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Prambanan
The archaeological site of the Prambanan Plain does not actually
lie within the small town of Prambanan but a few kilometres north
and south of it. The following write-up deals with the northern
group of temples. To begin our exploration, let us systematically
divide the scattered ruins into 3 groups north of the town of
Prambanan as boxed in the map above.
The first group of
Prambanan temples that greets us as we enter the archaeological
park is also the most impressive and well-preserved of the 3
Prambanan groups. There are a total of 237 temples and shrines of
varying sizes within this group which share a common theme. This
complex of temples is called Candi Shiva or sometimes referred to
by the local residents as Candi Loro Jonggrang. It is called Candi
Shiva for the simple reason that the tallest temple here,
measuring some 47m in height, is dedicated to the chief Hindu
diety, Shiva. It is called Candi Loro Jonggrang, or Temple of the
Slender Virgin for a
not-so-simple reason.
 According
to dubious local folklore meant more to entertain than inform, the
Prambanan Complex originated from the refusal of the beautiful
Javanese princess, Loro Jonggrang to marry the ugly and
monstrous-looking Prince Bandung Bondowoso. We can't blame her for
that, but it was a little naughty of her to tell the prince that
she would marry him provided he could build 1000 temples in a
single night. Unknown to the princess, the prince had connections
in the realm of magic. He engaged the help of gnomes to construct
the 1000 temples. They almost finished when the panicky princess,
in desperation, got a group of Javanese women to pound rice so the
roosters crowed and frightened the light-sensitive gnomes away.
Prince Bandung was so angry that he turned the princess into
stone.
Out of this black and extremely durable volcanic rock, intricate
reliefs like this meditating Brahmin were carved. Of course, the
female diety you saw on the previous page is none other than
Durga, the consort of Shiva and not the magically fossilised
remains of a Javanese princess. Still, the mistake of calling this
place the Temple of the Slender Virgin has an exotic as well as an
erotic appeal. With the decline of Hinduism in Java, the
voluptuous statue of Durga in the Prambanan Complex gained the
reputation of having the most fondled breasts in Indonesia.
The actual builder of the Candi Shiva complex is believed to be
the Hindu king, Rakai Pikatan who embarked on this remarkable feat
of engineering during the 9th century. Built about 50 years later
than Borobudur and some of the other temples in the vicinity, it
is the most artistically accomplished piece of architecture on the
Prambanan Plain. It also happened to be the most Hindu compared to
the strongly Buddhist temples surrounding it. A coincidence? Well
these observations will become more obvious as we explore the area
and try to explain them in a moment. Like in Borobudur, not a
single bucket of cement was ever used. One way or another, some
form of magic must have gone into its construction.
Flanking the main Candi Shiva, are the smaller temples dedicated
to Brahma and Vishnu. Brahma is the creator of the universe. The
temple dedicated to this diety is carved with the final scenes in
the Ramayana. Vishnu is the preserver of the universe. The temple
dedicated to this diety is decorated with reliefs telling the
story of Lord Krishna in the Mahabharata.
Even the bull that Shiva rides on, called Nandi, has its own
shrine here. Brahma's vehicle, the swan and Vishnu's vehicle, a
bird called Garuda, must have had their shrines here as well, but
their ruins were never found.
We now move on to the next group of temples lying within walking
distance north of the Candi Shiva complex. They are named the Sewu
or Thousand Temple Complex, comprising a main Candi Sewu and about
240 peripheral shrines which stood proudly guarding the main
temple during the height of the Sanjaya Dynasty. These little
shrines are known as Candi Perwara. Some of the peripheral shrines
contain "beheaded" Buddha statues. Some contain niches
of various Hindu dieties and others house phallic symbols - the
Shiva lingga. Coexisting with the Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty during
this period, was the Buddhist Saliendra Dynasty. The influence of
the latter is more than obvious in the stupa tops that these Candi
Perwara sport.
The recently restored Candi Sewu turns out to be a highly
impressive Buddhist-Hindu structure. I am sitting on the low,
outer wall of the main building of Candi Sewu. You can see the
remains of a Candi Perwara on my left. In its heyday, Candi Sewu
was home to thousands of bronze Buddhas, but centuries of
plundering reduced the building to an empty shell. There are
similar blends of Buddhist and Hindu architectural influences in
the temples of Nepal. However, Candi Sewu is one structure that
has the most enigmatic blend. There is something unsettling about
this awkward union. Why is it that Candi Shiva, built later than
this temple, shows so little hint of Buddhism? Why is it that the
most of the main deities in Candi Shiva have been relatively
well-preserved? Who destroyed Candi Sewu?
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