Chandi Prambanan is a Hindu temple complex located in the province of Central Java, and is dedicated to the Trimurti, the so-called "Hindu trinity", the three main Hindu deities, Brahma, Vishna and Shiva, who represent the spiritual origin, Brahman.
The temple complex is located 17 kilometres northeast of the city of Yogyakarta, on the border between the province of Central Java and the region of the Special District of Yogyakarta. The temple was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991, and is also considered the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia and one of the largest in South East Asia.
The temple complex is characterised by the great height of the buildings and lancet shapes, which is inherent in Hindu architecture. The central building of Chandi Prambanan is 47 metres high. Originally there were 240 temples in the complex. There are Trimurti temples - 3 main temples dedicated to Shiva, Vishna and Brahma, in front of these temples are 3 more temples dedicated to the "vahana" of Trimurti: Nandi, Garuda and Hamsa. "Vahana" in Indian mythology is an object or creature that is used by the gods as a means of locomotion. For the god Shiva it was the bull Nandi, for Vishna it was Garuda (half eagle-half man), and for Brahma it was Hamsa (swan).
The stone bas-reliefs depict scenes from the Indian epic Ramayana. There are adorable depictions of mythical animals and funny monkeys, celestial trees and, most importantly, the god Shiva creating and destroying the world.
Chandi Prambanan consists of what are called zones, there are three of them: the outer zone, the middle zone which contains many small temples, and the third zone which contains eight main temples and eight small shrines. Each of the zones is enclosed by four walls, and there is a large gate in each wall.
