Prambanan Temple
प्रम्बनान मंदिर
The towering 9th-century Shivagriha of Java, the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia, where the great central spire rises to Shiva Mahadeva amid the Trimurti and the carved Ramayana
Yogyakarta, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Prambanan (Śiwagṛha / Rara Jonggrang)Also known as: Shivagriha, Rara Jonggrang, Loro Jonggrang, Candi Prambanan
Prambanan Temple
प्रम्बनान मंदिर
युग
A ninth-century Hindu temple compound, built c. 850 CE under the Sanjaya dynasty of the Mataram kingdom; collapsed and abandoned over the following centuries and reconstructed by archaeologists in the twentieth century; a UNESCO World Heritage Site
वास्तुकला
Classical Central Javanese Hindu temple architecture, a soaring Trimurti compound of tall, slender candi crowned with ratna finials and ringed by galleries carved with the Ramayana; the central Shiva temple rises about 47 metres
विशेष
Prambanan is a ticketed archaeological park and heritage monument rather than a temple of daily puja. It is open to visitors during park hours, which are set by the managing authority and vary seasonally; there is no daily aarti in the Indian sense. Hindu ceremonies are held at the compound on particular days of the Balinese-Javanese Hindu calendar, above all the Tawur Agung Kesanga before Nyepi, and the Ramayana Ballet is performed in season. Confirm park hours, ceremony dates and performance schedules with the official managing authority before visiting.
पवित्र कथा · पवित्र कथा
Prambanan is the great temple-mountain of Hindu Java, the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia, raised in the ninth century on the fertile plain near Yogyakarta and dedicated, above all, to Shiva. Its ancient name, recorded in a stone inscription of 856 CE, is Shivagriha, the House of Shiva, and the towering central temple, rising some forty-seven metres into the Javanese sky, is his: within its chambers stand Shiva Mahadeva, the sage Agastya, Ganesha, and Durga, ringed by the carved story of the Ramayana. The compound is built to the Trimurti, the three great forms of God in the Hindu tradition. The central and tallest temple belongs to Shiva; to its sides rise the temples of Vishnu and Brahma, and facing each of the three, across the inner court, stand the shrines of their vahanas, the bull Nandi for Shiva, the eagle Garuda for Vishnu, and the swan Hamsa for Brahma. Around this heart once clustered hundreds of smaller shrines, the perwara temples, so that the whole was a vast city of stone raised to the gods. Prambanan was built under the Sanjaya line of the Mataram kingdom of Central Java, in an age when Hindu and Buddhist power stood side by side, the Shaiva compound rising not far from the great Buddhist stupa of Borobudur. It is honest to say that Prambanan is not a temple of unbroken living worship: within a century of its raising the court moved to East Java, the compound was neglected, and across the centuries earthquakes threw down its towers and the jungle covered its stones. It was the archaeologists of the twentieth century who lifted it again, piece by fallen piece, and today it stands chiefly as a heritage monument and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yet the sacred life of the place has not wholly ended. Indonesian Hindus once more gather at Prambanan for their great festivals, above all the Tawur Agung Kesanga ceremony held at the compound before Nyepi, the day of silence, and for Galungan and other observances, and the Ramayana that is carved on its walls is danced each season in the famous Ramayana Ballet beneath its floodlit spires. Prambanan joins the deep antiquity of Hindu Java, the grandeur of its Shaiva architecture, and a quiet, honest revival of worship in the largest House of Shiva the archipelago ever built.
Sacred Designationपवित्र पदनाम
Sacred Origin Storyपवित्र उत्पत्ति कथा
Source: The Shaiva and Trimurti tradition of classical Hindu Java
Prambanan was raised as Shivagriha, the House of Shiva, and its sacred meaning is written into its very plan. At the heart of the compound stands the tallest temple, and it belongs to Shiva Mahadeva, the Great Lord, the god of dissolution and renewal whose dance turns the ages of the world. In the main chamber of his temple stands the image of Shiva as Mahadeva; in the chambers about it stand the sage Agastya, who in the Javanese tradition carries the teaching of Shiva to the south and the islands, Ganesha the remover of obstacles and son of Shiva, and Durga, the goddess in her victorious form as slayer of the buffalo-demon.
