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William Dalrymple Profile picture
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22 Nov, 4 tweets, 3 min read
Prambanan is the 9thC royal temple complex of the Sanjayas of Mataram, situated immediately beneath the acropolis of their palace on the outskirts of modern Yogyakarta.
Its an extraordinary rich and sophisticated group of temples
Despite being overwhelmingly Shaivite in orientation,Prambanan contains one of the very earliest and most perfect representations in stone of the Ramayana, which, perhaps surprisingly, is more complete than any surviving cycle of similar date in India.
Its an extraordinary survival and a wonderful testament to the power of Valmiki's epic and its ability to charm, excite and move people many thousands of miles from the land of its birth.

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More from @DalrympleWill

William Dalrymple Profile picture
21 Nov
Candi Plaosan & Candi Sewu
Two exquisite complexes of mid 9thC Buddhist temples near Yogyakarta.
They were built by Sri Kahulunnan or Pramodhawarardhi, the daughter of Samaratungga, descendant of Sailendra  Dynasty, and who was married to Rakai Pikatan of the Hindu Sanjaya dynasty.
The confluence of these two great Javanese dynasties produced these remarkable masterworks.
Read 8 tweets
William Dalrymple Profile picture
19 Nov
Borobudur, begun around 825, is the quite simply the largest Buddhist temple in the world. It is decorated with around 500 statues of Lord Buddha, arranged in terraces of decreasing size, as if on the sacred slopes of Mount Meru.
It was built possibly by the Sangramadha Nanjaya Sailendra dynasty of Mataram, Central Java, or maybe “charismatic religious leaders rather than kings.” For surprisingly there is no great temple or palace complex associated with it.
The only inscription associated with Borobudur dates from 842 and is from a woman who gave land to sustain it. For all the mystery, this is the climax of the ninth century golden age of Java, when so many remarkable monuments were built here, both Hindu and Buddhist.
Read 12 tweets
William Dalrymple Profile picture
18 Nov
Java’s earliest Hindu temple complex, built between 675 and 725, lies high on the Dieng Plateau, some three hours drive from Borobodur in the Highlands of Central Java.
Here, up amid the sulphur springs and occluded by plumes of sulphurous steam belching out of geysers within the rim of a still active volcano, is the sacred space known as '‘The Place of the Gods.”
The temples are all Shaivite, though on the Trimurti temple, Brahma and Vishnu are also depicted in some of the very earliest Hindu figure sculpture to survive from SE Asia.
Read 9 tweets
William Dalrymple Profile picture
17 Nov
Out of quarantine and out into the wild volcanic Highlands of Central Java. The 7thC temples of Gedong Songo are strung up the ridge of an eerie volcano, where plumes of sulphurous steam belch out of the ground and mingle with thick cloudbanks scudding up bamboo slopes.
The temples themselves look sometimes Gupta, sometimes Pallava, with a hint of Kashmir- all topped with curving Chinese-style flying eves- a mixture you'd see nowhere in India and yet are contemporary with the earliest Indian stone mandirs in MP and coastal Tamil Nadu.
The guards, all Muslims, all reported regular night time sightings of Hindu queens and their spirit courts.
Read 7 tweets
William Dalrymple Profile picture
15 Nov
I am completely thrilled that our beloved @JaipurLitFest is returning to Jaipur after a spell online due to the pandemic. We are coming back with a truly spectacular line up of literary superstars from across the world

JLF 2022 to be held on the ground
indiatoday.in/education-toda…
In fiction we have this year’s Booker winner, the great Damon Galgut, his predecessors Monica Ali & DBC Pierre, Pullizer winner Jonathan Franzen and Turkish superstar and Booker shortkisteen @Elif_Safak
indianexpress.com/article/books-…
We have Charlotte Higgins talking about Greek Myths, Benjamin Brose on Xuanzang, Rob Macfarlane on nature writing and the underworld, Rupert Everett on Hollywood, Vidya Dehejia on Chola bronzes, Lisa Taddeo on Women & Colin Thubron on the Amur River.
zeenews.india.com/india/jaipur-l…
Read 8 tweets
William Dalrymple Profile picture
10 Nov
My beautiful great-grandmother Sophia Pattle Dalrymple by Watts, painted in 1852 in Little Holland House
In January 1851, the Victorian painter G. F Watts, then regarded as the country’s greatest artist- ‘England’s Michaelangelo’- came to stay at Little Holland House. This was a rambling dower house backing onto Holland Park & looking onto farmland that would soon become Kensington
Watts, according to his Franco-Bengali hostess, Sarah Prinsep, had been invited for “three days[ but]  stayed for thirty years”. He lived in the house, built  his studio there & frescoed the walls with allegories
Read 13 tweets

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