It is no surprise that I am a huge fan of ruins….anything old and abandoned beckons to me and draws me in. Be it ancient temples, Neolithic sites, megalithic cemeteries, iron age forts, or even a cowboy ghost town….I am excited for it all. So when Fint told me to pack my bags because we were on our way to Yogyakarta in Central Java for the weekend…I did my happy dance as I tossed some clothes in a backpack!
Yogyakarta (pronounced as Jogjakarta) is in central Java, Indonesia…it derives its name from Yogya which means ‘suitable’ and Karta which means ‘prosperous’. There has been a city there since the 8th century. The city is shadowed by the still active volcano Mount Merapi. Mount Merapi last erupted in 2010. (Fint and I plan on climbing this volcano in the next year...so keep tuned for that!)
On this weekend visit we made our way to some of the larger temples…and they are stunning. Quite honestly some of the prettiest I have seen.
Borobudur at Sunrise
The first morning we woke up at the mind boggling hour of 3:00 am to go watch the sunrise over Borobudur Temple. Borobudur is a 9th century Mahayana Buddhist Temple (it was completed in AD 825); which has 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. It is the world’s largest Buddhist temple. Most of the Buddha statues have lost their heads due to the looting of them for interior decorations in houses and private collections…sad, but thank goodness they didn't take them all. Walking up to the temple in the dark was quite special…it was dimly lit due to little lights along the path…and when you get up to the foot of the temple and see the imposing size of it in the dark…it was magnificent! Sunrise is the best time to see this temple…even if the sunrise isn't so spectacular due to the clouds or weather conditions, however, it is so empty due to the early time that the crowds haven’t arrived yet, and that is always a winner in my book.
Temple in the jungle of Central Java.
Some of the relief panels.
Each of these houses a Buddha statue.
Still groggy at 4:00am! ;)
The Buddha inside.
Prambanan Temple at Sunset
The next big temple we visited was the 9th century Hindi temple Prambanan, at sunset. This temple is dedicated to the Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Shiva). This temple had to be my favourite of the trip….though that could be because the sunset was an amazing background for this beautiful temple. Absolutely stunning, it is such a magical place to walk up to in the orange and red sky…you can feel the history in this place.
The sky was on fire! Gorgeous.
Inside the temple dedicated to Shiva. It was almost pitch dark...we had to get this shot on a tripod with a very long exposure.
Can you find me?
The entrance to the Shiva statue.
The path leading up to the temple.
In the city of Yogyakarta.
We took so many photos...and I want to share them all with you without making this blog too intense to view...so be on the lookout for another photo blog of the rest of the images we captured. ;)
Here is a short video of our trip.
Make sure to change the settings to HD for the best view. ;)
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