(The local guide, who did an excellent job in revealing the legend of Prambanan)

 

Prambanan compound was made up of about 237 Hindu temples, and it is the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia. This ancient temple compound which could be dated back to the 9th century is dedicated to three Hindu Gods - Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. And we were told by the local guide that there’s a legend behind the construction of Prambanan . . . . . . .

 

 

[ The legend tells of the story about Prince Bandung Bondowoso who fell in love with Princess Loro Jonggrang, the daughter of King Boko. But the princess rejected his proposal of marriage because Bandung Bondowoso had killed King Boko and ruled her kingdom. Bandung Bondowoso insisted on the union, and finally Loro Jonggrang was forced to agree for a union in marriage, but she posed one impossible condition: Bandung must build her a thousand temples in only one night. The Prince entered into meditation and conjured up a multitude of spirits (demons) from the earth. Helped by supernatural beings, he succeeded in building 999 temples . . . . .  

 

When the prince was about to complete the condition, the princess woke her palace maids and ordered the women of the village to begin pounding rice and set a fire in the east of the temple, attempting to make the prince and the spirits believe that the sun was about to rise. As the cocks began to crow, fooled by the light and the sounds of morning time, the supernatural helpers fled back into the ground. The prince was furious about the trick and in revenge he cursed Loro Jonggrang to stone. She became the last and the most beautiful of the thousand statues. According to the traditions, the unfinished thousandth temple created by the demons become the Sewu temple compounds nearby (Sewu means "thousands" in Javanese), and the Princess is the image of Durga in the north cell of the Shiva temple at Prambanan, which is still known as Loro Jonggrang or Slender Virgin . . . . . . ] —- Wikipedia.

 

Kudos to the local guide, who make our Prambanan tour more than just an ordinary sightseeing journey. He is a good story-teller who paints a vivid and lively images of the Ramayana and Krishnayana legends in our mind.