Kewu Plain

Kewu Plain, also known as Prambanan Plain or Opak River valley, is a fertile volcanic plain that lies between Merapi-Merbabu complex in the north, Bantul lowlands and Sewu karst limestone range in the south, Bengawan Solo river valley in east, and the Progo River in the west, and Kedu Plain on northwest. It is located within the Yogyakarta Special Region,Sleman Regency, Klaten Regency and Solo City (Central Java).

Historically the area was identified as Mataram, it was the center of both Medang i Bhumi Mataram kingdom in the 8th to 10th centuries, and later Mataram Sultanate in the 16th century. It has been an important location in Central Javanese history and culture for over a millennium, since it contains many ancient archaeological remnants of historic significance. If each temples structure was counted separately, the 9th century Central Java period could be said to have produced thousands of temples, scattered from Shiva (Dieng) Plateau, Kedu Plain to Kewu Plain.

Apart from the Prambanan Lara Jonggrang complex, Kewu Plain, valley and hills around it is the location of some of the earliest Hindu-Buddhist temples in Indonesia. Adjacent to the complex to the north are Bubrah temple, Lumbung temple, and Sewu temple; to the east are found Plaosan temple. Kalasan temple and Sari temple are to the west, and further is the Sambisari temple. The Ratu Boko compounds are on higher ground just to the south. The discoveries of archaeological sites scattered only a few miles away suggested that this area was once an important religious, political, and urban center of central Java. Despite the smaller scale of its temples, the diversity and sophistication of the archaeological sites in this plain are comparable to Angkor archaeological site in Cambodia.

Prambanan

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 (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Shiva). The temple compound is located approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of the city of Yogyakarta on the boundary between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces.

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 across the world.

History

Construction

The Prambanan temple is the largest Hindu temple of ancient Java, and the first building was completed in the mid-9th century. It was likely started by Rakai Pikatan as the Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty's answer to the Buddhist Sailendra Dynasty's Borobudur and Sewu temples nearby. Historians suggest that the construction of Prambanan probably was meant to mark the return of the Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty to power in Central Java after almost a century of Buddhist Sailendra Dynasty domination. The construction of this massive Hindu temple signifies that the Medang court had shifted its patronage from Mahayana Buddhism to Shivaist Hinduism.