Prambanan Restoration to Begin: Yogyakarta, Central Java

By Barrie | September 6th, 2007 | No Comments

Post-earthquake restoration of the famous heritage Hindu Prambanan Temple on the borderline of Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces should start this month, thanks to funding from Saudi Arabia.

“We have started assembling the scaffolding and we are ready to start the restoration work mid-September,” archeologist Dewi Puspo Rini from the Yogyakarta Provincial Conservation Office said.

Dewi said plans to restore the temple were thanks to financial support from the Saudi Arabia government through the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

“The Japanese government has also contributed funds for restoration works, but just for the scaffolding.”

She said their budget would see restorations run for approximately three months and remain limited to Candi Garuda, one of the 16 temples affected by the powerful 2006 earthquake.

Built in the year 856, Prambanan Temple comprises three sections. The first section hosts the main Syiwa Temple and has a total of 16 temples, including the main temple.

The others include Wisnu and Brahma temples that sandwich the main temple; three Wahana Temples known as Angsa, Nandi and Garuda; two Apit Temples, one in the north one in the south; four Kelir Temples at the four gates to the section; and four corner temples.

The second section has 224 Perwara Temples, which are much smaller in size compared to those in first section and are built from stones without cement.

The third section has no temples at all and is believed to be the place where the Hindu priests lived centuries ago in wooden houses.

Following the devastating earthquake that killed almost 6,000 people and damaged some 300,000 houses in Yogyakarta and parts of Central Java on May 27, 2006, Prambanan suffered major damage to its temples.

Syiwa Temple is considered to have suffered the most — although from the outside the damage does not seem too dramatic, Dewi said.

“From the inside, however, it is actually cracked.

“The body has moved a bit, like being twisted.”

She said the damage was unusual and her office did not know yet how to appropriately handle the project.

“Together with Unesco, we have invited international experts to discuss ideas,” she said.

“There have been some suggestions, but we still don’t know the most appropriate way to handle restorations.”

Dewi said technical studies had been conducted on smaller temples that suffered minor damages and she said some restoration work had started as part of general post-earthquake efforts.

These smaller temples have been documented and maps have been drawn. Fallen stones have been numbered and then removed to a safe place and re-grouped.

“We have hundreds of pieces of fallen stones to handle but these efforts will take years to complete.”

She said the 37-meter Brahma Temple might take 10 years to restore.

Syiwa Temple is some 47 meters high, Wisnu Temple is 37-meters and the three Wahana Temples of Angsa, Nandi and Garuda are some 20 meters high.

“We have not been able to estimate how much time we will need to restore all the temples.”

Purnomo Adi, Operational and Development Director of the temple management company PT Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, Prambanan dan Ratu Boko Guntur, said despite post-earthquake restoration works the company would still welcome international and domestic tourists.

“Visiting Prambanan Temple today will still be interesting because visitors are welcome to watch the restoration works,” Guntur said.
The number of domestic and international tourists visiting the temple was improving, he said.

“The number of tourists that visit here has now reached the same figure as 2005, which is some 1.5 million a year.”

Sri Wahyuni