Prambanan Temple Compounds (UNESCO/NHK)

Living with a sacred mountain, Prambanan Temple Compounds. Mount Merapi in the central region of Java in Indonesia has been revered as a sacred mountain since ancient times. At the foot of the mountain are the remains of Prambanan Temple, considered to be one of the finest Hindu temples in Indonesia. Prambanan Temple Complex was built during the 9th century and this 47-metre-high central Shiva temple is considered as the most important. Inside the temple is a statue of Shiva. Shiva is one of the main Hindu gods, representing both destruction and creation. The decoration found on the roof of the temple is known as Ratna. These towers are the equivalent of the Buddhist stupas where Buddha's remains are enshrined. Prambanan Temple is a fine marriage of Buddhist and later Hindu architecture. Restoration work on the temple has been ongoing for years. For the Javanese people, Mount Merapi is more than simply an awe-inspiring feature of nature. Its volcanic ash has made the soil fertile and rainwater collected from the mountain slopes is channelled to their rice fields. The farmers living at the foot of Mount Merapi harvest three times each year. But Mount Merapi is an active volcano and in this seismic area earthquakes occur from time to time. That's one of the reasons for the continuing restoration work on the temple. When it was hit by the quake in 2006, the site was already under reconstruction from damage caused by earlier earthquakes. The people of Java have worshipped on Mount Merapi and considered it a sacred place for centuries. Repeated earthquakes have profoundly affected them, yet they go on restoring their heritage and rebuilding their lives.