The Legend of Roro Jonggrang

Once upon a time, there was a young and powerful man named Bandung Bondowoso. One day he wanted to marry a beautiful princess named Roro Jonggrang. However, she did not love Bondowoso and did not have the heart to refuse him. After thinking hard, the daughter of King Boko found a way to refuse Bondowoso, whose magical power was well-known all over the region. Roro Jonggrang demanded something which she believed Bondowoso could not fulfill, as a condition to marry her.

Jonggrang demanded Bondowoso to build 1,000 temples in one night before the dawn breaks. and the work must be completed before the rooster crowed. With the help of genies and his magical powers, Bondowoso completed 999 temples. Since she was panicing, Jonggrang sought the help of women and told them to start pounding rice so the rooster quickly got up and in a second, it crowed. Bondowoso was disappointed to see this. He was very mad. When he found out that it was the work of Roro Jonggrang, he came to her and turned her into a stone, making her as his 1000th temple.

This is the legend of Roro Jonggrang or Prambanan temple, which is the largest Hindu temple in Southeast Asia. This temple is 47 meters high. Historically, Roro Jonggrang or Prambanan temple was built in the 10th century during the Wangsa Sanjaya era. It was built to respect the Trinity, namely Sive the Destroyer, Vishnu the Sustainer and Brahma the Creator.

After hundreds of years of being forgotten, Prambanan temple was eventually found by CA Lons, a Dutchman, in 1733. Since then, this temple has been revitalized.

Reliefs inside the Temple show the epic story of Ramayana. Inside, there are historical items such as the Lingga Batara Siwa stone, a symbol of fertility.