The compound is built to the Trimurti, the threefold form in which the one divine is worshipped as creator, preserver and destroyer. Shiva stands at the centre, and to his sides rise the temples of Vishnu, the preserver, and Brahma, the creator, so that the three great functions of the cosmos are set in stone side by side. Facing each god, across the court, kneels the shrine of his mount: Nandi the bull before Shiva, Garuda the eagle before Vishnu, Hamsa the swan before Brahma, the vahanas that carry the gods and stand as their ever-ready servants.
Around the walls of the Shiva and Brahma temples runs the carved story of the Ramayana, the deeds of Rama, avatar of Vishnu, his exile and the taking of Sita, the war for her recovery and the burning of Lanka, so that the pilgrim who walks the galleries reads the epic in stone as he circles the gods. On the Vishnu temple the reliefs turn to the deeds of Krishna. The whole compound is thus a teaching in stone: the Trimurti at the centre, the vahanas facing them, the great epics carried around the galleries, and above all the towering house of Shiva rising over the Javanese plain.
उद्धृत स्रोत:
- The Shivagrha inscription (Prasasti Shivagrha), 856 CE
- Shaiva and Trimurti tradition of classical Hindu Java
- Iconographic and epigraphic scholarship on Central Javanese temples
अन्य परंपराएँ · अन्य परंपराएँ
The Javanese folk legend of Rara Jonggrang
विद्वत संदर्भ
Prambanan stands at the height of the classical Hindu-Buddhist civilisation of Central Java. It was built under the Mataram kingdom, the traditional accounts attributing its founding to the Sanjaya line, in the middle of the ninth century, and the Shivagrha inscription of 856 CE, issued in the reign of the Mataram king remembered as Rakai Pikatan or his successor, records the dedication of a great temple to Shiva, from which the compound's ancient name of Shivagriha is drawn. Scholars read the compound as a Shaiva foundation raised in an age when Shaiva and Mahayana Buddhist patronage stood side by side in Java, the Hindu Prambanan rising within a generation or two of the great Buddhist stupa of Borobudur not far away, so that the two monuments together mark the religious grandeur of Mataram. The compound as planned was vast: three great temples to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma in the inner court, three facing temples to their vahanas, and rows upon rows of smaller perwara temples in the outer courts, numbering in the hundreds. The reliefs of the Ramayana around the Shiva and Brahma temples, and of Krishna on the Vishnu temple, are among the finest narrative sculpture of ancient Southeast Asia. Within a century of its building, however, the centre of Mataram power shifted to East Java, for reasons debated by scholars that may include the eruptions of Merapi, and Prambanan was gradually abandoned. Over the following centuries earthquakes and volcanic activity brought down its towers, and the compound fell into ruin and was overgrown. It was noted by European surveyors from the eighteenth century, drew antiquarian and archaeological attention through the nineteenth, and was systematically reconstructed by anastylosis, the rebuilding of a monument from its own fallen stones, through the twentieth century, the main Shiva temple being completed in the 1950s. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991, and suffered damage in the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake, after which it was repaired. Eternal Raga presents Prambanan honestly as a heritage monument of the first rank, the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia, at which Indonesian Hindu worship has in modern times been revived on particular festival days.
Historyइतिहास
Prambanan is the greatest surviving monument of classical Hindu Java and the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia. It was built in the middle of the ninth century, around 850 CE, under the Mataram kingdom of Central Java, the traditional accounts attributing its founding to the Sanjaya line of kings, and its ancient name, Shivagriha, the House of Shiva, is recorded in the Shivagrha inscription of 856 CE. It was raised as a Shaiva compound, its towering central temple dedicated to Shiva Mahadeva, in an age when Shaiva Hindu and Mahayana Buddhist power stood side by side in Java, and it rose not far from the great Buddhist stupa of Borobudur.
