Prambanan rises from the plain of central Java, not far from Borobudur, as a forest of sharply tapering stone towers. Built in the ninth century, it is the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia and one of the outstanding achievements of Southeast Asian architecture. Three principal shrines are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, the tallest of them dominating the whole complex, and they face three smaller temples for the mounts of those gods; around them stood rows of subsidiary shrines, many reduced to their foundations by earthquakes over the centuries. The balustrades of the main temples carry a continuous relief cycle telling the story of the Ramayana, one of the great narrative sequences in stone anywhere in Asia, and the interiors hold statues of the gods. Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List and repeatedly damaged and restored after seismic events, Prambanan is filmed here in 4K, from aerial views of the towers to close reading of the reliefs and the evening performances staged nearby.
