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As you drive east along Jalan Adisucipto from Yogya, your eye will be caught by three giant, rocket-shaped temples, each smothered in intricate narrative carvings, that suddenly loom up by the side of the highway. This is the Prambanan complex (daily 6am-5pm; US$5 or its equivalent in rupiah), the largest Hindu complex in Java and a worthy rival to the Buddhist masterpiece at Borobudur. The Sanjayas began work on the three giants around 832 AD, finishing them 24 years later. Their choice of location, just a few hundred metres south of the once mighty Buddhist Candi Sewu , is of great significance. Not only was it a reminder to the Saliendras that the Hindus were now in charge but, by leaving Sewu unharmed, it also gave a clear message to the Buddhists that the Sanjayas intended to be tolerant of their faith. The three Prambanan temples were in service for just fifty years before they were abandoned. Restoration work finally began in the 1930s. The temple complex itself consists of six temples in a raised inner courtyard , surrounded by 224 minor temples , which now lie in ruins. The three biggest temples in the courtyard are dedicated to the three main Hindu deities: Shiva, whose 47-metre temple is the tallest of the three, Brahma (to the south of the Shiva temple) and Vishnu (north). Facing these are three smaller temples housing the animal statues - or "chariots" - that would always accompany the gods: Hamsa the swan, Nandi the bull and Garuda the sunbird. The Shiva Temple is decorated with exceptional carvings, including a series along the inner wall of the first terrace walkway, beginning at the eastern steps and continuing clockwise around the temple, that recounts the first half of the Ramayana epic. At the top of the steps is the inner sanctuary of the temple, whose eastern chamber contains a statue of Shiva himself, while in the west chamber is Shiva's elephant-headed son, Ganesh. A beautiful sculpture of Nandi the Bull stands inside the temple of Shiva's chariot. Though smaller than the Shiva Temple, the other two temples are just as painstakingly decorated. The first terrace of the Brahma Temple takes up the Ramayana epic where the Shiva Temple left off, whilst the carvings on the terrace of Vishnu's temple recounts stories of Krishna , the eighth of Vishnu's nine earthly incarnations.
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