Candi Boko - Year 792 AD

Jakarta (Dreamland Library) - Located about 3 km to the south of the Prambanan Temple or about 19 km to the south of the city of Yogyakarta. Ratu Boko Temple area is located on a hill with a height of ± 195.97 m above sea level, covering two villages, Sambirejo Village and Dawung Village.

Ratu Boko site is actually not a temple, but the ruins of a kingdom. Therefore, Ratu Boko Temple is often called Ratu Boko Palace. It is called the Boko Palace, because according to legend the site is the palace of Ratu Boko, Lara Jonggrang's father. The word 'kraton' comes from the word Ka-ra-tu-an which means the royal palace. It is estimated that the Ratu Boko site was built in the 8th century by the House of Syailendra

Ratu Boko's palace was first discovered by Dutch archaeologist HJ De Graaf in the 17th century. In 1790 Van Boeckholtz rediscovered the ruins of the ancient building. His findings were published so that it attracted the interest of scientists such as Makenzie, Junghun, and Brumun who took notes on the site in 1814. At the beginning of the 20th century, the site of Ratu Baka was scrutinized by FDK Bosch. The results of his research were reported in an article titled Keraton Van Ratoe Boko.

When Mackenzie conducted a study, he found a statue depicting a man and a woman with a head with a hug. And among the pile of stones was also found a stone pillar illustrated by animals, such as elephants, horses and others.

On the site of Ratu Boko found an inscription dating to 792 AD called the Abhayagiriwihara Inscription. The contents of the inscription underlie allegations that the Kingdom of Ratu Boko was built by Rakai Panangkaran. The Abhayagiriwihara inscription was written using pranagari script. The inscription stated that Raja Tejapurnama Panangkarana, who was thought to be Rakai Panangkaran, had ordered the construction of the Abhayagiriwihara. The same name is also mentioned in the Kalasan Inscription (779 CE), Prasati Mantyasih (907 CE), and the Central Wanua Inscription III (908 CE).

According to experts, the word abhaya means without hagaya or peace, giri means mountain or hill. Thus, Abhayagiriwihara means a monastery that was built on a peaceful hill. During the Rakai Walaing Pu Kombayoni government, in 898-908, Abhayagiri Wihara changed its name to Kraton Walaing.

Ratu Boko Palace which occupies a large enough area consists of several building groups. Most of them are now in ruins.

Gate
The entrance gate to the Ratu Boko tourist area is located on the west side. This group of gates is located in a high enough place, so that from the vehicle parking lot, people have to go up the road for about 100 m. The entrance consists of two gates, the outer gate and the inner gate. The inner gate, which is larger, is the main gate.

Reference: candi.pnri.go.id
Source: http://www.candi.web.id/candi-ratu-boko/
Photo: Special