Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta is a magical place with two big temples to explore, Borobudur and Prambanan. If Yogyakarta is on your bucket list of places to travel, I will give you some great information on how get around.
After spending 10 days in Bali, Indonesia we headed for the central island of Java, Indonesia. Yogyakarta is the most central city for seeing both Borobudur and Prambanan. We started our first day of site seeing with Borobudur which is the largest Buddhist monument in the world. It was built in the 9th century but a volcanic eruption buried the temple for many centuries. It was finally unearthed again in the 1800’s and is now an UNESCO world heritage site.
The temple is made of 9 levels. Each level taking you closer to Nirvana or to heaven. The beautiful murals depict the struggles of ordinary life, and getting good and bad karma. The middle levels depict Buddha’s life. The top levels represent Nirvana but there is no artwork at the top because the artist did not know what Nirvana looked like. I find it charming and humble that the artist didn’t take a guess at what heaven looks like. So many others have. Instead at the top there are hundreds of stupas and each stupa has a Buddha inside.
The first feeling I had was awe at the sheer size of the temple. Then the overwhelming amount of detail in the craftmanship of the design and the number of statues. As you approach the temple the you start to notice the carvings in the walls are telling many stories as would today’s graphic novels but these are spiritual stories or legends.
There is a lot to see and learn here. I would suggest getting a tour guide upon arrival. I feel we learned a great deal more than we would have on our own.
You will be surprised to find that this temple was buried for about 500 years. It was located in the center of surrounding mountains in the middle of a jungle where it was forgotten about.
The sheer size of this temple is overwhelming . Believe it or not this temple was actually taken apart and put back together again. It is said took 37 years to build and yet it was still incomplete. There are nine levels to the temple. The stories on the lower levers depict human life, the middle levels depict the life of Budda, and the higher level was Nirvana. You might notice the stairways getting more steep to signify it is not easy to attain enlightenment and reach Nirvana.
Here you will see many beautifully carved statues along its walls telling the stories. At the higher levels you will see many stupas. Inside each are the statues of Budda.
After our tour I really wanted to take a moment to meditate here as I am sure so many have. It was great to quiet the mind and take in this incredible experience.
There is no public transportation to Borobodur so we hired a private driver that day through Klook. We really like ordering our drivers and activities through Klook. They made it so easy for us to get around Indonesia. We can’t wait to use them throughout the rest of Asia as well. If you need any transport or activities while traveling feel free to use the link below to get $5 off your first booking.
The next day we took the city bus out the Prambanan Temple. It’s takes about an hour, but it’s a cheap and effective way to get there. It’s a ten minute walk from the bus stop to the entrance so we decided to take a Rik saw the rest of the way so we would have energy to really enjoy the temple.
We also walked down Malioboro Street to experience the shopping, the food stalls, and the street performers. It was really quite fun and lively and we were there on a Monday. If they get down like this on a Monday. I really wonder how it looks on a Saturday.
Prambanan is a complex of Hindu temples built in the 8th century honoring the Gods of Brahma the Creator, Shiva the destroyer, and Wisnu the protector. Some temples are fully restored but there are hundreds of temples still left as rubble from an earthquake that hit 500 years ago. The restored temples are lovely and totally worth seeing.
The complex also has a set of Buddhists temples that are worth seeing. Babrah and Sewu Temple especially are worth seeing.
For food we like Baos Rao’s. The food was so flavorful
