Prambanan Temple is a not-to-be-missed experience on a trip to Indonesia. The Obama’s even included it in their itinerary.
Here’s everything you need to know to plan your visit.
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What is Prambanan
Built in the 9th century, this is the largest temple compound dedicated to Shiva in Indonesia.
Prambanan was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.
How to Visit
Admission for adults costs 25 USD or 45 USD for a combination Borobudur + Prambanan Temple ticket, both of which can be purchased online (here – cheaper or here – easier), and are valid for two days. Check the online ticket sites to determine current opening hours and don’t plan on visiting on a Monday.
I recommend dedicating a half day to exploring Prambanan as a day trip from Yogyakarta which is only 17 km away. Prambanan is on the way from Yogya to Solo (another 40 km away) so you could also easily take your bags and store them at Prambanan while you visit before continuing your journey to Solo.
If you would like to take public transit from Yogya, catch a 1A Trans Jogja bus to Prambanan bus station. The bus runs every 15 minutes or so. From there, simply walk across the street to access the temple.
Alternatively, you should be able to get a private driver, taxi, Grab, or Gojek to drive you.
Here are some tours from Yogyakarta to Prambanan. Some of them include cycling, village tours, other temples, or even Borobudur or Merapi Volcano. You could also hire a private driver and design your own perfect tour.
Here’s everything else you need to know about visiting Yogyakarta.
What to Take With You
- A credit or debit card and cash in IDR.
- Tickets can be purchased at the gate or online (here – cheaper or here – easier).
- Water, though you will have no trouble buying more just outside the temple park.
- Good walking shoes. The steps leading into the temples are quite steep.
- Bring sun screen and anything else you might need to be comfortable and safe in the sun.
- Make sure your phone or camera have plenty of charge.
What to Expect
In its original form from the 9th century, the Prambanan temple complex contained over 250 large and small temples. It was then expanded over the next century with the addition of hundreds of smaller temples around the central temples. Most of these smaller outer temples are in ruins now.
The central temples are high structures that are typical of Hindu architecture. The three main temples at the center of the complex are called the Trimurti and are dedicated to the three gods: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Keeper, and Shiva the Destroyer. The Shiva temple is the biggest and the tallest at 48m high, while Brahma and Vishnu are 33m high. In addition to the three main temples, there are thirteen other temples.
Prambanan has a bas-relief on the inner side of the gate around the three main shrines. The bas-relief tells the story about Ramayana and can be read from the east gate clockwise around the inner compound.
What Else to Do In and Around Prambanan
Ramayana Ballet
This is a performance that combines drama and dance without dialogue, based on the Ramayana epic. More than 200 professional dancers and gamelan musicians perform on an open air stage with Prambanan in the background, assuming good weather.
The Ramayana epic tells the story of Rama’s journey to retrieve his wife, Sita, who was kidnapped by the Raja of Alengka Kingdom, Rahwana. The story ends with the death of Rahwana by an arrow belonging to Rama and the reunion of Rama with his beloved wife, Sita. Rama ordered Sita to prove her holiness and Sita did so by burning herself. Sita is saved from the fire, proving that she is still pure. And finally, they reunite.
The ballet is usually held at 7:30pm every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. First class tickets cost 200,000 IDR and can be purchased here. There are also cheaper and more expensive ticket options.
Other Temples
Visit some of the lesser known neighboring temples via bike rental, toy train, or golf cart shuttle.
The golf cart shuttle can be found near the entry gate and costs about $1.50 USD for a ride to Lumbung Temple, Bubrah Temple, and Sewu Temple, and there is no additional fee to visit these temples. Lumbung Temple and Bubrah Temple are 9th century Buddhist temples. Sewu Temple is a Buddhist temple complex from the 8th century located within a mile of Prambanan Temple and is the second largest Buddhist Temple complex in Java.
Plaosan Temple is another 9th century Buddhist temple complex located within 2 miles of Prambanan. The fact that these temples were built so close to Prambanan Temple, which is a Hindu temple, indicates that the Hindus and Buddhists lived in harmony at that time.
Villages
We combined our visit to Prambanan with a bike tour through the countryside and villages in the area. As part of the tour, we stopped to visit a small tofu factory and a basket factory making baskets for export to Home Goods. These places a great reminders that so much of what we consume is still made painstakingly by hand.
Borobudur
It is very possible to visit Borobudur on the same day as Prambanan although we chose not to. It is approximately one hour away by car. Borobudur is world’s largest Buddhist temple. Tickets for Borobudur should be purchased online (here – cheaper or here – easier) and are assigned specific start times. A combined ticket for Borobudur and Prambanan is available.
Where to Stay in Prambanan
I recommend visiting Prambanan as a day trip from Yogyakarta, or as a stop between Yogya and Solo. Here are some places to stay in Yogyakarta.
That said, here are some places you might want to consider staying that are closer to Prambanan.
Where to Eat in Prambanan
We had lunch a tourist restaurant called Kali Opak Resto that had surprisingly good Indonesian food.
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