The compound was conceived on a vast scale. In its inner court stood three great temples to the Trimurti, Shiva at the centre and tallest, Vishnu and Brahma to his sides, and facing them the three shrines of the vahanas, Nandi, Garuda and Hamsa. Around these clustered hundreds of smaller perwara temples in concentric courts. The galleries of the Shiva and Brahma temples were carved with the story of the Ramayana, and the Vishnu temple with the deeds of Krishna, in some of the finest narrative relief of ancient Southeast Asia.
Within a century of its raising, the centre of Mataram power shifted to East Java, for reasons that scholars still debate and that may include the eruptions of the nearby volcano Mount Merapi, and Prambanan was gradually abandoned. Over the centuries that followed, earthquakes threw down its towers, volcanic activity and the growth of the jungle covered its stones, and the compound fell into a great field of ruin, remembered in the folk legend of Rara Jonggrang but no longer worshipped.
European surveyors noted the ruins from the eighteenth century, and antiquarian and then archaeological attention grew through the nineteenth, though the site also suffered from the carrying away of its stones. Systematic reconstruction by anastylosis, the rebuilding of the monument from its own fallen stones, began in the early twentieth century, and the main Shiva temple was completed and inaugurated in the 1950s. Prambanan was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. In 2006 a major earthquake struck the Yogyakarta region and damaged the compound, after which it was repaired and stabilised.
Today Prambanan stands chiefly as a heritage monument and archaeological park, one of the great cultural landmarks of Indonesia. Its worship is not the unbroken daily puja of a living temple, but the sacred life of the place has been revived in modern times: Indonesian Hindus gather there for their festivals, above all the Tawur Agung Kesanga ceremony held before Nyepi, the day of silence, and for Galungan and other observances, and the Ramayana carved on its walls is danced each season in the celebrated Ramayana Ballet beneath the floodlit spires. Prambanan thus joins the deep antiquity of Hindu Java, the grandeur of its Shaiva architecture, and a quiet revival of worship in the largest House of Shiva the archipelago ever built.
Historical Timelineऐतिहासिक कालक्रम
The great Shaiva compound of Prambanan is begun on the plain near Yogyakarta under the Mataram kingdom of Central Java, the traditional accounts attributing its founding to the Sanjaya line of kings.
The precise dating and royal attribution are reconstructed from inscriptions and architectural study; the founding is placed around the middle of the ninth century.
The Shivagrha inscription (Prasasti Shivagrha) records the dedication of a great temple to Shiva, from which the compound's ancient name of Shivagriha, the House of Shiva, is drawn.
The inscription is dated to the reign of the Mataram ruler remembered as Rakai Pikatan or his successor; it is the key epigraphic source for the compound's dedication.
The compound is expanded with the temples of the Trimurti and their vahanas and with hundreds of smaller perwara temples in concentric courts, and its galleries are carved with the Ramayana and the deeds of Krishna.
The perwara temples once numbered in the hundreds; many survive only as rubble, since anastylosis rules permit rebuilding only where enough original stone survives.
The centre of Mataram power shifts to East Java, for reasons still debated that may include eruptions of Mount Merapi, and the great compound at Prambanan begins to be neglected.
The reasons for the shift of the court eastward are debated; volcanic activity, political change and economic factors have all been proposed.
Earthquakes and volcanic activity throw down the towers of Prambanan and the jungle covers its stones, and the abandoned compound falls into a vast field of ruin.
The compound lies in a seismically active zone near Mount Merapi, and repeated earthquakes are held to have brought down its structures over the centuries.
The ruins of Prambanan are brought to wider notice by European survey during the colonial period, drawing the first modern documentation of the abandoned compound.
The ruins had never been wholly forgotten locally, being remembered in the Rara Jonggrang legend, but European survey brought them into scholarly record.
Antiquarian and archaeological attention to Prambanan grows through the nineteenth century, though the site also suffers from the carrying away of its stones before its protection.
Stones from the ruined compound were removed for building and collection before systematic conservation began, complicating the later reconstruction.
