Sojiwan temple was rediscovered in 1813 by Colonel Colin Mackenzie, a subordinate of Sir Stamford Raffles. He examined the archaeological remains around Prambanan plain and rediscovered the ruins of wall surrounding the temple. The temple was left in ruins for decades until the government launched the reconstruction effort started in 1996. Since 1999 the temple become the training and education center for temple reconstruction project. During the reconstruction the excavation discovered wall structure surrounding the temple and also stone paved causeway in front of the temple. In 2006 the reconstruction project was halted and took a major blow because of earthquake, caused the reconstructed building parts and scaffolding collapsed. The reconstruction project completed in December 2011, inaugurated by Mari Pangestu, Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy. The reconstruction took 15 years and 8.27 billion rupiah cost.