Indonesia’s Prambanan Temple Compounds: Centuries-Old Heritage, Part 2 of 2

The architectural layout of Prambanan Temple is that of a mandala representation of Hindu cosmology. The inner sanctum, or Garbagriha, is adorned with a three-meter-high statue of Lord Shiva. The temple bases cover an area of 390 square meters. They represent the Bhurloka, the realm of mortals who are still intertwined with unholy desires on the physical Earth we inhabit. The middle square, or Bhuvarloka, and second stage of the temples, represents the middle world, where beings have begun to perceive the realm of light and truth, stripping themselves of worldly attachments.

The temple peaks and innermost square represent the highest and holiest region, Svarloka, which is a 110-square-meter area elevated 1.5 meters above the central courtyard. The Prambanan Temple’s inner square contains a collection of 16 temples made up of stone structures and reliefs, all intricately decorated. The tallest, Lord Shiva Temple, stands 47.6 meters high. On either side stand the Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu temples, both reaching a height of 33 meters.

“Prambanan Temple Complex is known for its relief characteristics that use the bas-relief technique in the construction of its temples, and have a very good quality. And not only is it a technique in making reliefs, but the stories that are illustrated in the reliefs are also some of the very popular or very famous stories in the region of Asia, especially Southeast Asia. The reliefs of stories in the Prambanan Temple Complex actually can be divided into two. The first is the reliefs of the Ramayana epic. Then, the second is the relief of the Khrisnayana story. This relief of Khrisnayana story can be found in the Vishnu Temple, which is located in the northern part.

So, the Prambanan Temple Complex keeps these very well-known reliefs that can be seen in the daily life of the people of Java in the form of art performances, such as the art of dance, the art of puppetry, person puppet, or shadow puppet.” Beginning in 1961, the Prambanan Ramayana has been staged as a traditional Javanese ballet, combining dance and drama without dialogue.