Sewu

Sewu Temple is located in Bener Hamlet, Bugisan Village, Prambanan Subdistrict, Klaten Regency, Central Java. It is around 17 km from Yogyakarta en route to Solo. Sewu Temple is a temple complex located nearby Prambanan Temple, approximately 800 meters to the south of Rara Jongrang statue.

This temple was probably built in 8th century by Rakai Panangkaran (746-784 AD) and Rakai Pikatan, the kings of Mataram Kingdom. Mataram was under the influence of Syailendra family, who were Buddhist. Scholars estimate that Sewu Temple was the center of religious activities of Buddhist people. The assumption is founded on the content of andesite stone inscription discovered in one of the ancillary temples. The sculpture, known to be Manjusrigita, is written in Ancient Malay dated in the Javanese year of 792. The stone inscription describes prasada purification rituals called Wajrasana Manjusrigrha in the Javanese year of 714 (792 AD). Manjusri is also mentioned in Kelurak stone inscription of 782 AD, discovered near Lumbung temple.

Thousand Temple is situated next to Prambanan Temple, making it part of Prambanan Temple tourism area. The area also has Lumbung Temple and Bubrah Temple. Not far from the area, there are several other temples, namely Gana Temple, around 300 m to the east, Kulon Temple, 300 m to the west, and Lor Temple, around 200 m to the north. Sewu Temple, the second biggest Buddhist temple after Borobudur, and Prambanan temple, which is a Hindu temple, indicate that during the period Hindu and Buddhist communities had lived a harmonious coexisting life.

The name “Sewu” (from Javanese word, means thousand) indicates that there are many shrines included in the Sewu Temple compound, although their number does not reach a thousand. Sewu Temple has 249 shrines; 1 main temple, 8 flanking or intermediate shrines, and 240 ancillary shrines. The main temple is located at the center, surrounded on its four sides by flanking shrines and ancillary shrines in symmetrical arrangement.

Source : http://candi.pnri.go.id/jawa_tengah_yogyakarta/index_e.htm