Valley of the Kings – Prambanan

Oh boy, I’m back. Sorry for the hiatus but time sure does get away from me. Have you noticed how much faster time flies these days and not just when you’re having fun; or is it just I’m getting older? Anyway, here is the next part of our adventure in Yogyakarta. (It’s pronounced “Jdokjakarta” also known as Jdokja. I know how much this helps you )

Off we went to Candi Prambanan, the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia. Candi means stone monument, shrine, or mausoleum. Prambanan lies about 10 miles outside of Yogyakarta in the center of the Valley of the Dead, or Valley of the Kings because these candis are considered to be royal mausoleums. The main complex consists of eight buildings.

These three are the tallest and the main shrines. The 47m tall central Candi, Candi Siva Mahadaeva, dedicated to Shiva the Slender Maiden, is flanked on each side by slightly smaller ones and are placed in a north-to-south line. On the north is Candi Vishnu, and south is Candi Brahma.

Opposite the three main structures are three smaller temples that housed the “vehicles” of each of the gods; a bull (nandi) for Siva, a gander (hamsa) for Brahma, and the sun-bird (garuda) for Vishnu.  By the way, the name of Indonesia’s airline is Garuda. Only nandi remains today and you are able to enter the shrine to see the bull statue. It was too dark inside to get a good picture though. The shrines are elaborately decorated with carvings and sculpture details, even gargoyles.

Away from the main structures on the temple grounds are ruins of many smaller temples and stone figures.

Even from here we could see Mount Merapi!

We timed our visit to Prambanan late in the afternoon so when we were done here we would head to the adjacent Trimurti Theatre for dinner (the night shot above is taken from our table), and an open-air performance of the Ramayana Ballet; staged on moonlit nights between May and October. We caught one of the moonlit nights! And to prove it was truly open-air, a little bat crashed into Rachel during the show and landed in the empty seat next to her!

It’s a modern version dance-drama of a traditional Javanese story that is also told in bas-relief sculptures adorning some of the temples. In a nutshell, the drama is about a father’s contest to find the right husband for his daughter. While she’s out in the forest with her suitor and brother, they come across a deer. She wanted the deer captured, but before her brother and suitor go to chase it, the brother draws a magic circle around his sister to keep her safe; but despite the power of the circle, the daughter is kidnapped by the suitor’s rival, who has disguised himself.  The daughter is saved from the rival (by a white monkey), but the suitor now no longer believes she a virgin.

In the battle scenes against the suitor’s rival, there was even an archer on stage who shot real arrows!

In order to prove her virginity and holiness, she is asked to burn herself. She proves her holiness when she not only does not burn but becomes even more beautiful. Her suitor then accepts her as his wife. They live happily ever after! The End.

The costumes were beautiful and the dancing graceful. But the finale was spectacular when they set the stage ablaze!

And I now know why this portion of the story is only performed when they can have it in the open-air!