IndonesiaTravel Destination

Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple compound in Central Java in Indonesia, located approximately 18 km east of Yogyakarta.
The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the largest Hindu temples in south-east Asia. It is characterised by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the 47m high central building inside a large complex of individual temples.
It was built around 850 CE by either Rakai Pikatan, king of the second Mataram dynasty, or Balitung Maha Sambu, during the Sanjaya Dynasty. Not long after its construction, the temple was abandoned and began to deteriorate. Reconstruction of the compound began in 1918. The main building was completed in around 1953. Much of the original stonework has been stolen and reused at remote construction sites. A temple will only be rebuilt if at least 75% of the original stones are available, and therefore only the foundation walls of most of the smaller shrines are now visible and with no plans for their reconstruction.
The temple was damaged during the earthquake in Java in 2006. Early photos suggest that although the complex appears to be structurally intact, damage is significant. Large pieces of debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground. The temple has been closed to the public until damage can be fully assessed. The head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency stated that: "it will take months to identify the precise damage".However, some weeks later in 2006 the site re-opened for visitors. The immediate surroundings of the Hindu temples remain off-limits for safety reasons.

Borobudur was constructed during the eighth century as a guide to the Noble Path of the Buddha. Born from silence and unfolding into the serenity of the other shore, it expresses the glory of Indonesia’s awareness and creativity, the smile of her plastic forms over the centuries as well as her travels along the edge of thoughts that cross the endless corridors of memory. "The Borobudur is a very impressive Buddhist monument. The green environment and the surrounding volcanoes make it a beautiful site."

Though the western world rediscovered this magnificent structure almost two hundred years ago this sacred place nonetheless remains seated in its enigmatic depth, engulfed in vaporous illusions, waiting for someone to find the base simplicity of its Truth.

The 1970s restoration included a master plan which was state-of-the-art for its time, but has now proven to be very ill-thought out indeed, as it transformed Borobudur into a tourist attraction, cut off from the larger, planned cultural landscape, which is in the form of an enormous mandala incorporating temples, villages, rivers and volcanoes. Because of this, the responsible local authorities see the value of Borobudur only in terms of attracting shoppers. There are plans floated repeatedly to ring the monument with a shopping mall
Conservation work is good and archaeological monitoring is thorough. Tourism management on site is good, with congestion reasonably well managed. Reasonable attempts are made to communicate the significance of the site, although many visitors still simply want to climb to the top. A major weakness is that the old World Heritage listing is tightly drawn around the base of the monument, and fails to recognize the importance of the wider cultural landscape of the valley and nearby Mount Merapi.
Borobudur is aesthetically appealing, but only at sunrise/sunset. The site is overrun by school groups and tourists during daylight hours. It was distressing to see the damage resulting from the earthquake of May 27, 2006, and the pending eruption of Mount Merapi is also a threat, so the stewardship role becomes critical to the future sustainability of Borobudur and environs."
The largest problem is the huge number of persistent hawkers who try at every opportunity to sell their trash and trinkets to the tourists. This has a large, adverse impact on the social integrity of the visitor's experience and takes away significantly from the spiritual experience of visiting this great shrine