BOROBUDUR TEMPLE

by Sitta aMbarsekaR

Borobudur Temple is the seventh wonder of the world. It was built in the 9th century during the Syailendra dynasty.

LOCATION
This temple is located at Borobudur District, South of Magelang, Central Java.

We can find reliefs on every wall, for example a description of the life of the holy Buddha. On the highest level of the temple there are the stupas. Inside each stupas, there is a statue of the holy Buddha.

There is a story about these stupas. It is said that if you can touch the right hand of the holy Buddha, you will have good luck.

For about four centuries, the Temple was buried, and it was discover again by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1814.

HISTORY
Based on the inscription dated 842 AD, Casparis suggested that Borobudur was one time a place for praying. The inscription stated a phrase such as: �Kawulan i Bhumi Sambhara�. Kawulan means the origin of holiness, "bhumi sambhara" is a name of a place in Borobudur. Paul Mus stated that Borobudur Temple had the structure of stupa (conical form) with double expression. As a whole, the Borobudur Temple was an open-flat stupa, but on the other hand, the temple expressed the idea of a �closed world�. The latter expression could be felt when one is already inside the temple. Whenever person is inside the temple, his or her view will be limited to high walls full on relieves, the verandah is always squared in such a way that one could not see other parts of the temple, even in a same floor. The same feeling happened if one stood on arupadhatu round platform, he or she will have a wider view only on that level, but are not able to see the lower level nor the upper level like the one on rupadhatu and kamandhatu. It could be said that Borobudur is a symbol of cosmic mountain covered by the sky roof, a specific world that could be reached through isolated alleys as stages. The closed structural design of the temple expressed the concept of a closed world, not just a technical reasons as had been suggested by other experts ( Daud AT, 1987)

Borobudur was built by Sanmaratungga in the 8th century, and belongs to Buddha Mahayana. Borobudur was revealed by Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles in 1814. The temple was found in ruined condition and was buried.

DESCRIPTION
The overall height was 42 meters, but was only 34.5 meters after restoration, and had the dimension of 123 x 123 meters (15,129 square meters). There were 10 floors. The first floor up to the sixth floor was square form, the seventh to the tenth floor were round form.

Borobudur is facing to the East with a total of 1460 panels (2 meters wide each). Total size of the temple walls was 2500 square meters, full of relief. The total number of panels with relief was 1212. According to investigations, the total number of Buddha statue was 504 including the intact and damaged statues. The temple undergone restoration from 1905 to 1910, and the last restoration was done in 1973 to 1983.

Ever since the first excavation, most experts speculated on the exact shape of the temple. Hoenig, in his book "Das form problem des Borobudur" speculate that the original form of Borobudur Temple had four gates and nine floors. The form of Borobudur Temple is similar to temples found in Cambodia. According to Parmenteir, the huge single stupa on top of the temple made the smaller stupas in the lower part looked drowned. Stutterheim who had been studying stupas in India and other parts of Asia concluded that the stupa structure was an Indian origin. The original purpose of stupa building was as storage of Buddha Gautama and other holy priests cremation ash.

According to Stutterheim, the overall form of Borobudur Temple is a combination of zigurat (middle Asian Pyramid) and Indian stupa. Stutterheim opinion was supported by the existence of this type of form in Ancient Javanese literature.

The relief of Borobudur temple started from the base of the temple up to the fourth platform. The relieves at the base contained the story of Karmawibhangga. Under the main panel and above the Karmawibhangga relief, a wide-sized relief was inscripted at the wall. From this point along the alley, the relief did not show story in the sequence, but as a repeating part of the story with the same motives which expressed the world of spiritual beings such as half demonic body (Gandharwa, giants or Yataka, dragon, Sidha or angels and their ladies friends, Apsara and Nagi, all of them are heavenly beings who are tender and beautiful.

Division of panels are: the first panel expressed a heavenly being in sitting position, on both side of this panel are small panel with a small standing statue. This figures are repeated 26 times for each side of the wall. Between the panels is carved three bodies, a male flanked by two women.

The stupas are really magnificent..Let Borobudur Temple as your next planning for family outing..

FACTS FOR TRIP

If you have a plan to trip anywhere, better for you to keep this following facts:

1. Climate
2. Demographic
3. Language
4. Currency Exchange
5. Telecommunication and postal service
6. Local Time and Business Hours
7. Staying Places
8. Eating Places
9. Shopping
10. Electricity
11. Customs
12. Information Posts

First before you go, learning more about the facts place of your destination. It will make you feel comfortable on your way unti home again.