Systematic reconstruction of Prambanan by anastylosis, the rebuilding of the monument from its own fallen stones, begins under the archaeologists of the colonial period.
Anastylosis requires that enough original material survive for a structure to be rebuilt; where too little remains, temples were left as their foundations, which is why many perwara shrines stand only as stone fields.
The reconstruction of the great central temple of Shiva is completed and the rebuilt temple is inaugurated, restoring the towering heart of the compound after centuries of ruin.
The completion of the main Shiva temple marked the recovery of the compound's central monument; work on the other temples and the perwara shrines continued for decades.
Prambanan is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised as an outstanding masterpiece of classical Hindu architecture and the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia.
The inscription recognises the outstanding universal value of the Prambanan temple compounds among the monuments of ancient Central Java.
A major earthquake strikes the Yogyakarta region and damages the compound, dislodging stones and cracking structures; the temples are subsequently repaired and stabilised.
The 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake caused significant damage; parts of the compound were closed for assessment and repair before reopening.
Prambanan stands as a ticketed archaeological park and heritage monument at which Indonesian Hindus hold annual ceremonies, above all the Tawur Agung Kesanga before Nyepi, and where the Ramayana Ballet is performed beneath the floodlit spires.
What You'll Seeदर्शन में
The controlling image of Prambanan is the towering central temple of Shiva Mahadeva, rising about forty-seven metres over the Javanese plain, the tallest of the compound and the visible declaration that this is Shivagriha, the House of Shiva. In the main chamber of that temple stands the great image of Shiva as Mahadeva, the Great Lord, and around him, in the chambers of the same temple, stand three further figures that together carry the fullness of the Shaiva iconography: the sage Agastya, revered in Java as the bearer of Shiva's teaching to the south; Ganesha, the elephant-headed remover of obstacles and son of Shiva; and Durga Mahishasuramardini, the goddess in her victorious form as slayer of the buffalo-demon, whose image in the northern chamber is the one the Javanese folk tradition calls Rara Jonggrang.
The compound as a whole is an icon of the Trimurti. Shiva stands at the centre; Vishnu the preserver and Brahma the creator rise to his sides, each in his own temple, so that the threefold form of the divine is set out in stone. Facing the three gods across the inner court kneel the shrines of their vahanas, the mounts that carry them: Nandi the bull, ever the servant and companion of Shiva, before the central temple; Garuda the eagle, mount of Vishnu; and Hamsa the swan, mount of Brahma. The pairing of each god with his vahana completes the iconographic scheme of the inner court.
Around the inner galleries of the Shiva and Brahma temples runs the carved Ramayana, the deeds of Rama read in a continuous band of relief as the visitor circumambulates, and on the Vishnu temple the reliefs turn to the life of Krishna. The narrative sculpture, the tall slender towers crowned with their ratna finials, and the great Shiva at the centre together make Prambanan one of the supreme achievements of Hindu art in Southeast Asia, an iconography in which the whole compound, and not only the images within it, teaches the order of the gods.
Distinctive Practicesविशिष्ट परंपराएँ
Reading the Ramayana in the Galleries
दीर्घाओं में रामायण का पठन
As one circumambulates the Shiva and Brahma temples
The distinctive practice at Prambanan is the walking of the inner galleries of the Shiva and Brahma temples, where the story of the Ramayana is carved in a continuous band of relief, so that the visitor follows the deeds of Rama, panel by panel, as he circumambulates the central temples in the traditional clockwise direction.
In the classical Hindu temple, to circumambulate the shrine clockwise, keeping it to one's right, is itself an act of reverence, and at Prambanan this circumambulation is joined to the reading of the epic. The Ramayana carved on the galleries is not mere ornament but a teaching: the exile of Rama, the taking and search for Sita, the alliance with the vanaras and the war for her recovery, the triumph of dharma over the demon king. To walk the reliefs is to move through the story as a pilgrim moves through a sacred narrative, the deeds of Rama, avatar of Vishnu, unfolding around the house of Shiva, so that the whole compound becomes a place where the epic is not only told but walked.
