Shiva . Mahadeva. Shankara. The greatest of all Gods. The God who is beyond Space and Time. The God other Gods worship and venerate. Those who dont’ understand call him the Destroyer. But, he isn’t. He ends the Universe at the end of time so that life can start again. While he may not be the Creator of the Universe, he is most likely the Divine Father, who along with the Divine Mother, Shakti, creates the God/s who create and nurture the Universe. Atleast, that is what the Shiva Mahapurana tells you.
When I visited Indonesia recently, one of the places i visited was the Prambanan Temple.
i was aware that the Ramayan was very popular in Java. But, i did not expect to discover a full fledged Shaivite Temple complex in Indonesia.
But, it shouldn’t have surprised me – the Cholas- great Shiva worshippers and a seafaring empire – had come as far as Sumatra – and it is not suprising that they left their cultural footprints in this beautiful place. The Prambanan temple complex reminds me a lot of the temples at Mahaballipuram – which are from the Pallava Era.
The Javanese word for temple is Candi – and Candi Parambanan – or th Parambanan temple (pronounce bramanan temple) is one of the two major temple complexes you will find in Yogyakarta – the other being Borabadur – which is Buddhist temple complex.
The temple is also called the Ramayan temple, because of the number of scenes from the epic that are carved in stone – on the outer walls.
The Shiva Temple is at the centre and flanked on either side by the Vishnu and the Brahma temples. There are temples to the vahana or divine vehicles as well . the Nandi Temple is the first temple that you see when you enter the complex.
The Nandi Temple – is just ahead of the Shiva temple – as is customary. The structure is imposing – to say the least. The Shiva temple is supposed to have two smaller chambers – one devoted to Ganesha – his son; and the other to the great Rishi Agastya . I say supposed to, becasue the temple was cordoned off.
The temples to the Trinity were damaged during the earthquake of 2006. They are currently being restored, stone by stone. ANd, it is a painstaking effort
I am going back to Yogyakarta (i really love that name ) and to visit Prambanan Temple . The next time, hopefully, it won’t be part of a larger shoot and i will have time to absorb the majesty of that place.
serene and beautiful
great pics !
thank you 🙂 the pictures don’t do justice to the place – it was simply mindblowing
i can imagine
You may like to do a similar feature on Badami (Vatapi), Aihole, Pattadakal.
These places are believed to be the birthplaces of modern temple architecture and apparently housed a temple architecture university.
The intricacies of architecture will require a quality guide. For example only a good guide will be able to explain that in the icon below below combination of any two hands, represent a Natya Shastra Mudra.
http://tinyurl.com/mx8jcl
If you plan to visit the place, I will be happy to provide you further details.
Hello ZIM & welcome to this blog
I would love to. the picture that you shared brough goosepimples. it was awe inspiring.
the same kind of feeling when i saw the Shiva temple in Indonesia – there is something that melts at the core of your heart – the connect to faith, and divinity.
would really appreciate the info.
thankyou
It is a pleasure contributing in such a nice blog.
The Nataraja icon in the image I sent, if you notice has a Ganesha on the right. Interestingly the Ganesha is not potbellied. Potbellied iconography is probably later evolution.
Could you drop me an email so that I can pass on details.
thanks for sharing this info and
AWE-inspiring pics
Candi Prambanan is one of my favourite temples. It is a pity it was damaged again by the latest earthquake. I had the privilige to visit the site several times before and it made a big impression on me.