{"id":23215,"date":"2026-07-20T04:44:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T04:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/?p=23215"},"modified":"2026-07-20T04:44:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T04:44:56","slug":"how-indonesias-iconic-prambanan-temple-was-lost-and-rediscovered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/2026\/07\/20\/how-indonesias-iconic-prambanan-temple-was-lost-and-rediscovered\/","title":{"rendered":"How Indone\u00adsia&#8217;s Iconic Pram\u00adba\u00adnan Temple Was Lost and Redis\u00adcovered"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA, July 10, 2026 (The Indian Express):  Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s visit to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, marked the start of India\u2019s effort to help restore the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Prambanan Temple Compounds, which include Prambanan, Sewu, Bubrah and Lumbung temples. Built during the ninth century under the Sanjaya dynasty, Prambanan was commissioned by King Rakai Pikatan after his marriage to the Buddhist princess Pramodhawardhani. The temple symbolized the revival of Shaivite Hinduism while also reflecting religious harmony through its blend of Hindu and Buddhist architectural elements. It served as a major pilgrimage center until the Mataram Kingdom shifted its capital to East Java around 929\u2013930 CE, after which the complex was abandoned and gradually buried by vegetation and volcanic debris. <br><br>Prambanan\u2019s rediscovery remains debated, with possible early references by the 15th-century poet Mpu Tanakung and later documentation by Dutch and British colonial figures, including Thomas Stamford Raffles. Restoration efforts began in the early 20th century but were delayed by World War II and Indonesia\u2019s independence struggle. The reconstruction of the main temple, started in 1918, was completed in 1953 and inaugurated by Indonesia\u2019s first president, Sukarno. India\u2019s new restoration initiative highlights the temple\u2019s enduring historical, cultural, and spiritual significance while strengthening cultural ties between India and Indonesia.<br><br>More at source.<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressreader.com\/india\/the-indian-express\/20260710\/282037628914060\n\">https:\/\/www.pressreader.com\/india\/the-indian-express\/20260710\/282037628914060<br><\/a><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA, July 10, 2026 (The Indian Express): Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s visit to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, marked the start of,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23215"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23256,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23215\/revisions\/23256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}