Prambanan Hindu temples in Java, Indonesia

Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands of which 7,000 are inhabited. Java is one of the larger islands with several volcanic peaks. These are considered sacred because the volcanic ash makes the land fertile. The mountains collect river water that irrigate the fields. Around Mount Merapi, we find great temples built here between the 8th and 9th century by the local Shailendra and Sanjay kings. They built the Prambanan Hindu temple. We know they are tantric because an aerial view reveals that they are built on radially symmetrical square-shaped mandalas with four doorways. 

The Hindu site of Prambanan is designed like a court. There is a central court. The peripheral part is made of hundreds of small temples, arranged in four rows. These tiny temples house minor gods from around the universe, and the countryside, which pay obeisance to the central court. In the central court, we find a temple to Shiva. In this temple are also images of Ganesh, Durga, and Agastya, Shiva’s favourite rishi who travelled from north to south. On either side of the Shiva temple are temples dedicated to Brahma and to Vishnu. 

On the Brahma side, there are images of hermits. On the Vishnu side, we find images of kings and apsaras. These contrasting images show the spiritual and material worlds. In front of these three temples, with tall pyramidal roofs of the Hindu Trinity are temples dedicated to their respective mounts: Nandi, the bull of Shiva; Garuda, the eagle for Vishnu; and Hansa, the swan of Brahma. On the left and right side are temples which probably once housed images of Lakshmi and Saraswati. The temple walls also have panels illustrating episodes of the Ramayana, the story of Krishna defeating asuras while he was protecting the cows, including the episode of killing Kalia. 

These temples were active in the 8th and 9th centuries. However, after a volcanic eruption, they were abandoned and forgotten. They were rediscovered in the 19th century. People should not forget the great Hindu legacy of Indonesia.

- Devdutt Pattanaik

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