The Revived Hindu Ceremonies at the Compound
परिसर में पुनर्जीवित हिंदू समारोह
On the festival days of the Indonesian Hindu calendar
Although Prambanan is not a temple of unbroken daily worship, Indonesian Hindus have in modern times revived the sacred life of the place, gathering at the compound for their great festivals, above all the Tawur Agung Kesanga ceremony held there before Nyepi, the day of silence, and for Galungan and other observances, so that Hindu prayer and offering return to the ancient stones on particular days.
The return of Hindu ceremony to Prambanan is a conscious act of continuity, joining the Indonesian Hindu community of the present, whose living tradition endures above all in Bali and among the Hindus of Java, to the great Shaiva foundation of the Mataram past. To hold the Tawur Agung Kesanga, a rite of cleansing and offering that restores balance before the silence of Nyepi, at the largest ancient House of Shiva in the archipelago is to reclaim the compound not only as a monument but as a place of worship. Eternal Raga records this honestly as a modern revival rather than an unbroken tradition, a living Hindu observance brought back to a heritage site of the deepest antiquity.
The Ramayana Ballet beneath the Spires
शिखरों के नीचे रामायण बैले
In the performance season, on the open-air and indoor stages at the compound
The Ramayana that is carved on the walls of Prambanan is danced each season in the celebrated Ramayana Ballet, the Sendratari Ramayana, performed on the stages beside the compound with the floodlit spires of the temples as a backdrop, so that the epic told in stone by day is told in dance and music by night.
The Ramayana Ballet is a cultural rather than a strictly ritual practice, but it keeps the story of Rama living in the place that was built to hold it in stone. In the Javanese tradition the dance-drama is a high art, and to perform the Ramayana beneath the very temples whose galleries carry its reliefs binds the ancient monument to the living culture of Java. For many who come, the ballet is the way the epic and the compound are first encountered together, the deeds of Rama, dharma's exile and triumph, danced where they were carved a thousand years before.
Did You Know?क्या आप जानते हैं?
Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia and one of the largest in Southeast Asia, its central temple of Shiva rising about forty-seven metres over the Javanese plain.
UNESCO World Heritage documentation; architectural surveys of Prambanan
The compound's ancient name is Shivagriha, the House of Shiva, recorded in the Shivagrha inscription of 856 CE, and the great central temple is dedicated to Shiva Mahadeva.
The Shivagrha inscription (Prasasti Shivagrha), 856 CE
Prambanan is built to the Trimurti, with three great temples to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma facing three shrines to their vahanas, Nandi the bull, Garuda the eagle and Hamsa the swan.
Iconographic study of the Prambanan compound
The image of Durga in the northern chamber of the Shiva temple is popularly called Rara Jonggrang, the Slender Maiden, from the Javanese folk legend of the princess turned to stone, which gives Prambanan its best-loved local name.
Javanese folk tradition of Rara Jonggrang
The story of the Ramayana is carved in a continuous band of relief around the galleries of the Shiva and Brahma temples, while the Vishnu temple carries reliefs of the deeds of Krishna.
Narrative relief studies of Prambanan
Prambanan was built within a generation or two of the great Buddhist stupa of Borobudur nearby, so that the two monuments together mark the coexistence of Hindu and Buddhist power in ninth-century Mataram Java.
Historical scholarship on Mataram Java
The compound as planned held hundreds of smaller perwara temples in concentric courts; because reconstruction by anastylosis needs enough original stone, many of these survive only as fields of rubble and foundation.
Conservation records of Prambanan
After centuries of ruin from earthquakes and abandonment, Prambanan was rebuilt by archaeologists in the twentieth century, its main Shiva temple completed in the 1950s, and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991.
Reconstruction records; UNESCO World Heritage inscription
The 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake damaged the compound, which was afterwards repaired and stabilised; Prambanan stands in a seismically active zone within sight of the active volcano Mount Merapi.
