Prambanan was built in the mid-9th century. An inscription records the inauguration of the Shiva temple on November 12, 856. Rakai Pikatan probably started the work, and his successor, King Lokapala, inaugurated it. The Hindu temple follows Vastu Shastra, with a mandala plan and tall pointed spires meant to mimic Mount Meru.
The main Shiva temple is 154 feet (47 m) tall and 112 feet (34 m) wide. The Brahma and Vishnu temples are 108 feet (33 m) tall. The complex originally had 240 temples, most of them small pervara temples. It was used for about 80 years and abandoned around the mid-10th century. A major 16th-century earthquake brought the temples down.
Dutch-led reconstruction began in 1918 by anastylosis, reusing original stones, and the Shiva temple was completed in 1953. As of February 2023, only 6 of 224 pervara temples had been fully rebuilt. UNESCO listed the site in 1991.
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