The largest Buddhist monument
A nine-level pyramid from the 9th century.
Heri nugroho — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gunawan Kartapranata — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Aditya Prabaswara — CC BY 2.0
The largest Buddhist monument in the world and one of the great sites of all Asia, built in the ninth century under the Sailendra dynasty on a hill in a fertile plain ringed by volcanoes. It was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1991 and is Indonesia's most visited monument. The temple is a stepped pyramid of nine platforms, six square topped by three circular, its walls decorated with some two thousand six hundred and seventy-two carved relief panels telling stories and scenes of ancient life, with five hundred and four statues, and at the top seventy-two perforated stone stupas, each sheltering a statue, around a great central stupa. It lay buried under volcanic ash and jungle for centuries until it was rediscovered in the nineteenth century. The entry ticket for foreign adults is about four hundred and fifty-five thousand rupiah for the grounds around the temple, while climbing the structure itself needs an extra ticket with a limited daily quota and a compulsory guide, and climbers are given special sandals to protect the stones. Sunrise from a nearby hill costs much more. Since 2025, combined foreign tickets with Prambanan have been discontinued. Book the climb ticket ahead on the official site, as the quota sells out, and come early in the morning before the heat and crowds. It is about an hour and a half by car from Yogyakarta and is usually paired with a short visit to the nearby Pawon and Mendut temples.
A nine-level pyramid from the 9th century.
Some 2,600 stone panels.
Seventy-two stupas at the top.
Magelang, Central Java, about 40 km north-west of Yogyakarta
The grounds ticket is enough to see the temple and walk around it, but the reliefs and stupas are only seen up close by climbing. If you want to climb, book ahead, as the daily quota is limited.