JOGJAKARTA MY DESTINATION

As a cultural and art center, Jogjakarta provides vast access into Javanese culture for visitors through its rich artistic traditions of performing arts, including Javanese classical dances like Gembyong, Srimpi, etc, and Wayang Kulit (shadow puppet) performances, as well asarrays of traditional crafts like batik, carving, earthenware, and silverware. Entwined to the traditional properties, a wriggle of modernity materialized into blaring discotheques, cozy cafes, dangdut performances, spacious malls, burger shops and sea of motorcycls!

These cultural jumbles even offer an appealing cultural experience for visitors. The city also favored with natural charms, from mountains to sandy beaches, from natural caves to sand dunes, from barren limestone hills to forest of rich soils awaited for adventurous visitors.

The simplicity of life, intertwined with complex philoshopy and dynamic cultural backdrop has made the city only second with complex philosophy and dynamic cultural backdrop has made the city only second by Bali as the most popular and alluring tourist destinations in Indonesia. Visit jogja and enjoy your culturally enriched, revived life..Love Jogja and you..

Tips visit in Jogjakarta

Tips & Simple Etiquette

by saptapari tour and travel

Simple Etiquette Cultural etiquette has been described as the unspoken but assumed behavior that conveys politeness. Therefore it is important that you take the time to learn about and follow "local etiquette". In Indonesia, there are a few specific rules that visitors should be sure to know about and follow.
Never hand anything to an Indonesian with your left hand. As in most Islamic countries the left hand is considered "unclean" and thus insulting. If this makes the action somewhat cumbersome by having to change hands, take the time to do it anyway. Handshaking is customary for both men and women on introduction and greeting. Indonesians will frequently touch one or both hands to their chest after shaking hands as a sign of sincerity.
There are a few differences in the use of hands and feet for indicating actions or getting attention. The proper way to summon someone is to use one of the Indonesian words Pak, Mas, (for men) and Bu, Mbak (for women) and make a scooping motion toward you with your hand, fingers facing down. Crooking the index finger as is common in the West is not polite here.
Also, be aware of where & how you position your feet. Exposing the sole of your shoe is considered impolite as is pointing with your foot to indicate an object. Shoes should be removed when entering mosques or, usually, when entering someone's home. If you are unsure, ask.
Be aware that emotional displays of any emotion are considered rude.
Women should avoid wearing halter tops or shorts as well as tight fitting or revealing clothes in public.
Lastly, visitors should keep in mind the importance of status in Indonesian society. In Indonesia everyone has status, but that status is situational. A street vendor or cab driver may have very high status in his home community either through leadership ability or religious training. Try to understand the different situations that arise in day to day activity and modify your personal behavior to meet those situations appropriately.

THE ROUGH GUIDE to JOGJAKARTA INDONESIA

by sittA aMbarSekar

Yogya or Jogja also Yogyakarta or Jogjakarta.. this is no matter whether you spell the name by. Jogja is an excellent place to visit. Jogjakarta is a part of Indonesia, island of Java.

Jogja or Yogyakarta is famous as one of the main tourism and travel destinations in Indonesia. This city also famous as the center of culture, art, craft, etc.

Yogyakarta lies just 7.48° (approximately 350 km) south of the equator. As such the weather is tropical - consistently hot and sunny. Days are almost universally 12 hours long with sunrise is approximately 5:30 a.m. and sunset at 5:40 p.m. depending on the time of year. The daytime temperature averages between 22° C to 30° C (78°F to 90° F) and with humidity quite high - a sticky 75% - it often times it feels much hotter.

Yogya's tropical monsoon has two distinct seasons - dry (May to September) and wet (October to April). Monsoon refers to the wind, not the rain. However even in the wet monsoon there's a chance that it will be sunny for a good part of the day. Weather wise May, June and July are generally considered the best.
With a total population of some 3,100,000 inhabitants (400,000 or so in the city proper) in area of 3,186 sq. km Yogyakarta is quite densely populated. Some 93% are Muslims, 6% Christian and 1% Buddhists and Hindus.

The People of YogyakartaSome 40% of the people of Yogya are farmers, while another 40% work in service industry as merchants, traders or in the hospitality industry (of course this percentage is much higher in the city itself). The remainder are students, housewives and so on.
Religion At one time the people of Central Java (Yogyakarta) were predominately Hindhus and Buddhists, that for the most part, coexisted peacefully. Evidence the many Hindu temples surrounding the Buddhist temple Borobudur as well as several Buddhist temples surrounding the Hindu temple of Prambanan

The important thing if you desire visit to Jogjakarta, don't forget to ask your travel agent for getting complete information of your Trip Guide, transportation, flights, hotels, tour packages, etc. Get that match your budget!

make your trip safe & comfort..