It would not be surprising if some experts conclude that Prambanan and the vicinity was one time a center of culture and a capital city of an ancient kingdom. Their opinion is based on the fact that there are so many ancient remains and artifacts. It could be visualized that the building, houses and the Royal Palace (the Keraton) were made of wood, and only the temples were made of stones. That is why other remains were not found except the temples, which can hold for thousands of years.
From the inscriptions that have been found, no clues found of how political administration was exercised. Many experts have different opinion on this matter. However, they agreed that Ancient Hindu Mataram Kingdom reached their golden era between 8th and 10th century A. D.
On the 10th century A.D., there was a big movement of Mataram Kingdom from Central Java to East Java. No clear explanation of why there was a movement. Casparis stated that the movement of Hindu Mataram Kingdom to East Java could be due to economical and political reason. Central Java was indeed agricultural region, but the building of many temples which use heavy stones consumed much labor which cause their field unattended. This situation caused economical chaos from the economical point. Moreover, East Java, especially the area along Brantas River (a big river), had the potentiality to be a center of trade with foreign countries besides the agricultural potentials. Politically, Central Java was more vulnerable to any attack from outside. In this case, they moved the Kingdom to the East to strengthen the position. Another expert, B.J.0 Shrieke explained that the people of Central Java were very poor due to the building of many temples which consumed a lot of labor and cost.
This condition was conducive for people to leave Central Java to East Java. Shrieke's opinion was argued by Buchari (Indonesian epigraphologist), based on the study of ancient inscription, the movement to the East was caused by political turmoil and rebellion by some Princes, and not by the poverty of most people. Other expert like Yzerman stated that the movement of the Kingdom to East Java was caused by natural disaster, a vast volcanic eruption.
Inscriptional studies showed that at the early 10th century, political stability in Central Java was in jeopardy, so many rebellion and take over of government, but volcanic explosion ( may be Mount Merapi, North of Yogyakarta ) was the main cause of the movement. The evidences for this reason is based on the fact that there were many temples buried by lava and thick volcanic ash, for example the Sambisari Temple and Payak waterbed.
THE PRAMBANAN TEMPLES
Prabanan Temple ( also known as Lorojonggrang Temple ) was located at Bokoharjo Village, Prambanan, East of Yogyakarta. The exact date of when the Lorojonggrang Temple was built was still in argument. However, there are two opinion of who builds the Temple. One opinion stated that there was only one, dynasty, Cailendra Dynasty, before Lorojonggrang Temple was built. The second opinion stated that there were two dynasties, Cailendra and Sanjaya Dynasty. Cailendra Dynasty occupied the Southern part of Central Java, whereas Sanjaya Dynasty occupied the Northern part. Buddhist Temples were found mostly in the Southern part of Central Java, and that the Ciwa Temples (Hindu) were found in Northern part of Central Java.
It seemed that Sanjaya Dynasty existed before the Cailendra Dynasty with the center of authority in South Kedu (around Magelang, North of Yogyakarta ). This statement was based on Canggal Inscription ( 732 A.D. ). The Sanjaya Dynasty was then pushed to the North by the Cailendra Dynasty which arrived around 778 A.D. (Kalasan Inscription). The existence of Sanjaya Dynasty was also mentioned in Balitung inscription (708 A.D.). In that inscription it was stated that whenever a King died, the King became a "Dews" ( God, Devine). Based on the inscription studies, it showed the sequence of Kings in Sanjaya Dynasty as follows :
- Sanjaya (732 - 760 A.D.)
- Panangkaran (760 - 780 A.D.)
- Warak (800 - 819 A.D.)
- Garung (819 - 838 A.D.)
- Pikatan (838 - 851 A.D.)
- Kayuwangi (851 - 882 A.D.)
The Rise of Cailendra Dynasty was inscripted in Kalasan inscription, and was followed by other inscriptions, but the historical sequence was difficult to be followed and still a debate. Some inscriptions stated the possibility that both dynasties built the same holy temples as well ( Kalasan Inscription and short Inscription in Plaosan Temple ). On the short inscription two Kings were mentioned, Rakai Pikatan from Sanjaya Dynasty and Sri Kaluhunan from the Cailendra Dynasty. Casparis identified Sri Kaluhunan as the son of the latest King of Cailendra Dynasty, Samaratungga. According to Karang Tengah Inscription ( 824 A D. ), Samaratungga was also called Pramodawardani. The marriage of King and Queen with different religion ( Buddha and Ciwa/Hindu) seemed to influence the architecture of Prambanan Temple which was built by King Pikatan ( Sanjaya Dynasty ). The top of Prambanan Temple did not have a lingga type ( phallus type) but instead a ratna type ( ratna = diamond) which looked like a stupa.
