Heart Breaker: The Prambanan Temple Love Story

It was suppose to be Indonesia’s “the” greatest love story of all time, a kind of story that will make Romeo & Juliet a run for their money. But unfortunately, she broke her promise and the supposedly greatest love story turn crime of passion of some sort...well in the magical world perhaps.

Here’s how the story goes: there was a man named Bandung Bondowoso who loved Roro Jonggrang (I know, I know, the names aren’t as romantic as your mainstream love birds, but hey, it’s in an Indonesian setting so deal with it). RJ (Roro Jonggrang) asked BB (Bandung Bondowoso) to make her a temple with 1000 statues only in one-night time.

The request was nearly fulfilled when RJ asked the villagers to pound rice and set a fire in order to look morning had broken. Feeling to be cheated, BB who only completer 999 statues cursed RJ to be the thousandth statue. (I told you, it can pass as a crime of passion in the magical world right?).  I wonder if all men have the power to turn women who broke their hearts in to statues; parks in the country will look differently.

The said temple is known to be Prambanan Temple, the largest Hindu temple in South East Asia.

Product of a Broken Heart

Today Prambanan temple is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This temple is considered as an icon of Indonesian culture. It is compose of six temples, three of which are the main temples. These main temples represent the three major gods of Hindi beliefs: Brahma (the creator), Shiva (the destroyer) and Vishnu (the sustainer).

The tallest temple of Prambanan is a staggering 47 meters high (which is the Shiva temple), the peak is visible from far away and raises high above the ruins of the other temples.

If you check on each main pillars closely, you can see how detailed the bas-reliefs are, BB did a great job and he really exerted huge effort to please RJ.  Well at least, all his efforts was recognized and praised by the 21^st century folks.

Angkor Wat immediately comes to mind as I check out the temples of Prambanan. The stone structures really reminds me of the things I saw when I visited Cambodia last year, but the love story behind this temple added charm and character that comparing them is not even necessary.

We didn’t stay long in Prambanan because of the Javanese sun is too hot to handle. I felt like I was being roasted by the intense heat and the trees present in the courtyard didn’t help to ease the heat. I went out of the courtyard and into the parking lot bringing one lesson in mind: Do not ever break promises and ladies, please remember BB & RJ story before breaking a man’s heart, you might turn into stone statue one of this days you know (lol).


Yogyakarta Series:

Yogyakarta: Random Stories
Exploring the city on a Becak
Yogyakarta: Water Castle (Tamansari)
One Big Candi: Borobudur Temple
Heart Breaker: The Prambanan Temple Love Story
Side Trip: Mendut
Money Rundown: Power of Rupiah