Post-earthquake conservation reports on Prambanan
Visitor Accessप्रवेश जानकारी
Prambanan is a ticketed archaeological park and UNESCO World Heritage monument rather than a temple of daily puja, and access follows the rules of the managing authority. Visitors buy an entry ticket, and the compound is open during park hours, which are set by the authority and vary seasonally. As at other Indonesian heritage temples, a sarong is provided at the entrance to be worn over the lower body as a mark of respect, and modest dress is expected. For reasons of conservation and safety after earthquakes, entry into the inner chambers of the temples may at times be restricted, and visitors may not be able to climb or enter certain structures; follow the posted rules and the directions of the park staff. The compound lies within sight of the active volcano Mount Merapi, and in periods of heightened volcanic activity or after seismic events parts of the park may be closed. Confirm park hours, ticketing, any access restrictions, ceremony dates and the Ramayana Ballet schedule with the official managing authority before visiting.
आध्यात्मिक आधार
The restrictions at Prambanan arise not from ritual exclusion but from the twin duties of conserving a monument of the deepest antiquity and keeping visitors safe in a seismically active place. The compound is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the care of its fragile, reconstructed stone requires that entry be managed and that some structures be kept from climbing or touch. At the same time, the sarong worn at the entrance and the modest dress expected of visitors carry the older meaning of respect owed to a sacred place: even as a heritage monument, Prambanan was raised as the House of Shiva, and Indonesian Hindus return to it for their ceremonies. The rules of the park thus hold together the reverence due to a temple and the stewardship due to a world monument, and to observe them is both to honour the gods to whom the compound was built and to help preserve it for those who will come after.
समकालीन संदर्भ
Prambanan today is one of the great cultural landmarks of Indonesia, a heritage monument and archaeological park drawing large numbers of visitors from Indonesia and abroad, often visited together with the nearby Buddhist stupa of Borobudur. The city of Yogyakarta, a short distance away, is the usual base for a visit. Although it is not a temple of unbroken daily worship, the sacred life of the compound has been revived in modern times. Indonesian Hindus, whose living tradition endures above all in Bali and among the Hindus of Java, gather at Prambanan for the Tawur Agung Kesanga before Nyepi and for other festivals, and the Ramayana Ballet is performed in season beneath the floodlit spires. The compound thus stands at once as a monument of the classical Hindu past, a working heritage and cultural site, and a place to which Hindu worship has honestly returned on particular days of the year.
व्यावहारिक मार्गदर्शन
Prambanan is easily reached from Yogyakarta, about seventeen kilometres to the southwest, by car, taxi or the local transport that serves the compound; many visitors combine it with Borobudur. Buy the entry ticket at the gate or online through the official channel, wear the sarong provided and dress modestly. Come early in the day or in the late afternoon to avoid the heat and the largest crowds, and allow time to walk the inner galleries and read the Ramayana reliefs as you circle the central temples. Follow the posted rules on entering the chambers, which may be restricted for conservation or after seismic events. If you wish to see the Ramayana Ballet or to be present for a Hindu ceremony such as the Tawur Agung Kesanga before Nyepi, check the dates and schedules with the official managing authority in advance, and confirm current park hours and any access restrictions before travelling.
Festivalsत्योहार
Tawur Agung Kesanga and Nyepi
तवुर अगुंग केसंगा और न्येपि
Mar (around the spring new moon, before Nyepi)
The Tawur Agung Kesanga is a great ceremony of cleansing and offering held at Prambanan by Indonesian Hindus on the day before Nyepi, the day of silence that opens the Saka new year. Its offerings and rites are held to restore the balance of the world and drive off negative forces before the stillness of Nyepi, and its celebration at the largest ancient House of Shiva in the archipelago is the foremost Hindu observance now held at the compound.
Galungan
गलुंगन
By the 210-day Pawukon calendar
Galungan is among the greatest festivals of the Indonesian Hindu tradition, marking the victory of dharma over adharma and the descent of the ancestral and divine spirits to the world, observed on the cycle of the 210-day Pawukon calendar. Indonesian Hindus keep it with prayer and offering, and it is among the observances that bring the living Hindu tradition to the ancient compound of Prambanan.
