Pages

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Candi Prambanan : Prambanan Temples

 https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=prambanan%20temple%20compounds


Image result for prambanan temple compounds
Map of Prambanan
Prambanan 
Hindu temple in Indonesia
Candi Prambanan or Candi Rara Jonggrang is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Central Java, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer.Wikipedia
AddressPrambanan, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Opened856 AD
Hours
Open today · 7:30AM–5:30PM

Prambanan is not included in our tour package and we
 had to pay a million rupiah to join this tour.  Of 
course I paid up because we had come all the way to
 Jogjakarta and the trip would not be complete without this
iconic temple.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site
Before you go to the Temple proper you are treated to tea 
and cakes...with tea cups with the Prambanan logo



Prambanan Temple itself is a complex consisting of 240 temples. All the mentioned temples form the Prambanan Archaeological Park and were built during the heyday of Sailendra’s powerful dynasty in Java in the 8th century AD. These compounds are located on the border between the two provinces of Yogyakarta and Central Java on Java Island."


 So so awesome right? Picture yourself in the Sailendra Dynasty, 8th Century...not 2016.

 We were so excited we started snapping away, with the temples in the distance!


The temple compound, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia, and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia. It is characterized by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the towering 47-metre-high (154 ft) central building inside a large complex of individual temples.[ Prambanan attracts many visitors from around the world.[3]

 "Rising above the centre of the last of these concentric squares are three temples decorated with reliefs illustrating the epic of the Ramayana, dedicated to the three great Hindu divinities (Shiva, Vishnu andBrahma) and three temples dedicated to the animals who serve them."
 
Rising above the steps are 3 intrepid travellers ready to conquer the sights and sounds of Prambanan.
The rocks in the foreground are the results of destruction during one of the many earthquakes....


 As usual, our tour guide gave us background info on the temple...he was quite knowledgeable.
 Look at gigantic carving  perched on top of the arch....it was so awesome we had to stand under it for a photo
Nice, right?
 
 boggles the mind how they lifted the blocks o f carving and stacked them on top of each other....so many years ago!!!

 Can you notice a climber in orange among the carvings?


 There!!!! He is cleaning and dusting the Garuda face. 
 Other workers diligently cleaning the crevices, part of the day's job.


 I love this shady tree with interlocking trunks, so romantic.
Inside every grotto is a shrine and we can pray accordingly to ask for whatever the shrine stands for

I have actually forgotten what this shrine is!
 
I can only remember this: because tour guide says we must grope her breast!
He said that after groping her breast, you can wish for fuller, cuter and shapelier boobs like hers!!!

So, we left after dutifully visiting each temple.





 Prambanan Temple Compounds presents the grandiose culture of Siva art as a masterpiece of the classical period in Indonesia, and the region.

The Hindu temples are decorated with reliefs illustrating the Indonesian version of the Ramayana epic which are masterpieces of stone carvings. These are surrounded by hundreds of shrines that have been arranged in three parts showing high levels of stone building technology and architecture from the 8th century AD in Java. With over 500 temples, Prambanan Temple Compounds represents not only an architectural and cultural treasure, but also a standing proof of past religious peaceful cohabitation.



 These carvings are miraculously intact even after so many thousand of years...

 while some of these have eroded.
 Can you spot a worker climbing to the top of the temple for maintenance work? you have to take your hats off  to him!

Dangerous and perilous!


Waiting for the tour guide to continue the contnuing story of the Ramayana saga or epic...it's EPIC!!!

 Every block of picture carving (bas relief) depicts stories from the Ramayana and our tour guide was very diligent in telling the continuing story of Rama and his wife Sita...to my husband!
The bas-relief of Ramayana illustrate how Sita, the wife of Rama, is abducted by Ravana. The monkey king Hanuman brings his army to help Rama and rescue Sita

 My history book when I was a kid showed pictures of these too, can't believe I can actually visit one.
 My daughter said "Look Mummy!!!!! Ancient molest!" well, she does not know about Kamasutra, or does she?

 Show you a bigger picture of the boob grope.


 Even this man was not spared from the sarong ruling!
 nice sarong!!
 on leaving the temple ground, the tour guide alerted us to the picture of the Merapi volcano ...so clear today!
 Deadly Mount Merapi.

 so, we lfet the ancient temple of Prambanam


 Even the trees wore batik!
 And the Ramayana epic is staged in a Ballet too

Soon, we can add Prambanan into our bucket list.

No comments: