Buddhist Temples Ruins around Yogyakarta

I had not known that there were other interesting Buddhist ruins around Yogyakarta besides Borobudur temple.

It was only after I had booked the trip and began to do some research that I discovered that there were quite a number of other ancient Buddhist temples ruins around Yogyakarta.

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Candi Pawon

Pawon is a small temple about 1 km away from Borobudur. There is nothing particularly interesting about it. But it's a worth a short visit on the way to Mendut temple.

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Candi Mendut

The Mendut temple is quite a large temple. It supposedly has the largest Buddha statue in the whole of Indonesia. What I like about Mendut temple is the very elegant and beautiful statues in the shrine hall. The 3 statues in the shrine hall are very well preserved. The Sakyamuni statue is the center. The other is Avalokiteshvara (Guan Yin). As for the third statue, it seems that there are some arguments over whether it is Vajrapani or Maitreya. What I found unusual was that the statue of the Buddha had what appeared to abdominal muscles and genital bulge. While not unheard of, it is entirely quite rare to see statues depicted with musculature or genital bulge. (Over at museum in Danang Vietnam, I saw a Hindu statue with abs muscles. It was pointed out that it is quite rare to find that.)

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Candi Sewu


Candi Sewu is within the Prambanan complex. It is north of the Prambanan temples.

It seems that most visitors visiting Prambanan temple missed the Sewu temple. While Prambanan was very crowded, Sewu was quite deserted.

Sewu is not a single structure. Rather, it is a temple complex. It's a big temple surrounded by many small shrines. However, most of the shrines are in ruins. I think it would have been very impressive if the shrines are intact.

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Candi Plaosan



The Plaoson Temples are also known as the twin temples because there are 2 almost identical temple next to each other. It is about 3km away from the Prambanan temples. However, most people do not know about it. Most tour itinerary to Prambanan do not include Candi Plaosan.

I could only enter the south temple as the north temple was barricaded. There are 3 shrine halls in the temple. The statues in the temple are beautiful as well. Unfortunately, they are not as well preserved as those at Mendut temple.



What I really like about Plaoson temple are the lotus motifs found on the temple walls. On the temple walls, there are many reliefs of devas holding lotus flowers. The lotus flower motifs are varied and beautiful. Some are in bud form. Some open like a sun flower. Some are like the usual lotus seat. Some are in half bloosom.

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Candi Kalasan



The Kalasan temple is dedicated to Tara, hence it is also known as Candi Tara. (Apparently Candi Kalasan is a misnomer. When the temple was discovered, people thought it was the Kalasan temple found in some record. It was only later that people realize this was a different temple from the Kalasan temple in the records.)

It is a relatively big temple but quite badly damaged. Most of the wall reliefs are gone except for the southern face. Some reliefs of Tara can still be found.

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There were a few more temples ruins which I did not visit, such as Candi Sari.

The website Yogyes has quite a comprehensive list of the ruins around Yogyakarta. http://www.yogyes.com/

Most tours going to Prambanan do not go to these other temples. So you do need to book your own vehicle. And since most tours do not go to these temples, you do pretty much have the place to yourself.

I do recommend booking your own vehicle. Candi Kalasan, Sari, Parambanan, Sewu, Plaoson are all along the Yogya - Solo road. The rate of a car booking was about Rp 400,000 (Apr 2009).
If you are alone, I would recommend booking a tour with Via Via Cafe (http://www.viaviacafe.com) on a motorcycle. It's about Rp100,000 per person.

It's well worth the money if you have an keen interest in the Buddhist ruins.

A little adventure outside Borobodur

I first spotted what looked like a temple from the terraces of the Borobudur temple. Then while we were heading out to visit the Mendut temple, I saw that it was just across the padi fields from the Manohara hotel. We decided to go and check it out. Rather than following the paved roads, we decided to cut through the padi fields.

It was an interesting walk through the padi fields. The scent of fresh manure was in the air. Grasshoppers scattered ahead as we walked through. Dragon flies danced around us. Ducks waded across the fields. The farmers greeted us with amusement.


The structure of curiosity turned out to be a Tibetan Buddhist temple, called the Padmasambava temple. The main hall was spacious with bare adornment. I asked the care taker if there were Buddhists in the village of Borobudur. I was told that there were none. There were no monks or lamas either. The rinpoche would come once in a while and the temple is used mainly during Vesak.

The caretaker lead us up to the roof top of the temple to show us the "sleeping Buddha". That turned out to be a outline of the distant hills that looked looked like the profile of a face.
	The roof top has a nice view of the surroundings and we could see the Borobudur temple as well.