Kuningan
कुनिंगन
Ten days after Galungan (Pawukon calendar)
Kuningan falls ten days after Galungan and closes its season, the day on which, in the Indonesian Hindu tradition, the ancestral and divine spirits are honoured with offerings before they return, marked with yellow rice and special prayer. Kept by Indonesian Hindus in the days following Galungan, it belongs to the same cycle of festivals through which the living tradition returns to the ancient stones.
The Hindu prayer gatherings at Prambanan
प्रम्बानन में हिंदू प्रार्थना सभाएँ
On appointed days through the year
Beyond the great calendar festivals, Indonesian Hindus gather at Prambanan for prayer and offering on appointed days, reclaiming the ancient House of Shiva as a place of living worship. These gatherings, held honestly as a modern revival rather than an unbroken tradition, bring Hindu ceremony back to the compound and mark its standing not only as a heritage monument but as a sacred site once more.
Traditional Offeringsपारंपरिक अर्पण
प्राथमिक अर्पण
Bilva (bel) leaves
बिल्वपत्र (बेल के पत्ते)
बिल्वपत्र
The three-lobed bilva leaf is the offering dearest to Shiva in the Shaiva tradition for which Prambanan was built as the House of Shiva, its three lobes read as the three eyes or the trident of the Great Lord. Offered to Shiva Mahadeva, the bilva leaf carries the classical Shaiva worship the compound was raised to hold.
Water and abhisheka
जल और अभिषेक
अभिषेक
The pouring of water in abhisheka is central to the worship of Shiva, the cool stream held to please the Great Lord and to carry the devotee's prayer. In the Shaiva worship for which Prambanan was built, the bathing of the image of Shiva Mahadeva with water and sacred substances is the heart of the offering.
Flowers and canang sari
पुष्प और चनांग सारी
पुष्प
Flowers are offered to the gods in both the classical Shaiva worship and the living Indonesian Hindu tradition. In the present-day ceremonies at Prambanan, offerings are made in the Balinese-Javanese Hindu manner, including the canang sari, the small woven tray of flowers, leaves and fragrance laid before the divine as a daily gift of gratitude.
Incense and lamps
धूप और दीप
धूप
Incense and lamps are offered in the worship of Shiva as in all Hindu worship, the rising smoke and the flame carrying the prayer upward and bearing the light of the divine. In the ceremonies held at Prambanan, incense and light accompany the offerings of the Indonesian Hindu tradition as they did the classical Shaiva worship of the compound.
Fruits and rice offerings
फल और चावल की भेंट
नैवेद्य
Fruits, rice and prepared food are offered to the divine as naivedya and shared as blessing, a form of worship common to the classical tradition and the living Indonesian Hindu practice. In the present-day ceremonies at Prambanan, offerings of fruit and rice, arranged in the Balinese-Javanese manner, are laid before the gods as a gift of the earth's abundance.
इस मंदिर की विशेषता
The Offerings of the Tawur Agung Kesanga
तवुर अगुंग केसंगा की भेंटें
What is particular to Prambanan among the offerings made to Shiva is the great cleansing rite of the Tawur Agung Kesanga, held at the compound by Indonesian Hindus on the day before Nyepi. In this ceremony large and elaborate offerings are prepared and presented to restore the balance of the world and to drive off negative forces before the day of silence that opens the Saka new year. The offering here is not the daily seva of a living Indian temple, for Prambanan is a heritage monument rather than a temple of unbroken worship, but a solemn communal rite through which the Indonesian Hindu community reclaims the ancient House of Shiva as a place of offering. To bring the offerings of the Tawur Agung to the largest ancient Shaiva compound in the archipelago is to join the living tradition to the classical worship for which the compound was first raised, and Eternal Raga records this honestly as a modern revival at a monument of the deepest antiquity.
