In Praise of Prambanan: Dutch Essays on the Loro Jonggrang Temple Complex (Translation series / Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde)

The book has two parts. Part One is a general introduction to the temple complex based on an examination of the existing scholarly literature. It offers a detailed state-of-the-art survey of publications on Candi Prambanan as well as of the religious conditions which made its creation possible. Such issues as the probably date of its construction, its location, name, and architectural design, the rulers and religious sects involved in its construction, and the changing religio-political conditions of the time are considered, as are the various theories of archaeologists about the place of Candi Prambanan in the development of the Hindu-Javanese architecture.

Part Two contains a selection of important articles -- in English translation -- about the temple complex by prominent Dutch scholars all of whom had first-hand knowledge of it.