Lifestyle and Travel: Indonesian tourist spots

Prambanan Temple is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia. Until now, it cannot be ascertained when this temple was built and on whose orders, but it is strongly suspected that Prambanan Temple was built around the middle of the 9th century by the king of the Sanjaya dynasty, the Balitung King Maha Sambu. The allegations are based on the contents of the Syiwagrha Inscription found around Prambanan and are currently stored in the National Museum in Jakarta. The 778 inscription Saka (856 AD) was written during the reign of Rakai Pikatan.

The original plan of Prambanan Temple is rectangular, consisting of an outer courtyard and three courtyards, namely Jaba (outer court), Tengahan (central courtyard) and Njeron (inner court). The outer courtyard is an open area that surrounds the outer courtyard. Outer court in the form of longitude with an area of 390 m2. This court was formerly surrounded by a stone fence which now has ruins. The outer court is currently only an empty courtyard. It is not yet known whether there were originally other buildings or decorations in this courtyard.

In the middle of the outer court, there is a second courtyard, namely the middle courtyard with a rectangular area of 222 m2. The middle court was also surrounded by a stone fence which has now collapsed. This courtroom consists of four terraces terraced, the more inward the higher. On the first terrace, which is the lowest terrace, there are 68 small temples lined around, divided into four rows by connecting roads between the courtyards of the courtyard. On the second terrace there are 60 temples, on the third terrace there are 52 temples, and on the fourth terrace, or the top terrace, there are 44 temples. All temples in the middle court have the same shape and size, namely the basic floor plan of 6 m2 and height of 14 m. Almost all the temples in the central courtyard are currently in ruins. All that remains is the rubble.

The inner court is the highest location and is considered the most sacred place. This square has a rectangular area of 110 m2, with a height of about 1.5 m from the surface of the upper terrace of the middle courtyard. The court is surrounded by plaster and stone fences. On the four sides there is a gate shaped like an arch on the gate. At present only the gate on the south side is still intact. In front of each gate of the upper courtyard there is a pair of small temples, with a square base of 1, 5 m2 with a height of 4 m.

In the inner court there are 2 rows of temples that stretch north to the south. In the western row there are 3 temples facing east. The temple which is located the northernmost is the Wisnu Temple, in the middle is the Syiwa Temple, and in the south is the Brahma Temple. In the east row there are also 3 temples facing west. These three temples are called candi wahana (vehicle = vehicle), because each temple is named according to the animal which is the mount of the god whose temple is located in front of it.

The temple that faces the Wisnu Temple is the Garuda Temple, which faces the Syiwa Temple is the Nandi Temple (ox), and the one facing Brahma Temple is the Swan Temple. Thus, the six temples face each other forming a hallway. The Vishnu, Brahma, Angsa, Garuda and Nandi temples have the same shape and size, which is based on a square of 15 m2 with a height of 25 m. At the north and south ends of the aisle there is a small temple facing each other, called the Apit Temple.