PRAMBANAN TEMPLE

 PRAMBANAN TEMPLE





Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog. On today's post I'm going to tell you about my experience at Prambanan Temple, Jogjakarta. But before telling you my experience, I'm going to tell you some informations about Prambanan temple

THE HISTORY
The popular legend of Rara Jonggrang is what connects the site of the Ratu Boko Palace, the origin of the Durga statue in the northern cell/chamber of the main shrine, and the origin of the Sewu temple complex nearby. The legend tells the story about Prince Bandung Bondowoso, who fell in love with Princess Rara Jonggrang, the daughter of King Boko. But the princess rejected his proposal of marriage because Bandung Bondowoso had killed King Boko and ruled her kingdom. Bandung Bondowoso insisted on the union, and finally Rara Jonggrang was forced to agree to a union in marriage, but she posed one impossible condition: Bandung must build her a thousand temples in only one night.

The Prince entered into meditation and conjured up a multitude of supernatural beings from the earth. Helped by these spirits, he succeeded in building 999 temples. When the prince was about to complete the condition, the princess woke her palace maids and ordered the women of the village to begin pounding rice and set a fire in the east of the temple, attempting to make the prince and the spirits believe that the sun was about to rise. As the cocks began to crow, fooled by the light and the sounds of daybreak, the supernatural helpers fled back into the ground. The prince was furious about the trick and in revenge he cursed Rara Jonggrang, turning her to stone. She became the last and the most beautiful of the thousand statues. According to the traditions, the unfinished thousandth temple created by the demons become the Sewu temple compounds nearby (Sewu means "thousands" in Javanese), and the Princess is the image of Durga in the north cell of the Shiva temple at Prambanan, which is still known as Rara Jonggrang or "Slender Maiden". 


THE CONSTRUCTIONS

The high structures are typical of Hindu architecture, and the plan of the temple complex isa Mandala, as is Borobudur. As a symbol of the Hindu cosmos, the temple is vertically divided into three parts, both vertically and in plan. The three part is divided into Jaba/Bhurloka, Tengahan/Bhuvarloka, and Njeron/Svarloka.

At the Garbagriha (innermost sanctum) of this temple sits a three meters statue of Shiva. Prambanan as a Hindu Temple was made High and slim compared to Borobudur, with the main Shiva shrine stands 47 meters in the middle of the complex surrounded with smaller temples. Prambanan has a bas-relief on the inner side of the gate around the three main shrine. The bas-relief tells the story about Ramayana and can be read from the east gate clockwise around the inner compound.

Bhurloka

The base of the temples, as well as the outer square is the underworld. It was a large space marked by a rectangular wall. This is a place for ordinary folk, mortals, both human and animal. This is the place where lust and desire are commonplace. It is an unholy area. Bhurloka is 390 square meters wide, it used to have stone walls surrounding it.

Bhuvarloka

The central body of the temples and the middle square of the complex, represents the ‘middle world’ the place for those who have left their worldly possessions. This is where people begin to see the light of truth. The middle world had four rows of 224 small individual shrines, where all shrines are identical. Bhuvarloka is 222 square meters wide and used to have stone walls. This compound consist of four levels, with the innermost level the highest. The first level has 68 small stupas divided into four rows. The second level has 60 stupas. The third level has 52 stupas, and the top level has 44 stupas. All stupas in this compound has the same size, 6 meters wide and 14 meters high. Almost all structure in the middle square is now in ruins.

Svarloka

The top of the temples and the innermost square represents the realm of the gods, the holiest zone, and is crowned. There are 16 temples that consist of 3 main temples: Brahma the Creator, Shiva the Destroyer, and Vishnu the Keeper. Shiva temple is the biggest and the tallest amongst all with 47.6m high, while Brahma and Vishnu are 33m high. In addition to the three main temples, there are three Wahana Temples, four Kelir Temples, two Apit Temples and four Patok Temples.

