On our way to the UNESCO World Heritage Hindu temple of Prambanan, we stopped at some smaller temples, including Candi Plaosan. Built around 825 AD, this Buddhist temple was gifted by a Hindu prince to his Buddhist princess wife from another dynasty. Although comprised of 174 buildings of varying sizes, many of the structures suffered significant damage during the 2006 earthquake.
Despite its proximity to Prambanan (about 1 km northwest), it lacked the large crowds, enabling ease of exploration.
Two massive Drawapalas serve as guardian figures in front of the two main temples at Plaosan.
Flanking the outer walls of the main temple are beautiful carvings of Bodhisattvas. Some of the carvings reminded me of those at Tamil Nadu's impressive Thanjavur Hindu temple, except that the color of these stones were much darker than those in India.
Inside the main temples, portions of sculptures remained, although some were headless.
During the time I was there, Plaosan became slightly more lively when a wedding party arrived to take a few photos. Although many of the members were dressed in jeans, the bride was dressed in a Western gown and the groom in a white Indonesian outfit. As in other places, several people came up to me, asking if they could have a photo taken with me.
Having had a chance to explore most of the site, we now were ready for the granddaddy of them all - Prambanan.
No comments:
Post a Comment