Prambanan Temple, Yogyakarta

Special Distric Yogyakarta is one of the provinces of Indonesia which has so many tourism objects. Even in each regency of this province has it's own special tourism objects, starts from beaches, adventure objects (such as caves, rivers, waterfall), historical objects, education objects, religious objects, and many more. One of the most famous historical-religious object is Prambanan Temple which is located in Sleman, Yogyakarta. The exact location of this temple is around 17 kilometers at the Northeast of Yogyakarta city.

Full view of Prambanan Temple

History of Prambanan Temple

Prambanan Temple is one of Hindus' religious temple. The history stated that a long time ago, in 850, the temple was firstly built by Rakai Pikatan which was continued by the King Lokapala and Balitung Maha Sambu who was the king of Mataram Kingdom from Sanjaya Dynasty. Besides built the main temple, there was also the building process to build some other smaller temples, called Perwira Temple by King Daksa and Tulodong. The history of Prambanan Temple was also shown on the Prasasti Shivagrha. Based on this prasasti, this temple was built in regarded for Dewa Syiwa as the biggest God in Hindu. So, this temple was also called as Shiva-grha or the house of Dewa Syiwa.

After the Mataram Kingdom moved to East Java, this temple was left and finally shattered because of the big earthquake which happened in 16th century. Behind the ruins of the temple, there was Roro Jonggrang legend which was very famous within the society. The big restoration of this temple was started in 1930 until 1953. It was being legitimated by the first Indonesian precident, Ir. Soekarno.

Part of Prambanan Temple

Prambanan Temple consist of six temples. The first main temple is Syiwa Temple which is located at the middle part of the temple. Inside this temple there are the statue of Dewa Syiwa. Since at the other rooms of this main temple, there is Roro Jonggrang (Durga Mahisasuramardani) statue, so this middle temple is also well-known as Roro Jonggrang temple. There is one more statue at this Syiwa temple called Ganesha statue. At the wall of this main temple there are some reliefs which tell us the story about Ramayana. At the north side of Syiwa Temple, there is Wisnu Temple. Inside this temple, there is the statue of Dewa Wisnu, same as on the Syiwa Temple, at the wall of Wisnu Temple, there are some reliefs which continue the story of Ramayana. The third main temple is called Brahma Temple which is located at the south side of Syiwa Temple. There is the statue of Dewa Brahma inside this Brahma Temple, while at the wall there are still the reliefs which continue the Ramayana story.

Besides the three main temples, there are also three vehicle temples which located in front of each main temples. In front of Syiwa Temple, there is Nandi Temple which shows the statue of a holy cow as the vehicle of Dewa Syiwa. At the north side of Nandi temple, there is Garuda Temple. Inside this temple there is the statue of Mythical Bird which was believed as the vehicle of Dewa Wisnu. While in front of Brahma Temple, there is Angsa Temple. There is the statue of swan as the vehicle of Dewa Brahma. Not only these three vehicles temples, there are also two more temples which are called as Apit Temple (Candi Apit). They are located at the northest and the southest path between the main temples. Besides, those Apit Temples, there are also some Penjaga Temples (Candi Penjaga). Four of these Penjaga Temples are located at the upper front gate of Prambanan Temple.

Other Objects of Prambanan Temple

Prambanan Temple view at night

In addition there are also some other objects within the temple area, such as Prambanan Museum, little zoo which most of the faunas are deers,and shopping area. At the deer zoo, the visitors are allowed to feed the deers, even there are some people sell the deer's foods such as carrots and leafy vegetables. While at the shopping area, the visitors can do shopping. There are some shops which provide some souvenirs of Prambanan Temple, T-Shirts, Prambanan Statues, and some others handmade products. For the product's price, you don't need to be worry, since almost all of the products are sold in a competitive price even negotiable price. So, as long as you are good in bargaining, you will get the goods in a good price. :) In some occation, Prambanan also will conducted the special even which is called as Ramayana Ballet Prambanan. It is conducted annually and the participants are not only from Indonesia or Yogyakarta, but also from another countries in the Southeast Asia, such as Philippine, Thailand, and some other participant countries. The other general facilities you may found in Prambanan Temple such as toilet, mosque, restaurant, hall, meeting room, guest room, large parking area, and tour guides.

Ticketting Price and Access

Talking about the ticketting price, for domestics tourists it costs 30.000 IDR per person, while for foreign tourists it costs USD 18 per person. This object opens everyday from 6 am until 5 pm. For the access to go to this temple, it is quite easy, you can take Trans Jogja number which will drop you exactly at near by the temple. You may also take another public transportation such as bus. So whenever you go for vacation in Yogyakarta, I recommend you to visit this great and wonderful historical-religious temple also.