The Prambanan Temple Complex

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The Prambanan Temple Complex is also close to the city of Yogjakarta in Java. It was built in the 9th century, but not much is known about its early history. They think it was built to commemorate the return of a Hindu dynasty to sole power in Java. The Prambanan was in ruins until 1937, when efforts were begun to restore the temple. The outer courtyard contains the remains (aka blocks) of 244 temples, while the inner courtyard contains 8 minor and 8 major temples in mostly reconstructed fashion.

The main temple is Candi Shiva Mahadeva, and is the largest and finest of the temples. There's still a lot of work going on in the temple, so you could only view the outside. The top spire is 47m and the carvings on the base often include small lions, trees of heaven, and half-human/half-bird kinnara (heavenly beings). I circled this temple and its many neighbors for an hour or two. The stupas were so intricate, and lovely to look at. However, you couldn't really get that close to any blocks other than the lowest due to lack of a way up, or because the way was blocked off. The view from afar was staggering, so I had to mostly content myself with that. It was a pleasure to find a bench and gaze at the structures.

I headed north in the complex to a smaller set of temples. There were very few people in the area. I even had one large temple all to myself! These temples, however, were in a larger state of disrepair. I'm sure in 50 years, the Prambanan complex will be phenomenal, but frankly...a lot of it was just blocks sitting around, waiting for some historian to put the puzzle back together again. Guess I'll just have to come back again in the future :)

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