Sol Marbella

Visit Java!!! There are two...

by tanianska

Visit Java!!! There are two beautiful places on Java near Yogyakarta. One of them is - Borobudur. You MUST see these places!!

photo by Luca Invernizzi Tettoni

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Borobudur temple is one of the ancient monument in Indonesia that are most frequently visited by domestic as well as by foreign visitors. And it had been acclaimed by the world as a cultural heritage mankind.

Its arcietural style has no equal throughout the world; its own - inspiring structure representing the micro cosmos have very often given rise to question e.g. when, in what way, during how long time, and by whom the sanctuary had been built.

The right answers up to no have remained a mystery since no written documents had been found so far. Most scholars, based on brieff insription of the covered base Borobudur temple was build approximately around the year 800 AD, when Central Java was ruled by Samaratungga, king of the Cailendra dynasti, who adhered to Mahayana Buddhism. However, in the beginning of teent century AD, becaused of the political situation in Central Java became completely neglected and given over decay. The Sanctuary was exposed to volcanic eruption and other ravages nature.

Neglected and abandoned for almost one thousand year Borobudur was in ruinous condition when it was rediscovered in 1814.

Since the efforts had been made to preserved it. In 1907 - 1911, a large scale restoration was carried out by the Dutch Government, directed by the Th. Van Erp, an army engineer officer.

From technical point of view the Van Erp's restoration can be evaluated as successful, but a great many parts of structure were not put back in their original position and places.

Books on Javanese diverse culture

by SLLiew

Was really glad that I bought several travel books on Java before embarking on my trip. Java is not a monolithic cultural group but there many ethnic groups near Jakarta, Eastern Java, Bandung Area, Yogyakarta Area, Surabaya and East Java and Madura Island.

Bringing along some of these books was worth the weight as it is not easy to find a good English bookstore outside of Jakarta.

Ramayana outdoor stage performance Prambanan

by SLLiew

A beautifully cheorographed Ramayana nightly outdoor performance with the Prambahan Hindu temple complex in the background. A major tourist attraction. It is a short distance from Yogyakarta and worth seeing as there is not much to do at night at Yogya anyway.

Ramayana is a Hindu epic of good vs evil where the Monkey Hanuman save the Queen Shinta from the demon who has kidnapped her.

After show, the tourists get to take a photo with the performers.

Central Java

by kyoub

"Yogyakarta"

We couldn't decide whether we should cancel or go ahead and go.
There were demonstrations and warning for US citizens not to go there at this time.
As you can see, we went and were so glad that we did.
The people could not have been more friendly than they were.
The temples were most interesting.
The scenery was breathtaking.

"Helping hand"

This young lady was studying tourism.
She was very helpful to me and tried to keep the sun off.
I hope she now has a wonderful job that she enjoys.

"Enlightenment"

Borobudur is a place of pilgrimage rather than of worship, a training center for those who wish to achive Enlightenment.

Jakarta at it's best

by dirkkunze

Thursday, 5th November 2002

Jetlag recover was on the schedule. Sleeping a little bit longer, getting used to the warm climate again (I really missed it in MELBOURNE) and going for a swim at a very nice resort near by. We went to a mall to obtain the last needs for Lebaran, broke the last fast with the whole family and waited till the evening.
Lebaran apparently starts with the last breaking the fast. After that Ramadan is finished and everyone is supposed to praise Allah by calling his name the whole evening. This is called: “Takbiran”. Well – in real life it is way more exciting than it sounds. Mostly young people gather (the older ones go to bed early since the next day starts very early with the morning prayer) lighting their firecrackers, dancing on the streets and spreading a very nice party mood. We drove to the center of Jakarta where a big celebration was held with concerts and speeches in the presents of the President of Indonesia (Megawati Sukarnoputri). But we started to late. Jakarta is clogged every day with traffic. I don’t know what made us think that it would be better on a special day like this. Well – it was worse but exciting and interesting to watch from the car nevertheless. I think after 3 hours in traffic and stuck on a crossroad close to the Monas (Monument in the center) we went home to get some sleep. The next day did not seem to be very restful.
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Friday, 6th November 2002

I might recall this day one day “the longest day”. The whole family got up around 4.30ish in the morning because we wanted to leave the house at 5.30am. So we did and we were on the way to the “Pondok Indah Mosque”. La’s family wanted to secure some space inside the mosque for me and made for that the extra effort to drive to a bigger mosque. Unfortunately not the biggest (which also is the biggest in South East Asia and where Megawati would do the prayer) because it would have been too far away and too much for our tide schedule. Usually everyone would gather in his local mosque but there would be no space for us inside – so we went to “Pondok Indah Mosque”. I was wearing my sarong, got the little praying rug and tried to remember the instructions I got last night. We rehearsed the whole procedure of what to expect and how to react during the pray especially when to bend down, when to hold my hand and when to go how on my knees. I was sweat drenched in the mosque. The only white one and ultimately sticking out with my height alone. But it was very exciting and I wouldn’t want to miss it. And as it turned out it was not that hard after all. I just had to wait for my codeword “Allahu Akbar” and did pretty much what everyone else did. A very special experience and a good start for this day. Except that I didn’t understand a word the people were saying. Anyway - after that we went home to get changed (at Lebaran everyone gets new cloths) and have breakfast. And the procedure began. At Lebaran everyone is visiting its family and the children receiving envelopes with money. Since the families here are quite big this sounds easier than it actually is. A lot of arrangements have to be made before Lebaran. There is usually on member of the family who hosts a reception for all his/her siblings. And then there are granddads, grandmas and other friends of the family – so it everything is arranged beforehand. But the big problems is, that everyone is doing the same at the same time and this leads to major problems. Imagine 9 millions people leaving their home at the same time to go to the other end of the city in an anarchy like environment like in Indonesia. I would call it “worst-case-scenario”. And it was exactly like this. We visited 5 families, eat everywhere, talked everywhere and returned home by 10pm. Now everyone knows why I might call it “the longest day”.
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Saturday, 7th November 2002

Slept in because the wise planer of procedure scheduled this day for Lebaran recover. Nothing is more necessary than that. We might go for a movie (Harry Potter2) tonight – but until then – nothing else than eating and sleeping and chatting and just being….