Photo: Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis/National Gallery of Australia
Prambanan Temple Complex is the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia and one of the most beautiful temples in Southeast Asia which is included in the UNESCO world heritage. This temple was built to worship the three main gods in Hinduism, namely Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma.
Judging from the size of the temples in this complex, the temple for Vishnu was made the largest, so it can be concluded that Vishnu was the most revered god in ancient Mataram. Based on an inscription it is also known that the original name of the Prambanan Temple Complex was Siwagrha, which means Shiva's House.
The Prambanan Temple complex began to be built in 856 and continues to be expanded by later generations of Mataram ruler. In the process of construction, a river flow was deflected so as not to damage the temple construction by making a new river flow and piling up the old one. This temple became the center of Hindu worship in Mataram Kingdom at that time.
Unfortunately, in 930 the capital city of the Mataram Kingdom was moved to East Java so that Prambanan Temple became neglected. The Prambanan Temple complex was badly damaged by a major earthquake in the 16th century. After that, its existence was only known by residents around the temple.
The world knew of the existence of this temple when Java was under British rule when Raffles ordered the search for ancient relics throughout Java. However, this temple remained neglected for decades later, until then a serious restoration was carried out on 1918-1939. After Indonesia's independence, the restoration of the Prambanan Temple Complex continued until around 1993.
The photo above shows the atmosphere inside the Prambanan Temple Complex in 1901. You can still clearly see the ruins of the temple that have not been restored.
In 2016 I visited this temple complex and saw how magnificent this building which was built by humans more than 1,000 years ago.