Brahma Temple

The form and size of Brahma Temple is much similar to Wisnu Temple. The size of Brahma Temple is 20 x 20 meters square and 23 meters high. Similar to Wisnu Temple, Brahma Temple has one room with one stairway to enter from the east. Inside the room there is four-headed Brahma statue. At the foot of the temple were found a figure of a priest accompanied by other figures in a position of praying. The ornaments exist all four sides of the temple. The foot of the temple is surrounded by an open verandah with balustrade. At the inner side of the balustrade were relieves which tell the continuation of Ramayana story which were inscripted on Ciwa Temple. At the outer side of the balustrade were found figures of priest in the sifting position (praying). Other ornamentals were found at the foot of the temple, similar to that at Ciwa and Wisnu Temple.
Relief of Brahma Temple According to Bernet Kempers and Sudiman (1974), it was mentioned that the relief at the balustrade of Brahma Temple contained the continuation of Ramayana story, but it turned out that some sequence of the story did not match, so it was not the actual arrangement of the temple stones when the temple was in restoration. Some of the lost stones (with relief) were found nearby the village, and were returned back to the original arrangement.Some of the scene (1-5 of previous paragraph) which showed apes marching, followed by scenes of the baffle between the apes and Rahwana. That battle should ended by the death of the giants (6-12). One of Rahwana's brother, Kumbokarno was woke up, and attacking the apes (6-12). Then Kumbokarno died (8-9), and so was Rahwana (10). After this part of the story, the continuation was found elsewhere.
In a short time, Sinta returned to Rama. Then Sinta was denied by Rama because she had been in Rahwana's palace. It was pictured she went into the wood, crossing the Gangga River (1 7). At a meditation site, she delivered a baby. Then she was seen picking up f lowers with her child (21). On the relief No. 25, two teenagers were in a battle with a giant. The actual story revealed that indeed the two teenagers were the children of Sinta going to the palace as singers to see their father. At that time there was a celebration. This part was called the celebration relief (30). This story is as a satire expressing the luxury life of priests. At the end of the story, Sinta was called into Rama's palace to proof her purity.

Apit Temple

Two Apit temples ("flanking temple"; apit = to flank) stood near the entrance gate, flanking two rows of temples, the west and the East row. Apit temples had dimension of 6 x 6 square meters and 16 meters high. Each temple had one entrance facing to the North and to the south. The shape and structure of these temples were similar to other temples at Lorojonggrang complex, however the Apit temples looked slimmer than the others due to the higher foot part. The conspicuous feature of Apit temple is the presence of a lion figure in sitting position and wide-open mouth, one of the front foot is raised.

PRAMBANAN

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.
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
1. Ciwa Temple as the main temple.
2. Wisnu Temple in the North of Ciwa Temple.
3. Brahma Temple in the South of Ciwa Temple.
4. Nandi Temple in front of Ciwa Temple.
5. Temple A and B lies in front of Wisnu and Ciwa Temple.
6. Apit Temple lies in the North and the South flanking row of temples {the West and East row (apit = to flank)}
7. Four Kelir Temples in front of each gate of the main square. 8. Four Sudut Temples (sudut = corner) at each of the corner of the main square.

BOROBUDUR

The Borobudur Temple is considered as one of the seven wonders of the world। This temple is located at Borobudur District, South of Magelang, Central Java।

