Day 3 - 17th June 2009, Wednesday
The end. Thank you for visiting my site and reading the journal. May our life filled with love and compassion, always!
We first visited "Monument Jogja Kembali, a museum that was built for the brave people of Indonesia fighting for Independence. It is to remark the due importance of Jogjakarta during the war of independence from the Dutch. To the
east of the town centre is a large air force museum; as Indonesia was for a
period in the Soviet sphere of influence this museum contains a number of
vintage Russian aircraft not widely available for inspection in the NATO sphere
of influence.
Our second stop was at the renowned Borobudur Temple, built during the Golden Age in the beginning of 8th Century for Buddhist devout, by Syailendra Dynasty. Buddha statue, among 504 Buddha's was placed inside the Stupa, offering prayer. It is well known as 9th Century Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument consist of 6 square platforms topped by 3 circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the centre of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside a perforated stupa.
The temple design is in Gupta architecture reflecting India's influence on the reign. It is also depicts the Gupta style from India and shows influence of Buddhism as well as Hinduism. The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path around the monument and ascends to the top through 3 levels symbolic of Buddhist cosmology: Kamadhatu (the world desire), Rupadhatu (the world forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). The monument guides pilgrims through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the wall and balustrades.
Evidence suggest that Borobudur was constructed in the 9th century and abandoned following the 14th century decline of Hindu kingdoms in java, and the Javanese conversion to Islam. Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparkled in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (also found the Prambanan), then the British ruler of java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesia government and UNESCO, following which the monument was listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site. Borobudur is still used for pilgrimage; once a year by Bud hists in Indonesia celebrate Wesak at the monument, and Borobudur is Indonesia's single most visited tourist attraction.
Seated not far from the Borobudur site, about 3km of east is a Mendut temple. It is a ninth century AD Buddhist temple, located in Mendut village. Mendut, Borobudur and Pawon, all of which are Buddhist temples, are located in 1 straight line. There is a mutual religious relationship between the 3 temples, although the exact ritual process is unknown. Mendut is the oldest of the 3 temples. In the Karangtengah inscription, it was recorded that the temple was built and completed during the reign of King Indra of Syailendra dynasty. the inscription dated 824 AD mentioned that King Indra of Sailendra has built a sacred building named Venuvana which means "bamboo forest". Dutch archaeologist, JG de Casparis has connected the temple mentioned in Karangtengah inscription with Mendut temple.
We stopped at extremely nice restaurant located on our way to Mount Merapi. What else to said about good foods, nice ambiance, peaceful weather and a lovable companions? I indeed am a very blissful and bless person to be able to have all that understanding and love from my beloved family.
Our final destination was to Mount Merapi, an active stratovolcano located on the border between Central Java and Jogjakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It is located approximately 28 kilometres north of the large Jogjakarta city, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano, with villages as high as 1,700 metres above sea level.
The name Merapi could be loosely translated as "Mountain of Fire". The etymology of the name came from Meru-Api; from the Javanese combined words; Meru means "mountain"refers to mythical mountain of Gods in Hinduism, and api means "fire". Smoke can be seen emerging from the mountaintop at least 300 days a year and several eruptions have caused fatalities. Hot gas from a large explosion killed 27 people on 22 November 1994, mostly in the town of Mutilan, west of the volcano. Another large eruption occurred in 2006, shortly before the Jogjakarta earthquake. In light of the hazards that Merapi poses to populated areas, it has been designated as one of the Decade Volcanoes.
On 25 October 2010, a year after our visit, the Indonesian Government raised an alert for Mount Merapi to its highest level and warned villagers in threatened areas to move to safer ground. People living within a 20km zone were told to evacuate. Officials said about 500 volcanic earthquakes had been recorded on the mountain over the weekend of 23-24 October, and that the magma had risen to about 1 kilometre below the surface due to the seismic activity. On the afternoon of 25 October 2010, Mount Merapi erupted lava from its southern and southeastern slopes.
Our second stop was at the renowned Borobudur Temple, built during the Golden Age in the beginning of 8th Century for Buddhist devout, by Syailendra Dynasty. Buddha statue, among 504 Buddha's was placed inside the Stupa, offering prayer. It is well known as 9th Century Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument consist of 6 square platforms topped by 3 circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the centre of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside a perforated stupa.
The temple design is in Gupta architecture reflecting India's influence on the reign. It is also depicts the Gupta style from India and shows influence of Buddhism as well as Hinduism. The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path around the monument and ascends to the top through 3 levels symbolic of Buddhist cosmology: Kamadhatu (the world desire), Rupadhatu (the world forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). The monument guides pilgrims through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the wall and balustrades.
Evidence suggest that Borobudur was constructed in the 9th century and abandoned following the 14th century decline of Hindu kingdoms in java, and the Javanese conversion to Islam. Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparkled in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (also found the Prambanan), then the British ruler of java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesia government and UNESCO, following which the monument was listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site. Borobudur is still used for pilgrimage; once a year by Bud hists in Indonesia celebrate Wesak at the monument, and Borobudur is Indonesia's single most visited tourist attraction.
Seated not far from the Borobudur site, about 3km of east is a Mendut temple. It is a ninth century AD Buddhist temple, located in Mendut village. Mendut, Borobudur and Pawon, all of which are Buddhist temples, are located in 1 straight line. There is a mutual religious relationship between the 3 temples, although the exact ritual process is unknown. Mendut is the oldest of the 3 temples. In the Karangtengah inscription, it was recorded that the temple was built and completed during the reign of King Indra of Syailendra dynasty. the inscription dated 824 AD mentioned that King Indra of Sailendra has built a sacred building named Venuvana which means "bamboo forest". Dutch archaeologist, JG de Casparis has connected the temple mentioned in Karangtengah inscription with Mendut temple.
We stopped at extremely nice restaurant located on our way to Mount Merapi. What else to said about good foods, nice ambiance, peaceful weather and a lovable companions? I indeed am a very blissful and bless person to be able to have all that understanding and love from my beloved family.
Our final destination was to Mount Merapi, an active stratovolcano located on the border between Central Java and Jogjakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It is located approximately 28 kilometres north of the large Jogjakarta city, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano, with villages as high as 1,700 metres above sea level.
The name Merapi could be loosely translated as "Mountain of Fire". The etymology of the name came from Meru-Api; from the Javanese combined words; Meru means "mountain"refers to mythical mountain of Gods in Hinduism, and api means "fire". Smoke can be seen emerging from the mountaintop at least 300 days a year and several eruptions have caused fatalities. Hot gas from a large explosion killed 27 people on 22 November 1994, mostly in the town of Mutilan, west of the volcano. Another large eruption occurred in 2006, shortly before the Jogjakarta earthquake. In light of the hazards that Merapi poses to populated areas, it has been designated as one of the Decade Volcanoes.
On 25 October 2010, a year after our visit, the Indonesian Government raised an alert for Mount Merapi to its highest level and warned villagers in threatened areas to move to safer ground. People living within a 20km zone were told to evacuate. Officials said about 500 volcanic earthquakes had been recorded on the mountain over the weekend of 23-24 October, and that the magma had risen to about 1 kilometre below the surface due to the seismic activity. On the afternoon of 25 October 2010, Mount Merapi erupted lava from its southern and southeastern slopes.
The
mountain was still erupting on 30 November 2010 however due to lower eruptive
activity on 3 December 2010 the official alert status was reduced to level
3. The volcano is now 2930 metres high, 38 metres lower than before
the 2010 eruptions.
The end. Thank you for visiting my site and reading the journal. May our life filled with love and compassion, always!
