Candi Sewu was a Buddhist complex, as opposed to the main complex, which was Hindu. Both were built in the ninth century, and they have been abandoned, rediscovered, demolished by earthquakes (with the last big one in 2006), and rebuilt several times. Here's the link to the Wikipedia piece, for a much better description and history of it all than I could do: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prambanan
Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. On a previous trip to Indonesia nearly 30 years ago I made the effort to visit Borobudur, the other great temple complex in the Yogyakarta region. That's a Buddhist one, and quite an impressive edifice it is. I somehow wasn't as motivated that time to get out to Prambanan, even though it's actually very close and convenient to the city.
On this last trip I rectified that, and was rewarded with a very pleasant day out.
The main upstanding structures are beautiful things. But I was very struck by how big a job they still have in front of them. Candi Sewu consisted of a main central temple, plus 240 'guard temples' all around it. Very few of these guard temples are still standing. The rebuilding effort seems rather slow and half-hearted, and looks like it could keep the handful of construction crews busy for centuries, rather than decades.
Prambanan's about 17km north east of Jogja, right alongside the main Solo road, and I got there easily and comfortably on an air-conditioned Jogja city bus.
