Kewu Plain

The Kewu Plain or Prambanan Plain is a fertile volcanic plain stretching between the southern slopes of Mount Merapi and north-west of the Sewu Mountains. This plain is now included in Sleman Regency in Yogyakarta Province and Klaten Regency in Central Java Province, Indonesia.

The Kewu Plain was the seat of the Medang Empire during the 8th century AD to the 10th century AD and the Mataram Sultanate in the 16th century AD. For more than a thousand years this region played an important role in the history of ancient Indonesia and had many important historical relics.

If each temple is counted, the Javanese period in the 9th century has produced thousands of Hindu and Buddhist temples spread from the Dieng Plateau, Kedu Plain, to the Kewu Plain in the early history of Indonesia.

The area is very rich in monuments where many archeological sites are only a few kilometers away, even some Hindu and Buddhist sites are only a few meters away. The Prambanan Plain is the center of important political, religious, social and urban life in the history of civilization in Indonesia.

The Kewu Plain has been shadowed for centuries by Mount Merapi, which is known as a fertile agricultural land and is very good for rice plants. The Javanese economy was heavily dependent on rice farming and ancient Javanese political institutions with organized political, social and economic systems had grown and developed based on this plain.

Pictures of rice farming activities are found in relief carvings in Borobudur and Prambanan. The kingdom of Medang depends on the rice harvest and the tax on rice drawn from its people and ultimately rice farming plays a role in the rapid growth of the population on the island of Java.

Archaeological sites

Ganesha statue, Gupolo statue, Banyunibo, Barong, Bubrah, Dawangsari, Dharma Shanti, Gebang, Ijo, Kalasan, Kedulan, Lumbung, Miri, Morangan, Plaosan Lor and Plaosan Kidul, Prambanan, Pustakasala, Ratu Boko, Sari, Sewu, Sambisari, Sojiwan, Watu Gudig.

Cultural tradition

Rose in graveyard

Flora

Blue porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis), Broad-leaved paperbark (Melaleuca quinquenervia), Cajuput (Melaleuca cajuputi), Candle bush (Senna alata), Crêpe ginger (Cheilocostus speciosus), Crown flower (Calotropis gigantea), Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius), Flamboyant (Delonix regia), Flame lily (Gloriosa superba), Frangipani (Plumeria rubra)

Gadis perindu (Sphagneticola calendulacea), Giant sensitive plant (Mimosa diplotricha), Giant sensitive tree (Mimosa pigra), Golden bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris vittata), Indian rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia), Kenikir (Cosmos caudatus), Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), Minnieroot (Ruellia tuberosa), Marigold (Tagetes erecta)

Red cotton tree (Bombax ceiba), Rougeplant (Rivina humilis), Sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica), Sonosiso (Dalbergia sissoo), Streaked rattlepod (Crotalaria pallida), Small-leaved mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni), Talok (Muntingia calabura), Teak (Tectona grandis), Turi (Sesbania grandiflora), Umbelanterna (Lantana camara)

Fauna

Asiatic rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinocerus), Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis), Chocolate grass yellow (Eurema sari), Common tree frog (Polypedates leucomystax), Eastern great egret (Ardea alba modesta), Giant Asian mantis (Hierodula patellifera), Golden tortoise beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata), Great eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina), Green marsh hawk (Orthetrum sabina), Javan pond heron (Ardeola speciosa)

Javanese grasshopper (Valanga nigricornis), Kangkang (Anoplocnemis phasianus), Kangkang gunung (Prionolomia heros), Kismo bee (Xylocopa aestuans), Lesser banded hornet (Vespa affinis), Little egret (Egretta garzetta), Maned forest lizard (Bronchocela jubata), Scaly-breasted munia (Lonchura punctulata), Scarlet skimmer (Crocothemis servilia), Sooty headed bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster) (Pycnonotus aurigaster)

Spotted tortoise beetle (Aspidimorpha miliaris), Striped albatross (Appias libythea), Sweetpotato bug (Physomerus grossipes), Yellow garden spider (Argiope appensa).