is included in 2 areas, namely the western complex in the Special Region of Yogyakarta and the east in the province of Central Java.
Prambanan Temple stands on the east side of the Opak River approximately 200 meters north of the Yogya-Solo Highway.
The Origin of the Name of Prambanan Temple
This cluster of temples is called "Prambanan", because it is located in the Prambanan area. The name Loro Jonggrang is related to a legend that tells about a virgin who is "jonggrang" or a tall girl princess from Prabu Boko.
History of Prambanan Temple
Prambanan Temple is a group of Hindu temples built by the kings of the Sanjaya Dynasty in the IX century. The discovery of the name Pikatan written on this temple raises the opinion that this temple was built by Rakai Pikatan which was then completed by Rakai Balitung based on an inscription numbered 856 AD "Siwargrha Inscription" as a political manifest to strengthen his position as a great king.
The move of the center of the Mataram kingdom to East Java resulted in the unmaintained temples in this area, coupled with the occurrence of earthquakes and several eruptions of Mount Merapi, making Prambanan Temple collapse with only scattered stone debris.
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| Prambanan Temple seen from above (Photo: instagram.com/alivikry/) |
It was very sad the situation at the time of the rediscovery of Prambanan Temple.
The restoration effort carried out by the Dutch East Indies government went very slowly and finally, the restoration was completed by the Indonesians.
On December 20, 1953, the restoration of Loro Jonggrang main temple was officially declared complete by Dr. Ir. Sukarno as the first President of the Republic of Indonesia.
Also, read: Penglipuran Traditional Village, an Interesting Tourist Destination.
Until now the restoration work is continuing, namely with the restoration of Brahma Temple and Vishnu Temple. Brahma Temple was restored in 1977 and completed and inaugurated on March 23, 1987. While Wisnu Temple began to be restored in 1982, completed and inaugurated by President Suharto on April 27, 1991.
Description of Temple Building
The Prambanan Temple complex consists of a lower background, a middle background, and the upper background (central background) which goes deeper the higher the location.
Successively according to the area, which is 390 square meters, 222 square meters, and 110 square meters.
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| The Beauty of Prambanan Temple (Photo: maps.google.com/maps/contrib/101396708171439780300) |
The bottom background contains nothing. In the middle setting, there are ruins of Perwara temples.
If all of them have been restored, there will be 224 temples of the same size, namely a base area of 6 square meters and a height of 14 meters.
The central setting is the most important setting on which stand 26 large and small temples. The main temples consist of 2 rows facing each other.
The first series, namely Shiva Temple, Vishnu Temple, and Brahma Temple.
The second series, namely Nandi Temple, Goose Temple, and Garuda Temple.
Also, read: Trawas, a National Tourism Destination in Mojokerto.
At the end of the passage that separates the two rows of temples, there is Apit Temple. The other eight temples are smaller. Four of them are Kelir Temple and four other temples are called Angular Temple, in total this temple consists of 240 pieces.
Prambanan Temple Complex
1. Shiva Temple
This temple has a base area of 34 square meters and a height of 47 meters is the largest and most important part.
Shiva Temple is called because in it there is a statue of "Shiva Mahadeva" which is the largest statue.
The building is divided into 3 parts vertically legs, body, and head or roof, the foot of the temple depicts the 'underworld' where humans are still covered with lust, and the body of the temple depicts the 'middle world' where humans have renounced worldliness and the roof depicts the 'upper world' where the gods.
The image of the cosmos is also seen with statues of gods and celestial beings depicting Mount Mahameru (Mount Everest in India) the place of the gods.
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| Prambanan Temple (Photo: maps.google.com/maps/contrib/116536155265710385634) |
Prambanan Temple is a replica of the mountain, this is evidenced by the statues of the god lokapala carved at the foot of Shiva Temple. The four entrances to the temple correspond to the four cardinal directions.
The main door faces east with the largest entrance staircase. On the right and left stand 2 giant statues of guardians carrying maces which are manifestations of Shiva.
Inside the temple, 4 rooms are facing the four cardinal directions and surround the largest room in the middle.
The front room is empty, while the other three rooms each contain statues: Shiva Supreme Guru, Ganesha, and Durga.
The base of the temple foot is surrounded by a hallway bounded by a balustrade. On the inner balustrade, there is a relief of the Ramayana story which can be followed by 'pradaksina' (walking clockwise) starting from the main door.
The decorations on the outer wall are 'kinari-kinari' (creatures with the body of birds with human heads), "kalamakara' (giant heads whose tongues are in the form of a pair of mythologies), and other celestial beings.
The roof of the temple is multi-tiered with a very complex arrangement, each decorated with several 'ratna' and the top of which there is the largest 'ratna'.
a. Shiva Mahadeva statue
According to the Trimurti-Hindu teachings, the most revered is Lord Brahma as the creator of nature, then Lord Vishnu as the preserver, and Lord Shiva as the destroyer of nature. But in Indonesia as well as in India, Shiva is the most famous.