Offerings at Prambanan must be understood in two lights: the classical Shaiva worship, with bilva, water, flowers, incense and food, for which the compound was built as the House of Shiva a thousand years ago; and the living Indonesian Hindu ceremonies, in the Balinese-Javanese manner, revived at the compound in modern times, above all the Tawur Agung Kesanga before Nyepi. Prambanan is a heritage monument rather than a temple of daily seva; Eternal Raga presents these offerings as devotional tradition, historical and revived, and specific arrangements should be confirmed with the managing authority and the Hindu community.
How to Reachकैसे पहुँचें
Prambanan stands on the boundary of the Special Region of Yogyakarta and Central Java, about seventeen kilometres northeast of the city of Yogyakarta, on the plain near the Opak river and within sight of the volcano Mount Merapi.
By air: Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) at Kulon Progo, about forty-five kilometres away, is the main gateway, connected to Jakarta, Bali and other cities; the older Adisutjipto Airport lies closer to the compound. From the airport the compound is reached by road.
By rail: Yogyakarta's Tugu and Lempuyangan stations connect the city to Jakarta, Surabaya and the wider Java rail network, and there is a commuter rail service that halts at Prambanan; from the city, the compound is a short journey.
By road: Prambanan is easily reached from Yogyakarta by car, taxi and the local bus and transport that serve the site, the compound lying just off the main Yogyakarta–Solo road.
Many visitors combine Prambanan with the great Buddhist stupa of Borobudur, which lies to the northwest of Yogyakarta, taking in the two supreme monuments of ancient Central Java together. The city of Yogyakarta, with its full range of accommodation, is the usual base for a visit.
Plan Your Visitयात्रा की योजना
🌤 सर्वोत्तम मौसम
The dry season, roughly May to September, is the most comfortable time to visit, with clearer skies over the compound and the possibility, on a clear day, of the cone of Mount Merapi rising behind the temples. The wet season, roughly October to April, brings heavier rain and humidity to Central Java, though the compound is green and less crowded then. Early morning and late afternoon are the best times of day, avoiding the heat of midday and the largest crowds, and the light on the stone is finest then. Those who wish to see the Ramayana Ballet or to attend a Hindu ceremony such as the Tawur Agung Kesanga before Nyepi should plan around the performance season and the festival dates, checking both with the official managing authority in advance.
👘 पहनावे का नियम
Modest dress is expected at Prambanan as at a sacred heritage site. A sarong is provided at the entrance to be worn over the lower body, and shoulders and knees should be covered. Comfortable footwear is advisable for walking the compound, and a hat and water are wise against the sun.
📱 फोन और फोटोग्राफी
Photography of the compound and its exterior is generally welcomed, and Prambanan is among the most photographed monuments in Indonesia. Within the temple chambers, and during Hindu ceremonies, follow the posted rules and the directions of the staff, and be respectful of worshippers when ceremonies are held.
🏨 आवास
The city of Yogyakarta, a short distance to the southwest, offers a full range of accommodation from simple guesthouses to comfortable hotels and is the usual base for visiting Prambanan and the wider region. There is also accommodation nearer the compound and along the road toward Solo. Yogyakarta is a major cultural and student city with much to see beyond the temples, and staying there allows Prambanan and the nearby Buddhist stupa of Borobudur to be visited together. Demand rises around holidays and the festival and performance seasons, when booking ahead is advisable.
Sacred Soundsपवित्र ध्वनि
क्या आप जानते हैं? · Did You Know?
वही अनुवाद त्रुटि जिसने हिन्दू धर्म में '33 कोटि' को '33 करोड़' बनाया, बौद्ध धर्म में भी हुई। बौद्ध ग्रन्थों के चीनी अनुवाद ने 'सप्त कोटि बुद्ध' (7 श्रेष्ठ बुद्ध) का अनुवाद '7 करोड़ बुद्ध' कर दिया। तिब्बती अनुवाद ने सही किया: 7 प्रकार, 7 करोड़ नहीं। एक संस्कृत शब्द, दो प्रमुख विश्व धर्मों में गलत पढ़ा गया, ने दो एकसमान भ्रम स्वतन्त्र रूप से उत्पन्न किए।
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