Indonesia is a very large country which contains a plethora of people, languages, and history. We all know it, and most of you can probably name at least one thing about the place, but it doesn’t rank highly on the international knowledge scale. Chances are that in school your history and social studies classes gave you a large chunk of information regarding Europe and the Americas, maybe with some focus on the Middle East and either civilization’s origins or modern foreign policy, or China and their unique cultural and linguistic influence, probably even India and their distant but noticeable impact on the West. But I’d be willing to bet very few of you have ever heard of Srivijaya, Majapahit, or Ache.
Indonesia is at a crossroads, and it always has been. China traded there, India traded there, and all of South East Asia either traded or conquered there. If history teaches us anything it’s that those two things inevitably lead to a spread of culture and religion in some shape or form. Today nearly 90% of Indonesia is Muslim, but from China and India the faiths of Buddhism and Hinduism once also passed through this massive archipelago. And waking up at 3:30am one morning with a group of friends, I chose to go in search of those religious influences beneath a rising sun. What an awe-inspiring experience I would find.
Under cover of darkness I stalked through the shadows surrounded by trees and fellow travelers. Coming upon a set of stairs I climbed. And climbed. And climbed a today of 9 sets of stairs until I was surrounded by nothing but stone and sky. Around 5:20am the above image greeted me. Below you see the town that has grown to support the tourism here, beyond you see Mount Merapi, a volcano that still erupts from time to time. And in the foreground I’m sure you have noticed jaggedy stones known as stupa. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Borobudur, and it is the single largest Buddhist Temple anywhere in the world.
Of course, for all intents and purposes (in regards to religion) it’s entirely abandoned! Once upon a time various kingdoms and native dynasties called the religion their own, and Indonesia still retains something like 1.7% Buddhist population, but Borobudur is not actively maintained by practitioners as you might expect. Hell, we aren’t even sure when the temple was built. We only suspect that sometime around the 9th century during the Shailendra Dynasty a king gave leave for its 75-year construction. At the time both Buddhism and Hinduism were popular in this area of Central Java, and any records we have don’t focus at all on this site. What’s even more curious is that for over 500 years it was totally abandoned, buried beneath volcanic ash and forgotten by an ever Islamifying population. Not until the British and Dutch came to the region in the
And on this day, as many others, the sun touched the temple once again. The scenes were breathtaking as you might be able to infer from the few photos present. Hundreds of people gathered on the eastern side of the temple. Some set up tripods, others took out their phones, and the occasional person simply sat there to take in the majesty of what they were witnessing. The night before a rather long conversation took place between me and the European travelers I was with about whether the 475,000RP ($33.64) sunrise ticket was justified over the 350,000RP ($24.79) regular ticket. I’ll never know the kind of experience I’d get out of the cheaper ticket but without a doubt I felt no regret whatsoever after I saw that orb of light shining through the clouds to warm my skin.
We spent some time wandering among the stupas of the top three levels. Each at some point in the past contained the statue of a Buddha in the midst of meditation. I believe it was an artistic choice by the creator. Stupas are meant to be a symbolic representation of Buddhism, an icon to the faith without worship. Sitting inside is a person many who come by the religion often misinterpret as that faith’s god, when in fact Buddhas are not meant to be worshiped or idealized, but learned from and respected. Sitting the Buddhas inside, I feel, drives this idea home: practice here, but do not worship here, none are higher than any other and all can attain enlightenment. Sadly, though, almost 1000 years of wear has removed the heads of meditating Buddhas, or perhaps man did that – the king of Siam did at one point get permission to take 8 cartloads back with him after visiting. Whatever the reason, it hardly takes away from the experience and the spiritual connection many might find while standing in this place.
But that was hardly all. While the top of Borobudur is filled with Stupa-encased Buddhas, the lower 5 layers of the temple are adorned with religious reliefs telling all sorts of stories relevant to the Buddhist faith. See the temple is set up to have three “sections.” The lowest is Kamadhatu – the ground and a small platform here – where mortal beings live out their lives in the realm of desire. At the top where we began was
This
Though their monuments from lands they once called theirs have not. While Borobudur was our sunrise activity on day one, the next day we tried to set out for a sunset activity. Enter Prambanan, the second largest Hindu structure in SEA.
It, like Borobudur, sits functionally abandoned. It was built sometime in the 9th century, and it is believed to have been built in direct secular and spiritual retaliation against Borobudur. Dynastic struggles are complicated, but at the time some followed Buddhism, some followed Hinduism, and different families vied for power in Java with their faiths on their sleeves. By 930AD an eruption occurred in the area and the site was slowly abandoned as political power concentrated elsewhere. In fact, the site was destroyed and not rebuilt until after WW1 by the Dutch to look as it does now.
Regardless, it still retains its cultural value. See, of the seven main temples, each one is dedicated to a different major Hindu god; most prominent being Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Each is gorgeous, with reliefs depicting various cultural myths including the Ramayana story.
The area surrounding Prambanan is also littered with other temples, including Sewu above. Funnily enough there was some debate among my group regarding whether the area was for Buddhism or Hinduism as the French and Chinese guide stated Buddhism was practiced here, but the English for some reason did not. Turns out, Sewu and a few of the other temples were dedications to Buddhism, while Prambanan was specifically for Hinduism. At the time we didn’t get the chance to discover this specifically because we were on a time limit. This also explains the lack of photos I’d hoped to include; I don’t have many because I couldn’t get them in time. The reason we had a time limit was of course the sunset!
Which of course we didn’t see. Above is a photo maybe an hour before sunset? I’m not posting the sunset because it sucks – far too many clouds. Though on most days the sight is one to remember. And while I never made that memory to access, I did have a memorable time at Prambanan. Most noticeably in the final photo
Seeing them in the light was fascinating. But after the
Fascinating details … can feel it.