Candi Plaosan is a large Buddhist complex built in the 9th century by a princess, as we learn from inscriptions that were found at the site, and was dedicated to the king, her father. The site is just north of the main Prambanan Complex, and to my mind should really have been included in the main complex, where it would have enjoyed all the protections and support needed for such a large site.
The site actually consists of what are two areas now, the large northern site, and the much smaller southern site. They are now separated by a road. The photographs published here come from the northern site, which consists on large twin temples, with many smaller perwara temples, and a large collection of stūpas surrounding the main temples.
The site, as is usually the case in Indonesia, is impeccably kept up with fine gardens, and inside a protected area. This really reflects the way the Indonesian people think of their classical history and their intention not only to protect it, but to draw upon it for inspiration in the present.
I first visited this place in 2009 and the photos I am publishing today replace a previous collection from that period. The site had been badly damaged during the 2006 earthquake, and I had expressed the hope that more reconstruction would be done in the following years, but it seems not to have happened.
Besides the temples themselves, there is some fine relief work of Bodhisattvas on the outside of the temples, and some fine statuary on the inside. I am publishing 42 normal photographs, and have also embedded four 360° photos I took, which give a good idea of the site in the round. There is also a history and description of the site on the page, which is mainly drawn from its Wikipedia page.