In Java itself, he is considered the highest, hence some revere him as Mahadewa. This statue has a height of 3 meters standing on a stone platform as high as 1 meter.
Between the foot of the statue and the foundation is a round stone in the shape of a lotus flower. This statue depicts the king of Balitung, the signs of Shiva are a skull on a crescent moon on his crown, a third eye on his forehead, 4 arms covered with snakes, tiger skin around his waist, and a trident weapon on the back of his statue. His hands hold fans, prayer beads, lotus buds, and round objects as the seeds of the universe. King Balitung was seen as the incarnation of Shiva so that after death he was encoded as Shiva by his descendants and subjects.
b. Shiva Supreme Master statue
This statue takes the form of a bearded old man standing with a fat belly. His right-hand holds prayer beads, his left hand holds a jug and his shoulder has a fan. They are all signs of a hermit. The Trident is located on the right, behind which signifies Shiva's distinctive weapon.
This statue depicts a natural priest in the palace of King Balitung, as well as an advisor and teacher. Because of his great contribution to spreading Hindu Shiva, he is considered one of the aspects (forms) of Shiva.
c. Ganesha statue
This statue is a 4-armed elephant-headed human who is sitting with a fat belly. His hind hands held prayer beads and axes, while his front hands held his ivory fractures and a bowl.
The tip of his trunk was inserted into the bowl which illustrates that he was never satisfied with gaining knowledge. Ganesha is indeed a symbol, of wisdom and knowledge, a dispel of all difficulties.
On his crown, there is a skull and crescent moon as a sign that he is the son of Shiva and Uma, his wife. This statue depicts the crown prince and warlord King Balitung.
d. Durga or Loro Jonggrang statue
This statue is in the form of an 8-armed woman holding a variety of weapons, namely chakras, maces, arrows, bull tails, sankha, shields, bows, arrows, and Asura's mercury-headed hair.
He stands on Nandi's bull in a 'triproud' attitude (3 moving styles that make up 3 curves of the body). The Nandi Bull is the incarnation of Asura in disguise.
Durga managed to defeat him and stomped on him so that from his mouth came Asura whom he captured. She is one aspect of Shiva's wife's magic.
According to mythology, it was created from tongues of fire that came out of the bodies of the gods. Durga is the Goddess of Death, hence this statue faces north which is the cardinal of death. This statue is very beautiful when viewed from a distance, it looks like life and smiles, but its nose has been damaged by ignorant hands. This statue depicts the consort of King Balitung.
2. Brahma Temple
The base area of Brahma Temple is 20 square meters with a height of 37 meters. And inside it consists of only one room and stands a statue of Brahma with 4 heads and 4 arms. This statue is very beautiful but has been damaged. One of his hands holds prayer beads, the other holds a 'kamandalu' where water is. Its four faces depict the four Vedic scriptures each facing the four cardinal directions. His four arms depict the four cardinal directions. As the creator, he brought water because all nature came out of water. Prayer beads represent time.
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| (Photo: Instagram /@prambananprak) |
The base of the temple foot is also surrounded by a hallway bounded by a balustrade fence where on the inner balustrade wall are carved further reliefs of the Ramayana story and similar reliefs on Shiva Temple until the end.
3. Vishnu Temple
The shape, size of reliefs, and outer wall decoration are the same as Brahma Temple. In the only room, there stands a 4-armed statue of Vishnu holding a Mace, Chakra, and Oyster.
On the inner ledge wall is carved a relief of Krishna's story as 'Avatara' or incarnation of Vishnu and Balarama (Baladewa) his brother.
4. Nandi Temple
The base area of Nandi Temple is 15 square meters and with a height of 25 meters. In the only room available, there lies a statue of a bull in an independent attitude with a length of approximately 2 meters.
In the back corner, there is a statue of Lord Candra. The three-eyed Candra stood on a carriage pulled by 10 horses. Surya stood on a chariot pulled by 7 horses, but this temple had collapsed.
5. Swan Temple
This temple has one room that does not contain anything. Its base area is 13 square meters and its height is 22 meters. Perhaps this room was only used for the goose shed of animals usually driven by Brahma.
6. Garuda Temple.
The shape, size, and wall decoration are the same as the Swan Temple. Inside the only room, there is a small statue in the form of an eagle on a dragon. Garuda is Vishnu's vehicle.
7. Apit Temple
The base area is 6 square meters with a height of 16 meters. The room is empty. Maybe this temple is used for meditation before entering the main temple. Because of its beauty, this temple is used to instill aesthetics in the Prambanan Temple complex.
8. Kelir Temple
The base area is 1.55 square meters with a height of 4.10 meters. This temple does not have an entrance staircase, its function is as a repellent.
9. Corner Temple
The size of these temples is the same as Kelir Temple.
That's a little information about "Prambanan Temple, a legend about the princess in Yogyakarta". Hopefully useful and become information about the history of Indonesia.
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