Shiva Temple in Prambanan
Shiva Temple(Candi Siwa)
Located at the center of the Prambanan Temple complex in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, the Shiva Temple is dedicated to Shiva the destroyer, one of the Hindu Trinity. Because the rulers who commissioned the Prambanan temples were the worshipers of Shiva, the Shiva Temple became the main temple of the complex.
It is 47 meters high and the tallest temple in the complex. The Dutch restored the temple the first time in the early 1900s.
The inner sanctum has four cellas (chambers), each of which faces a cardinal direction and houses a statue. These statues are:
- Shiva, the main statue, in the east-facing cella
- Shiva’s wife Durga the Mahisasuramardini in the north-facing cella
- Shiva’s son Ganesha in the west-facing chamber
- Agastya in the south-facing cella
At the entrance, it also houses the statues of Mahakala and Nandishwara considered as guardians. The bas-reliefs in this temple depict the stories from Ramayana, one of the great Hindu epics.
Related Pages
– Prambanan, Borobudur, Bali, Indonesia
– Angkor Wat, Angkor Wat Bas-Reliefs, Banteay Srei, Cambodia
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