The Svarloka area is 110 square meters wide and 1,5 meters higher than the central area. This area is surrounded with stone walls, with four Gapura Paduraksa on four sides, only the southern gate is still in its original state. In front of the gate is a small square stupas 4 meters high.

There are three main temples dedicated to the trimurti. Across the trimurti temples are the Wahana (vehicle) temples. Each temple is named after the vehicle of the gods. Garuda temple is across Vishnu, Nandi (ox) temple is the vehicle for Shiva, and Angsa (swan) temple for Brahma.


PRAMBANAN BALLET
We visited Prambanan twice. The first visit is on 26 December 2019 on 9pm. When we arrived at Jogjakarta, we immediately went to our hotel. The hotel that we booked is near to Prambanan. We just need to drive about 5 minuted to go to the temple. On our first visit, we watched the Prambanan ballet. The ballet is staged in Trimurti Building since it was raining season. If its not raining season it will staged outdoor. 

The story that is staged is the story of Ramayana. Its about the story of Rama and Sinta. The show is really outstanding. The dancers dance very well. 



The show last for about an hour. There is also a break session. In front of the building, there are free drinks and foods provided. You won't regret watching this show. Besides of Ramaya, they also have another dance which is the story of Roro Jonggrang. This event is not everyday, there is already a schedule. If you want to look at this show, you have to booked the ticket first. For more information you can click here

STROLLING THROUGH PRAMBANAN TEMPLE 
On 3oth December 2019, we went to Prambanan Temple again. But this time, we're going inside. On our first visit we didn't go inside because its too late. We already moved to a different hotel at the center of the city, so we have to leave the hotel early. We left the hotel at 5.30am. It took about half an hour to arrived at Prambanan. When we arrived, the temple was still not open yet and there were only a few people there. The temple itself is open at 6 am until 5 pm. 

The ticket prices are not expensive too. Its in range Rp 25.000-Rp 75.000. 

Harga Tiket Candi Prambanan
Tiket Dewasa (10 tahun keatas)Rp50.000
Tiket Anak (Usia 3-10 tahun)Rp25.000
Tarif khusus rombongan pelajar >20 orangRp25.000
Tiket Terusan Prambanan-Borobudur DewasaRp75.000
Tiket Terusan Prambanan-Borobudur Anak (3-10 Tahun)Rp35.000
Tiket Terusan Prambanan-Ratu Boko DewasaRp75.000
Tiket Terusan Prambanan-Ratu Boko Anak (3-10 Tahun)Rp35.000
Tiket Terusan Prambanan-Plaosan-Sojiwan DewasaRp75.000
Tiket Terusan Prambanan-Plaosan-Sojiwan Anak (3-10 Tahun)Rp35.000

TIPS : Prambanan at 9am above is alredy super crowded and hot. For your convenience, make sure you arrived before the 9am or before the opening hour (6am) to avoid crowd. 

We bought tickets and finally got in. The weather was really nice and it was really quiet. We booked a car and a tour guide since the temple was too big. 

There are so many temples in Prambanan, it consist of :
  • 3 Trimurti temples: three main temples dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma
  • 3 Vahana temples: three temples in front of Trimurti temples dedicated to the vahana of each gods; Garuda, Nandi and Hamsa
  • 2 Apit temples: two temples located between the rows of Trimurti and Vahana temples on north and south side
  • 4 Kelir temples: four small shrines located on 4 cardinal directions right beyond the 4 main gates of inner zone
  • 4 Patok temples: four small shrines located on 4 corners of inner zone
  • 224 Pervara temples: hundreds of temples arranged in 4 concentric square rows; numbers of temples from inner row to outer row are: 44, 52, 60, and 68

If you want to read more, you can click here






So that's all for my post. I hope this post can give you more information about Prambanan Temple. If you're going to go here during Corona, don't forget to apply health protocols. 

If you're planning to go here, here's some link for booking the tickets.







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