The Most Impressive Temples
This post features pictures of the three most impressive temples that I visited in South-East Asia in October of this year (2024) – ‘Candi’ Prambanan, ‘Candi’ Borobodur and Ankor Wat.
Background:
Visiting ancient sites from time to time is a very important activity for me. However, getting to them can take time to arrange and there’s naturally a lot of planning and saving involved, so once it all comes together I try to be make the best of it.
I was based in Mauritius most of this year from where I flew to Kuala Lumpur and then took short-haul flights to Indonesia and Cambodia. I didn’t have a whole lot of time in each place, but I nevertheless managed to see a range of different temples, more than anticipated. A number of them were off the beaten track, some of which were truly mystical places.
Impactful First Impressions:
This post features only the temples that made the most powerful first impressions on me (on first sight) and when approaching them, mainly because of their grand scale and beautiful architecture. The sense of being taken back in time to eras of past glory and high civilization combined with having the privilege of actually being there (which is still a sensation I experience at awesome places even though travel is very accessible for everyone nowadays) was part of the experience.
Naturally, all three sites are very famous but nonetheless exceeded my expectations on visiting them personally. Pictures can only tell a partial story, though, they don’t reflect scale very well, neither do they convey subjective experience, but hopefully these few shots will provide an idea.
Other Temples:
An important point to note is that all three these temple-sites are, in fact, only the main temples within their respective temple compounds, or temple complexes meaning that they are surrounded by – or in the vicinity of – a number of other temples, which makes visiting them well-worth it, because there’s much more to see too (more details in possible future posts).
Wishing everybody a great December 2024. May 2025 be a very positive year for all!
Yours in Travel,
Jean-Jacques
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1. Prambanan Temple Compounds:
‘Candi’ Prambanan (‘Candi’ is the Indonesian word for ‘temple’) is situated in Java near Yogyakarta. It’s the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia and the second-largest religious temple site in Southeast Asia, after Angkor Wat. Prambanan is believed to have been constructed between 820 and 920 AD.
2. Borobudur Temple Compounds:
‘Candi’ Borobodur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. It’s situated 52 kms (32 miles) from Prambanan Temple, also in the Yogyakarta region of Java in Indonesia. Borobodur is believed to have been built between 605 and 1025 AD.
3. Ankor Wat Temple Grounds:
Ankor Wat (‘City of Temples’) is considered the largest religious structure in the world. It’s a combined Hindu (first) and Buddhist (later) temple. It’s situated about 5 miles north of Seam Reap in the northern region of Cambodia. Ankor Wat was built between 1022 and 1150 AD.
Thanks for joining me!
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6 Comments
I always learn from your posts – thanks!
You are welcome Marilyn! Thanks for stopping by – it’s nice to hear from you.
Thank you very much, Jean Jacques, for speaking about your great travel experiences and for taking me again to the Pramban and Borobodur temples! Unfortunately I havn’t been to Angkor Wat. All the best for next year:)
Dear Martina, I hope you are doing well. Great that you visited the first two temples – they are truly beautiful, I was lucky to arrive early in the morning in both cases and I got tickets on the day without booking in advance. Not so many people when I entered and the light was really good, so all-in-all I was very lucky. Ankor Wat is very impressive indeed, however I spend two days visiting all the other temples in the area, so it’s truly a City of Temples! I hope you can make it there sometime, truly amazing. I will try to get another post up featuring some of the other temples in the area. Thanks for commenting!
Your comment makes me feel like being there again! I’am, of course, looking forward to your next impressions. All the best in the meantime!
Dear all, if you have any difficulties commenting, please notify me and I will retrieve your comment in case it was filtered. I have modified the settings now, so comments should go through. I can be reached by e-mail: quirk_strongbox506@simplelogin.com (it will forward to me).