It was definitely an interesting side-trip.

Borobudur 10-11 April 2009

Borobudur is the biggest Buddhist monument in the world and I had always wanted to visited it. Finally, I organized a trip over the Easter weekend. It was a pilgrimage for me. Most people visited Borobudur as day trip from Yogyakarta. However, I wanted to spend time at Borobudur. So I stayed at the Manohara hotel which is within the park compound. I found a very good deal on http://www.travelindo.com and paid about SGD$60 for 2 nights (after splitting among 5 people for 2 rooms). The price is inclusive of the entrance fees (which is about USD$11 per entry) and breakfast. It was a fantastic deal. On the first day, my friend Sheung and I spent the afternoon looking at the panels on the lower terraces of the monument. It took us quite a while to identify the panels of scenes from the life of the Buddha. That was the only series which I could make much meaning out of. It was cloudy in the evening and we could not see much of sunset. The monument close at 5pm which was before the sunset. Later, I found out that we could stay till 6pm if we pay Rp150,000. But it would not have worth the money. I must admit that I was actually pretty distressed after my first day at Borobudur. What happened was that Borobudur actually sees far more domestic tourists than foreign tourists. It is no longer a living temple. The authorities disallowed religious ceremonies on the temple and even Vesak celebrations have moved to the Mendut temple 3 km away. Borobudur was very popular with the local Indonesians. It was like park for a weekend fun. Families, couples, groups of school students visited the park. They have picnic in the park. They climbed all over the stupas to take photos, ignoring the signs that say "do not climb". The loud speakers constantly blast out messages telling people not to climb on the stupas. Loud laughter and chatter destroyed any peace that could be found on the temple. It was like an amusement park. I could not find the solemnity and religious feeling at the temple at all. I was distressed to the point that I could not do any homage. I watched on as a group of Thai pilgrims circumambulated the main stupa amid the chaotic noise in a hasty pace. That was the only group who gave any indication that this was a monument with religious significance. I could understand that the Indonesians, being Muslims, would not see Borobudur with the religious significance a Buddhist would. However, I found it disturbing that they are not respecting it as a historical heritage either -- it seemed that they do not care if they would be breaking the monument at all as they climb all over it. That evening, I was a lost pilgrim. The Borobudur park opens from 6am in the morning. However, the sun would have risen by then. But the Manohara Hotel has an Sunrise Package which allows you to go up the monument at 4:30am to watch sunrise. Hotel guest pay Rp150,000 (about SGD$20) while non-guest pay Rp300,000 (which is another reason to stay at the Manohara Hotel). Early morning on the monument was different. There was quite a number of people -- but not as bad as the crowd in the day. Perhaps it was because of the morning quiet, people spoke in hushed tones. Most of them just sat and waited for the sun to rise. I had thought through the night and finally found my peace. I realized that faith and piety is within me. It should not matter what other people was doing at the temple. The temple should be within the mind -- the physical structure is just as structure and in spite of its historical value and significance, would still one day succumb to decay. As I headed up the stairs, I decided that regardless what other people were doing, I would do my pilgrimage. When I got up to the upper terraces, I did my usual morning puja (Veneration to the Buddha, Taking Three Refuges and Five Precepts) and started to circumambulate. I did 3 rounds at each terraces. When I was done, the sky was brightening with the first lights. The eastern sky was glowing red. The distant volcanic Mount Merapi could be seen against the red sky. It was a beautiful sunrise. I took a few pictures. But I decided that instead of snapping pictures away, I should really just appreciate the beauty of the sunrise. I found a corner and sat down. At one point, I closed my eyes briefly, starting to meditate. But when I opened my eyes just a few seconds later, the red glow was gone, replaced by grey blue hues. It disappeared so completely and suddenly that I was struck by a strong sense of anicca I never experienced before. Then I settled into a peaceful meditation. Later, as the crowd started to arrive at the temple, the carnival atmosphere and noise was back again. But I had found my peace. I had done my pilgrimage. I decided that even if the Indonesians friends had not given the respect to the monument that I had expected, at least they are not destroying it. They were genuinely enjoying themselves on the temple. Their interaction with the temple could perhaps later be the connection for them to have more understanding and familiarity with Buddhism. I was back at the temple several more times, wandering among the terraces and stupas before heading back to Yogyakarta after staying 2 nights there. For Buddhists who really wanted to experience Borobudur, do not do it as a day trip. Stay at the Manohara Hotel and spend time to experience the monument. It's worth it.