The three main shrines and what's inside each: the central Shiva temple's four chambers, t
Prambanan Hindu Iconography — Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu
Prambanan's central courtyard has eight main temples — the three large shrines for Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu (the Hindu trinity) plus five smaller subsidiary temples. Each contains specific iconography that follows medieval Hindu religious logic. This guide is what's inside each shrine and what to look for in the iconography.
Book your Prambanan entry ↗The central Shiva temple
The Shiva temple is the tallest of the three main shrines (47 metres). It is the central of the eight temples in the inner courtyard. The temple has four interior chambers, each housing a different deity statue. Main chamber (east-facing): Shiva himself, as a 3-metre statue showing Shiva Mahadeva (Shiva the Great God). North chamber: Durga, Shiva's consort, in her demon-slaying form. West chamber: Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati. South chamber: Agastya, the sage who brought Hinduism to South India and Southeast Asia.
The Shiva temple's exterior is carved with relief panels depicting the Ramayana epic — the entire epic across 24 panels. Visitors read the panels clockwise around the temple. The carvings are mid-9th century, contemporary with the temple's construction, and remarkably well-preserved. The four-chamber design with Shiva flanked by his family is a Java-specific iconography; mainland Indian Shiva temples typically have a single chamber.
The Brahma and Vishnu temples
Brahma temple (north of Shiva): contains a 3-metre Brahma statue. Brahma is the creator god in the Hindu trinity; usually shown with four heads facing the four directions. The Prambanan statue's four heads are clearly visible. The temple's exterior reliefs depict scenes from the Ramayana, continuing from where the Shiva temple panels end.
Vishnu temple (south of Shiva): contains a 3-metre Vishnu statue, the preserver god in the Hindu trinity. Usually shown with four arms holding specific symbolic objects (conch, discus, mace, lotus). The Vishnu temple's exterior reliefs depict the Krishna legend — Krishna being the most popular avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu. The Krishna reliefs are some of the finest medieval Hindu carving in Southeast Asia.
The Nandi and subsidiary shrines
Directly facing the Shiva temple is a smaller shrine for Nandi — Shiva's sacred bull. The Nandi temple contains a 3-metre stone bull statue, depicting Nandi in a calm seated position. The Nandi temple is small but architecturally complete; the bull statue is well-preserved.
The other smaller temples in the central courtyard are dedicated to lesser deities or carry various subsidiary functions (some served as treasuries or priests' rooms in the original 9th-century design). The 224 perwara temples surrounding the main courtyard are much smaller and were donor-funded by Javanese aristocrats and merchants; many are partly ruined but the surviving examples show the same carving programme as the main shrines.