Photographer Katie Grant recently travelled to Indonesia, where she photographed this modern bridal fashion editorial in the Prambanan Temple, an 9th century Hindu temple, revered as the most beautiful Hindu temple in the world. The expansive stone complex became the perfect setting for this modern bridal fashion inspiration: a chic column gown and simple greenery bouquet are a stunning contrast to the ancient setting.
Read on for more about the story behind this temple from Katie Grant:
“A realm for gods, a place for mortals, Prambanan stands austere amongst the lush landscape of Central Java. Legend tells of the story about Prince Bandung Bondowoso who fell in love with Princess Rara Jonggrang, the daughter of King Boko. But the princess rejected his proposal of marriage because the Prince had killed her father and since ruled her kingdom. The Prine insisted on the union, and finally the Princess was forced to agree for a union in marriage, but she posed one impossible condition: he must build her a thousand temples in only one night.
The Prince entered into meditation and conjured up a multitude of spirits from the earth. Helped by supernatural beings, he succeeded in building 999 temples. When the prince was about to complete the condition, the princess woke her palace maids and ordered the women of the village to begin pounding rice and set a fire in the east of the temple, attempting to make the prince and the spirits believe that the sun was about to rise. As the cocks began to crow, fooled by the light and the sounds of morning time, the supernatural helpers fled back into the ground. The prince was furious about the trick and in revenge he cursed Rara Jonggrang to stone…. and she became the last and the most beautiful of the thousand statues.
In its original form, the temple complex contained many large and small temples, but then collapsed during a major earthquake in the 16th century. It is here, amongst the ruins, the stage is laid for our modern bridal inspiration.”
