PRAMBANAN (The Tallest and the most beautifull Hindu Temple in the world)

Content:
1. HISTORY
2. THE LEGEND OF BANDUNG BONDOWOSO
3. THE RELIEF OF RAMAYANA
4. SEWU TEMPLE
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1. HISTORY

The Mataram Kingdom, which firts appeared in 732 A.D. was the largest kingdom in ancient Java. At the time, the Mataram Kingdom was ruled by Sanjaya, a Hindu nobleman who had authority over the fertile area between the Opak and Progo rivers. In 750 A.D., the Buddhist Syailendra Dynasti expelled Sanjaya, along with his family. They self-exiled in the high land area outside the Mataram Kingdom's border.

One century later, Rakai Pikatan, a descendant of King Sanjaya, married into the Syailendra family clan, and thus held the Kingdom's reins of power. During his reign, Hindu influence was reborn and many temples were built, including the construction of Prambanan Temple complex.

Rakai Pikatan began to Build the temple complex in 856 A.D. in commemoration of the Sanjaya Dynasty's return to power. A century later, however, the Mataram Kingdom along with its people moved to East Java, and Prambanan was left ignored. Later, the temple collapsed during a terrifying earthquake in the sisteenth century. In 1930, restoration of the temple began and is still being conducted today.

The three temples on the main grounds dominate the complex. however, the most impressive temple is a huge building in the middle of the complex which rises up to 47 meters tall, Roro Jonggrang Temple.

Experts say that Roro Jonggrang Temple is dedicated to Siva while the two smaller temples in the north and south of Roro Jonggrang are dedicated to Vishnu and Brahma.

2. THE LEGEND OF BANDUNG BONDOWOSO

This folklore tells the story about a tragedy of a highly respected and powerful man named Bandung Bondowoso. He wanted to marry a beautiful princess named Roro Jonggrang-Daugther of a King named Prabu Boko.

The princess refused him conditionally, requesting that he make a thousand statues in one night. While Bandung Bondowoso was making the last statue with the help of a group of genies, Roro Jonggrang gathered some women to repeatedly hit rice pounders, and to make a huge bonfire on the east side, causing the eastern light to become red. 

Both activities traditionally signaled the arrival of dawn.

These signals caused the genies helping Bandung Bondowoso to believe that the morning had come, and they disappeared. Roro Jonggrang immidiately came and woke Bandung Bondowoso from his meditation to let Him know that he had failed in fulfilling her request. after discovering Roro Jonggrang's trick, Bandung Bondowoso became so angry that he cursed her to be a Dewi Durga statue. This final statue brought the total to exactly 1000 statues, in accordance with Princess Roro Jonggrang's request.

3. THE RELIEF OF RAMAYANA

The reliefs in Roro Jonggrang Temple describe the stories of Hinduism which have aesthetical values.

The panels describing the epic story of the Ramayana can be found at the lower balcony of Shiva and Brahma Temple, starting in the left side of the east stairs of the Shiva Temple and circling clockwise. The Ramayana panels beautifully tell the stories of the Ramayana, including that of Prince Rama from the Ayodya Kingdom, who is the reincarnation of Vishnu come down to earth.

The story of the Ramayana in the temple's relief has also been adapted into performance art, still performed today (and you can see this history from the article, also in this blog). Sinced 1960's, hundreds of dancers have performed the dance in the open air theater located in the west side of the Prambanan Temple complex.

The Ramayana Ballet is traditional dance drama without any long dialogues. It is a spectacular show of heroism, tragedy, love and violence. All of these stories are performed to satisfy the audiences of today. With the Roro Jonggrang temple illuminated in the background, the scenery at the open-air-staged night performance is amazing. 

4. SEWU TEMPLE

800 Meters to the south of Roro Jonggrang Temple, there is a Buddhist temple established by the Hindu King Rakai Pikatan. The name of the temple is Sewu Temple.

Rakai Pikatan was married to a Buddhist princess. The complex of Sewu Temple consists of 240 small temples surrounding a main temple, which is a polygon with a diameter of 29 meters and rising up to 30 meters tall. All of the temple's structures are made of andesite.

The symmetrical configuration of the building symbolizes the form of universe's harmony. A tradition followed by the Palace both in Surakarta and Yogyakarta. All buildings inside the temple complex have a rock fence and dwarapala (a large rock statue armed with a club) guarding the entrance door. This kind of big stomached guardian rock statue also exists in the inside hall of Yogyakarta Palace.