Prambanan Temples-Yogjakarta-Central Java-Indonesia
The Most Beautiful
in the World Hindu Temple
Prambanan is the largest temple compound dedicated to Shiva in
The temples at Prambanan village are the best remaining examples of Java’s period of Hindu cultural development. Not only do these temples form the largest Hindu temple complex in Java, but the wealth of sculptural detail on the great Shiva temple makes it easily the most outstanding examples of Hindu art.
All the temples in the Prambanan area were built between the 8th and 10th centuries AD, when java was ruled by the Buddhist Sailendras in the south and the Hindu Sanjayas of Old Mataram in the north. Possibly by the second half of the 9th century, these two dysnasties were united by the marriage of Rakai Pikatan of Hindu Mataram and the Buddhist Sailendra princess Pramodhavardhani. This may explain why a number of temples, including those of the Prambanan temple complex and the smaller Plaosan group, reveal Shivaite and Buddhist elements in architecture and sculpture. These two elements are also found to some degree in