The expression of experts who had been studying Borobudur Temple varied someway. Bernet Kempers' expression was: “Borobudur is Borobudur”, meaning that Borobudur Temple is very unique in her own way. Nieuwenkamp (an artist) imaginated Borobudur as “a big lotus flower bud ready to bloom” which was “floating” on a lake. Nieuwenkamp’s imagination was supported by N. Rangkuti (1987) that from the air, the Borobudur Temple looks floating. From the geological studies, experts were able to prove that Borobudur area was one time a big lake. Most of the villages around Borobudur Temple were at the same altitude, 235 meters above the sea-level. The same altitude included the Pawon and Mendut temples. Thus the area under 235 meter altitude was below the lake water level.
Based on the inscription dated 842 AD, Casparis suggested that Borobudur was one time a place for praying. The inscription stated a phrase such as: “Kawulan i Bhumi Sambhara”. Kawulan means the origin of holiness, “bhumi sambhara” is a name of a place in Borobudur. Paul Mus stated that Borobudur Temple had the structure of stupa (conical form) with double expression. As a whole, the Borobudur Temple was an open-flat stupa, but on the other hand, the temple expressed the idea of a “closed world”. The latter expression could be felt when one is already inside the temple. Whenever person is inside the temple, his or her view will be limited to high walls full on relieves, the verandah is always squared in such a way that one could not see other parts of the temple, even in a same floor. The same feeling happened if one stood on arupadhatu round platform, he or she will have a wider view only on that level, but are not able to see the lower level nor the upper level like the one on rupadhatu and kamandhatu. It could be said that Borobudur is a symbol of cosmic mountain covered by the sky roof, a specific world that could be reached through isolated alleys as stages. The closed structural design of the temple expressed the concept of a closed world, not just a technical reasons as had been suggested by other experts ( Daud AT, 1987)
Borobudur was built by Sanmaratungga in the 8th century, and belongs to Buddha Mahayana. Borobudur was revealed by Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles in 1814. The temple was found in ruined condition and was buried.
The overall height was 42 meters, but was only 34.5 meters after restoration, and had the dimension of 123 x 123 meters (15,129 square meters). There were 10 floors. The first floor up to the sixth floor was square form, the seventh to the tenth floor were round form.
Borobudur is facing to the East with a total of 1460 panels (2 meters wide each). Total size of the temple walls was 2500 square meters, full of relief. The total number of panels with relief was 1212. According to investigations, the total number of Buddha statue was 504 including the intact and damaged statues. The temple undergone restoration from 1905 to 1910, and the last restoration was done in 1973 to 1983.
1. Structural Design of Borobudur Temple
Ever since the first excavation, most experts speculated on the exact shape of the temple. Hoenig, in his book “Das form problem des Borobudur” speculate that the original form of Borobudur Temple had four gates and nine floors. The form of Borobudur Temple is similar to temples found in Cambodia. According to Parmenteir, the huge single stupa on top of the temple made the smaller stupas in the lower part looked drowned. Stutterheim who had been studying stupas in India and other parts of Asia concluded that the stupa structure was an Indian origin. The original purpose of stupa building was as storage of Buddha Gautama and other holy priests cremation ash.
According to Stutterheim, the overall form of Borobudur Temple is a combination of zigurat (middle Asian Pyramid) and Indian stupa. Stutterheim opinion was supported by the existence of this type of form in Ancient Javanese literature.
The relief of Borobudur temple started from the base of the temple up to the fourth platform. The relieves at the base contained the story of Karmawibhangga. Under the main panel and above the Karmawibhangga relief, a wide-sized relief was inscripted at the wall. From this point along the alley, the relief did not show story in the sequence, but as a repeating part of the story with the same motives which expressed the world of spiritual beings such as half demonic body (Gandharwa, giants or Yataka, dragon, Sidha or angels and their ladies friends, Apsara and Nagi, all of them are heavenly beings who are tender and beautiful.
Division of panels are: the first panel expressed a heavenly being in sitting position, on both side of this panel are small panel with a small standing statue. This figures are repeated 26 times for each side of the wall. Between the panels is carved three bodies, a male flanked by two women.
2. Relieves at the Walls of the Alley.
There was a long series of main relieves at the first alley, either at the main wall or at the inner side of Kutamara wall. Relieves at the Kutamara wall depicted Jataka's and Awadana's, a story of Buddha's life which expressed as Bodhisatwa, due to his good deeds in the past. Sometimes, Buddha is expressed in the form of animals such as rabbit, monkeys etc. As it was told in animated stories, the story was adopted from Sanskrit book, Jatakamala. Only one third of the relieves were known, the rest was still unclear.
The lower relieves of the main wall contained the same story. The upper relieves also had the same story as the lower one. The story contained the life of Buddha consisting of 120 frames until he began teaching Buddha religion. The first frame began from the South of stairway of the curved gate at the East, and follow the path of the sun (the temple on the right side). The life story of Buddha was adopted from Lalitawistara book.
At the second alley, Jataka and Awadana story were continued on the inner side of Utamara, and on the main wall, story was began with stories adopted from Gandhawyuha. This story was so long that it occupied the main wall and inner side wall of Utamara at the third and fourth alley. The story showed the adventure of a Sudhana who met Bodhisatwa Maytreya (the future Buddha) to have religious lesson from the Buddha. Later on, the Sudhana met with Bodhisatwa Mandjusri, and finally he met with Dyani Bodhisatwa Samanta Badra, who gave the highest wisdom. Most of those stories expressed the use of spiritual strength and unusual happenings.
There were many beautiful ornaments inscripted at the wall of the fourth alley, because the fifth alley did not contained any ornaments. The fifth alley is a transitional alley to the next platform, the round platform. The next round platforms also did not contained any ornaments at all (Kaylan,1959).