Prambanan Temple

Prambanan is in Indonesia, on the island of Java.

It has tall stone temples with pointed tops. Many smaller temples stand around them.

Prambanan Temple stands on the island of Java, on the border between the provinces of Yogyakarta and Central Java. Indonesia's official tourism website places it about 17 kilometers east of the center of Yogyakarta.

It is a Hindu temple complex made up of 240 temples, many of them now ruins. The main temple, in the middle, is up to 47 meters high, and two temples beside it are about 33 meters. Prambanan and several nearby temples, including a large Buddhist complex called Sewu, form a World Heritage Site.

The World Heritage property, the Prambanan Temple Compounds, lies on the border of the Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces. UNESCO describes two groups of buildings: Prambanan Temple (also called Loro Jonggrang), itself a complex of 240 temples, and Sewu, which UNESCO calls Indonesia's largest Buddhist complex, together with the Lumbung, Bubrah and Asu temples. In all there are 508 stone temples, some complete and some kept as ruins, and the 77-hectare property was placed under central government ownership by a presidential decree in 1992.

Indonesia's official tourism website gives the central temple a height of up to 47 m and the two beside it about 33 m. The property was inscribed in 1991 under criteria (i) and (iv).

The main temples are decorated with stone carvings.

Nearby is another group of temples called Sewu. It has four pairs of giant stone statues.

The main Hindu temples are decorated with carved stone pictures called reliefs, which UNESCO calls masterpieces of stone carving.

Sewu, a neighboring Buddhist complex, has a central temple surrounded by many smaller ones and four pairs of giant statues called Dwarapala. ICOMOS noticed that Sewu shares many design ideas with the Hindu temples of Prambanan. UNESCO calls the whole group of more than 500 temples proof of past peaceful living together between religions.

UNESCO calls Loro Jonggrang a brilliant example of Hindu religious bas-reliefs, and the reliefs on the main temples masterpieces of stone carving. Sewu, with its four pairs of Dwarapala giant statues, comprises a central temple surrounded by a multitude of minor ones. ICOMOS (1991) found it 'surprising' that the Buddhist Sewu shares many design attributes with the Hindu temple, and suggested this might show how far such temples also reflected state policies and control.

The ruined Lumbung, Bubrah and Asu temples lie between Sewu and Loro Jonggrang. With over 500 temples, UNESCO describes the compounds as an architectural and cultural treasure and 'a standing proof of past religious peaceful cohabitation'.

In the photo, tall pointed towers rise behind a stone wall.

In front, piles of fallen stones lie on the grass. A small temple with a dark doorway stands on the right.

In the photo you can see several tall, pointed towers behind a low stone wall, with a smaller temple on the right that has a dark doorway and steps. Piles of fallen stone blocks lie on the grass in front.

Indonesia's tourism website says the site is still used today for a ballet performed on an open stage with the temple in the background, for yearly cultural festivals and for teaching history.

The photo shows several of the tall towers rising behind the enclosure wall, a smaller shrine with a doorway and stairway in the foreground on the right, and heaps of loose stone blocks on the grass, many of the 240 temples that, as the tourism website notes, remain only as ruins.

UNESCO's statement found no threats of development or neglect, but noted that the area is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It said the area within the boundary was managed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism through the archaeological preservation offices of Yogyakarta and Central Java, and that the Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko tourism park company was responsible for the buffer zone. The tourism website adds that the site hosts a ballet on an open-air stage, annual cultural festivals and history education.