Prambanan Pervara temples, Indonesia

Address

Prambanan Pervara temples, Taman Wisata Candi Prambanan, Jl. Raya Yogya – Solo KM 16, Tlogo, Prambanan, Kranggan, Bokoharjo, Kec. Prambanan, Yogyakarta, Jawa Tengah 57454, Indonesia

Diety

Shiva

Introduction

Pervara temple is a 9th-century temple located within the complex of the Prambanan Temple Archaeological Park, in Central Java, Indonesia.all the small temple is dedicated to Shiva. The two walled perimeters that surround the remaining two yards to the interior are oriented to the four cardinal points. The second yard’s walled perimeter, which measures about 225 metres per side, surrounds a terraced area that consists of four rows containing 44, 52, 60, and 68 pervara temples. Respectively, each has a height of 14 metres and measures 6×6 metres at the base, or 224 structures in total. The sixteen temples located at the corners of the rows face two directions; the remaining 208 structures open to only one of the four cardinal directions. The middle zone consists of four rows of 224 individual small shrines. There are great numbers of these temples, but most of them are still in ruins and only some have been reconstructed. These concentric rows of temples were made in an identical design. Each row towards the center is slightly elevated. These shrines are called “Candi Perwara”, guardian or complementary temples, the additional buildings of the main temple. The row nearest to the central compound was accessible to the priests only, the other three were reserved for the nobles, the knights, and the simple people respectively. While another believed that the four rows of Perwara had nothing to do with four castes, it was just simply made as a meditation place for priests and as a worship place for devotees.