At this point, the King who ordered the building of Lorojonggrang Temple is not convincing. According to the 856 A.D. inscription ( locality source is unknown, preserved in Jakarta Museum of Art ) stated that King Jatiningrat was replaced by Dyah Lokapala. Darmais and Casparis identified Dyah Lokapala as King Kayuwangi who issued Argapura Inscription ( 863 A.D.) According to Balitung inscription (907 A.D.), Kayuwangi was the King between 851-882 A.D. The King before Kayuwangi era was Rakai Pikatan, and thus be concluded that Jatiningrat was indeed Rakai Pikatan.
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The Balitung Inscription also described more detail on the structural arrangement of temples. On the 11 th line of the inscription, it stated that temple buildings were categorized into two kinds: the Ciwagraha (graha = a house) and Ciwalaya. The main temple (Ciwagraha) was built by the King, and smaller and lesser temples Ciwalaya ) were built by ordinary people regardless of social status.
The temples which were built by ordinary people had a row arrangement with similar height and forms. The main temple ( built by the King ) had its own wall, separated from the smaller temples. The main gate had a statue of Dwarapala, and at the east was planted a "Tanjung tree" which was considered sacred, as a way for God to descend to earth. Furthermore the temple complex had an irrigation system and buildings for the priests. When the building of Ciwa Temple was finished, the flow of a river was diverted passing alongside the walls of the main temple, separating the main temple ( Lorojonggrang Temple and the smaller temples.
From the inscriptional readings, it could be concluded that on the year 856 A.D. (the issuance of the inscription), Lorojonggrang Temple Buildings had been finished. It was Rakai Pikatan who built Lorojonggrang Temple. This evidence was shown by Casparis based on the Lorojonggrang inscription. There were 50 stones at Lorojonggrang Temple with inscriptions written in white, black and red color. The |
name of Rakai Pikatan was found among the inscription, and that the writing style found in Lorojonggrang Temple was similar to that in Plaosan Temple.
A. The Discovery and Restoration of Prambanan Temple
The discovery of Lorojonggrang Temple was reported by C.A. Lons in 1733. The temple was in ruined condition, abandoned among grass and tree vegetation. First effort to reveal the presence of a temple was done in 1885 by cleaning the site from grasses and shrubs followed by grouping the stones. This project was supervised by Yzerman, Groneman and van Erp. The work was continued in 1918.
Grouping and identifying the stones in detail followed by restructuring Ciwa Temple was done by van Erp. In 1937, restoration began under the supervision of Bosch, followed by Stuuerheim, van Ramound and others. The restoration was finished in December 20, 1953. About 240 temples undergone restoration, such as two Apit Temples (restored in 1923), four Kelir Temples, and four Corner Temples (Candi Sudut), two Perwara Temples, two entrance gates, the South Gate and the North Gate. The next restoration used the Government Routine Development Budget. Those restoration included Brahma Temple ( start restoration in 1978 ), Wisnu Temple (start restoration in 1982).
B. Structural Description and Arrangement
The Prambanan Temple is a group of Hindu temples, and was also known as Lorojonggrang Temple. The word Prambanan refers to the name of a District, Prambanan District, whereas Lorojonggrang refers to its actual name.
The temple complex has three concentric square
- Outer square (222 x 390 meters) surrounded by a 1 meter boundary wall.
- Middle square (110 x 110 meters) surrounded by a 1 meter boundary wall.
- Center square (34 x 34 meters) surrounded by a 1 meter boundary wall.
All the three squares have gates to connect the other squares. The outer square do not have temples. Inside the middle square there are 224 Perwara temples which are arranged in 4 rows of temples. The first row consists of 68 temples, followed by the second row (60 temples), the third row (52 temples) and the fourth row (44 temples ). The arrangement of temples is in such a way that shorter temples lies in the outside and getting higher toward the center. Inside the center square are sixteen small and big temples, Some of them are
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