Ratu Boko

Ratu Boko sits on a plateau about two hundred metres above the Prambanan plain, and what it was is genuinely unsettled: the site has a monumental gateway, a paved terrace, bathing pools, a crematorium platform, a pendopo foundation and cave-like recesses, but no temple sanctuary of the usual kind, and it carries both Buddhist and Hindu features. An inscription of 792 refers to a Buddhist monastery, Abhayagiri Vihara; later phases appear Hindu. Palace, monastery, fortified retreat and ritual complex have all been proposed. What draws most visitors now is the sunset: the western gateway frames the sun going down over the plain with Merapi to the north, and the site fills in the last hour of the day for it. Prambanan is visible below.

History

In the 17th century European travellers to Java mentioned a site linked with a King Boko, and in 1790 the Dutch researcher F. van Boeckholtz first found the ruins on the hill. The Abhayagiri Vihara inscription of 792, one of the few written records from the site, names Rakai Panangkaran, who reigned from 746 to 784, and a vihara on the hilltop, "free from danger" (Wikipedia, Ratu Boko).

The main sights

• A monumental gateway - the paired paduraksa gates on the western terrace.
• An unresolved function - palace, monastery or ritual site, still argued over.
• Bathing pools and platforms - the surviving elements across the plateau.
• Sunset over the plain - the western gate framing the sun, with Merapi north.

When to go

May to September; late afternoon for the sunset. Half a day.

Good to know

Sunset is crowded and ticket prices for foreigners are high, particularly on combined tickets. There is little standing architecture beyond the gates. It is exposed with no shade.

Nearby

Prambanan is below; Yogyakarta is west.

Key facts