Saturday Excursion: Prambanan

One of my main goals of this trip was to visit Prambanan, one of the most magnificent ancient Hindu temples in the world. The Prambanan temples were constructed in the 9th Century, but were abandoned in the 10th Century and most of the complex collapsed in the great earthquakes of the 16th Century.

The site, which had largely been covered by volcanic ash and jungle growth, received worldwide attention in 1814 when Sir Thomas Raffles publicized its existence. It took over 100 years to sort out all the stones to figure out how to reconstruct the temples we see today.  During an approximately 20 year span, in the mid-1900s, most of the current temples were reconstructed, though restoration is an ongoing process. Nevertheless, about 200 temples have not yet been restored, though because much of the old stone was plundered for other buildings after the site was abandoned, a much larger reconstruction might be impossible. 

Not only is the temple architecture extraordinary, highlighted by the 47-meter high Shiva temple, but the detail one can find in the stonework is also amazing. Many of the panels detail the Hindu epic, Ramayana and Bhagavata Purana. Other panels and sculptures depict a vast range of Gods and symbolic animals essential to Hindu tradition.

In 1991, Prambanan was named an UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is a spectacular vista into a mysterious ancient world and represents a rich religious tradition.