Pointed towers
The tallest about forty-seven metres.
Gunawan Kartapranata — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Aditya Prabaswara — CC BY 2.0 · Astari28 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Abieomar — CC BY-SA 4.0
Indonesia's largest Hindu temple complex, built in the ninth century and known for its slender, pointed stone towers, the tallest some forty-seven metres, the main temple dedicated to Shiva, flanked by great temples to Brahma and Vishnu and hundreds of smaller shrines. It was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1991 alongside Borobudur. The temple walls are carved with reliefs telling the Indian Ramayana epic, and on many evenings the famous Ramayana ballet is staged in an open-air theatre in front, with the towers lit behind the stage. The complex was damaged in the 2006 earthquake and restored, and work on some smaller shrines continues. The entry ticket for foreign adults is about twenty-three US dollars in rupiah; climbing the temples is not allowed, but you can enter the chambers of some. The ballet is ticketed separately. Combined foreign tickets were discontinued in 2025. Come in the late afternoon for golden light on the towers, then stay for the Ramayana show in the evening if it is on. Ratu Boko palace is close by on the hill, so the two combine with sunset there.
The tallest about forty-seven metres.
The epic carved on the walls.
An evening show before the lit temples.
Sleman, on the Central Java border, about 17 km east of Yogyakarta
Both are among Asia's greatest monuments: Borobudur a vast stepped Buddhist pyramid, Prambanan a Hindu complex of slender pointed towers. If time allows, see both; they lie on opposite sides of Yogyakarta.