Prambanan Temple is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia. Until now it is not certain when this temple was built and on whose orders, but there is a strong suspicion that Prambanan Temple was built around the middle of the 9th century by the king of the Sanjaya dynasty, namely Raja Balitung Maha Sambu.
This allegation is based on the contents of the Syiwagrha Inscription which was found around Prambanan and is currently stored in the National Museum in Jakarta. This inscription dated 778 Saka (856 AD) was written during the reign of Rakai Pikatan. The original plan of Prambanan Temple was rectangular, consisting of an outer courtyard and three courtyards, namely Jaba (outer courtyard), Tengahan (middle courtyard) and Njeron (inner courtyard). The outer courtyard is an open area that surrounds the outer courtyard. The outer courtyard is oval in shape with an area of 390 m2. This courtyard was previously surrounded by a stone fence which is now in ruins. The outer court was currently just an empty court. It is not yet known whether there were originally buildings or other decorations in this courtyard.
In the middle of the outer courtyard, there is a second courtyard, namely the central courtyard which has a rectangular shape covering an area of 222 m2. The central courtyard used to be surrounded by a stone fence which has now also collapsed. This courtyard consists of four terraced terraces, the deeper you go, the higher you go.
On the first terrace, namely the lowest terrace, there are 68 small temples lined up around, divided into four rows by a connecting road between the courtyard doors.
On the second terrace there are 60 temples, On the third terrace there are 52 temples, and on the fourth terrace, or the top terrace, there are 44 temples. All the temples in the central courtyard have the same shape and size, namely a ground plan area of 6 m2 and a height of 14 m.
Almost all the temples in the central courtyard are currently in ruins. All that remains are the ruins. The inner courtyard is the highest courtyard and is considered the most sacred place. In front of each gate of the top courtyard there is a pair of small temples, with a square base plan measuring 1.5 m2 with a height of 4 m. In the inner courtyard there are 2 rows of temples stretching north and south. In the west row there are 3 temples facing east. The northernmost temple is the Vishnu Temple, in the middle is the Shiva Temple, and in the south is the Brahma Temple. In the eastern row there are also 3 temples facing west. These three temples are called candi rides (wahana = vehicle), because each temple is named after the animal which is the ride of the god whose temple is located in front of it.