S62 -tTHE RUINS Of PRAMBANAW 



in the centTjl diflrridsj to a period of about 143 year*. On a braifs cat 

 of Buddha, found not many miles from the rains-of Pram^ana?!, there k 

 I am told infcribed in the^'De^va-Magri oli£ra6lcr,the precise year, alleged 

 to be that of the building of the oldcfi of the temples of Prambanan, or 

 riSS: on two of the aftronomical brafs cups fo frequently met with, 

 .and which were brought frotn the diflrift of Pa^^?i/'iiX«, there arc in- 

 fcribed in plain hgu'res in the ancient 'Jav&ncje charafler t^e years 

 cf Salivana 1241 and 1246c The sera, afcribed to the building of 

 the temple of E&tq 'Bodor^ which is in a far higher ftate of prefcrva™ 

 tion, than ihofc of Pramba?2an^\s 72 years more recent than the ©Id c ft 

 of the latter. Fro^na-all, thefe fa "^s, and the internal evidence affarded 

 by the flate of the riains iherrKfelves, I conclude that the isra alleged 

 for the building of -the temples oof Prambanan is not far from the tru^fe 

 or at all events, is exceedingly probable, It may here be ^remarked, 

 that while tiic eilabhfhmcnt of Hmduijm, cannot be traced farther 

 back than the beginning of the 12th century of Sdlivana in the centre 

 ei the iOand, there are fcveral monuments m the eaflcrn cndwhsch 

 j)rove Its exilience there at leaft 400 years earlier. 



The dilapidation which is difcoverabk in the temples of Pramhmiin% 

 is foon traced to its true ciufes, by a careful conlideration of the 

 buildings themfelvcs, an attention to the phyfical circumdanc^s of 

 the count-ry, and the charader of the population. The chief caufc 

 of dedructioE, is 1 think, the luxuriance of vegetation peculiar to the 

 •climate. The fohdity of the llruBure, however admirable, is little 

 calculated to refiii this fpecies of depredation : the tendrils of a variety 

 coLcreepers infmuate themfelves into the minutefl; chinks of the build- 

 ings, and foon growing into trees of 8 and 10 inches in diametcT, their 

 .dellruSlive effeds become quite irreillible, in (Irudures neither pro« 

 •£e61;ed by mertar, nor bound by bars of metal, which might have pro- 

 itraded their falL The progrds ©f this fpecies of dilapidation, is dif- 



