Everyone who journeyings to the Middle Java sooner or later visits the Prambanan Chandi and the Borobudur Chandi. And they may think how the Prambanan Chandi was formed. Long years ago these questions and the answers to them became the myths and legends of the people of Middle Java, told and retold down to the present day. The story goes. Roro Jonggrang was the daughter of King Baka, who reigned over the ancient Javanese kingdom of Prambanan. King Baka was a barbarous, knock-down king who reigned by sheer terror, and for a long time none dared challenge him-but at last, in a fierce battle, he was killed by the King of Pengging Kingdom. This victory was due to the King’s 1st minister Bandawasa, who fought with a weapon possessing supernatural powers. Bandawasa had named his magic weapon called Bandung, and for this reason he himself was known as Bandung Bandawasa.

Upon the defeat of King Baka, the King of Pengging Kingdom established Bandung Bandawasa in the palace at Prambanan. Shortly after his arrival, Bandung Bandawasa expressed his desire to take to wife the Princess Roro Jonggrang, the daughter of his victim. Now Roro Jonggrang had no desire whatsoever to marry the murderer of her own father, but she had little choice in the matter. She and the Patih talked over the problem at great length. If the Princess rejected Bandung Bandawasa’s marriage offer, there was no foreknowing what dire results might follow; if she accepted, it would break off her heart. Finally, the Patih made a wise suggestion: the Princess had better accept the marriage offer, but on conditions that Bandung Bandawasa could not possibly fulfill.

The conditions were these: Bandawasa was to build a thousand temples, and additionally, two deep wells, and the work was to be completed in one nighttime. When Bandung Bandawasa was told of the Princess’ requirements, he objected strongly to himself, but to the Princess he stated his readiness to do what she demanded of him. As luck would have it for Bandawasa, there were two persons he could call upon for help, both of whom possessed magic powers. One was his father, Damarmaya, who had at his performing superhuman tasks. The other was the mighty King of Pengging whom once he himself had helped in the defeat of King Baka. Both expressed their willingness to help Bandawasa complete the temples and the wells in the conditioned time.

The date was fixed, and in the evening Damarmaya’s ground forces, with the followers of Bandung Bandawasa, began their giant construction job. Miraculously five hundred temples had already been completed by midnight. Roro Jonggrong had sent a representative to watch the progress of the work, and by four o’clock in the morning he saw nine hundred and ninety five temples already constructed, and two deep wells nearly completed. He returned to the palace with newsworthiness of this incredible progression, and the Princess and the Patih and the whole palace were filled with confusedness, knowing that if the Princess’ conditions were fulfilled, as it now appeared they’d be, the Princess would have to marry the man had murdered her father. What were they to do?.

Over again, the Patih had an idea. Quickly he went to several nearby villages where he waked the young maidens and ordered them to fetch their rice pounders and begin pounding rice immediately. Around each rice-pounder he cautiously arranged fragrant flowers. With all their magic, the workmen still had to work frantically to complete the temples and wells in time, and they were so deeply engaged in their hammering and chiseling that they didn’t even hear the 1st sounds of the pounding of rice. Then one of the men caught it; then another, and another, each one of them stopping for a moment to listen-and then, as the sound became clearer, all of them stopped, for the pounding of the rice as well as the fragrance of the flowers permeating the air about them were signs that dawn had broken and their work was over.

At break of dawn Bandawasa was at the site to view the work of his men. With a joyous heart he gazed upon the tremendous assemblage of temples before him. He counted them himself-and to his great consternation discovered that there were nine hundred ninety nine temples! He soon learned the reason for the failure of his men to reach the goal, and in blazing anger he pronounced a curse on all young maidens in the neighbourhood of Prambanan. Roro Jonggrang herself he changed into a statue, and to this day she stands in the great inner hall of the largest of the temples, known as The Prambanan Chandi a.k.a. The Temple of Roro Jonggrang. And even though Bandung Bandawasa’s army came short of the thousand he had demanded of them, the whole group near the Temple of Roro Jonggrang is still called The Thousands Temples.[email_link]