via Now Jakarta, 12 April 2023: A short piece about the Prambanan Temple.
The Prambanan temple complex can be traced back to the 9th century AD, during the rule of the Sailendra dynasty in Central Java. The Sailendra dynasty was a Buddhist dynasty that had established itself as a major power in the region, and had built several impressive Buddhist temples, including the famous Borobudur temple, a few decades prior to Prambanan.
However, in the mid-8th century, the Sailendra dynasty began to decline, and was eventually overthrown by the Sanjaya dynasty, a Hindu dynasty that had its capital in the nearby city of Mataram. The Sanjaya sought to establish its legitimacy by building a grand temple complex that would rival the Borobudur temple, and would be dedicated to the Hindu gods Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. The construction of Prambanan saw a transition from a Buddhist to a Hindu style in the Mataram Kingdom.
Prambanan is believed to have been constructed between 850 and 900 AD. The construction of the temple is credited to Rakai Pikatan, a king of the Sanjaya dynasty, who is said to have been inspired by a dream in which Shiva appeared to him and commanded him to build a temple in his honour. The temple complex was built periodically and continued by other Mataram kings with no other Javanese temples ever surpassing its scale.
Source: A Historic Look at the Majestic Prambanan Temple in Java – NOW! Jakarta
