Indonesia 2010

Tuesday12October

Second day of visit. This time, we go to Prambanan about twenty kilometers east of Yogyakarta.
Prambanan is a set of temples built between the 8th and 10th century to venerate Hindu Gods. As for Borobudur, UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site.

The site is still under construction following the 2006 earthquake.

Bas-relief: birds watch over the tree of life "Kalpataru"

Each temple houses a God. Here, it is Brahma with four heads and four arms.

The bull Nandi, mount of Shiva.

In the distance, the Merapi volcano.

Vishnu?

23 kilometers away, the Merapi volcano catches the clouds.

Near Candi Prambanan, other much smaller temples or even ruined ones are being restored.

Right next to the Hindu temples, a recent mosque and its minaret.

The lawns of the site benefit the local shepherds...

Another set of temples not far from there: Candi Sewu guarded by 2 dvarapalas!

"A dvarapala is a door guardian deity of Buddhist and Hindu temples and monasteries. It can be represented in human or demonic form, sometimes armed with a mace, a spear or a trident and fierce in appearance." © Wikipedia

One of the temple halls

Starfruits in their starfruit tree...  

Small culinary interlude with its chicken foot in a local restaurant...  

All the volcanic bricks are there. Just need to put them back in order...

Here too, two dvarapalas guard the temple.

Right next door, a very real buffalo unlike the stone Nandi of Candi Prambanan.

The palace. At least what remains of it...

This site has the advantage of offering a beautiful view of the surroundings and notably of the Merapi volcano.

Wikipedia excerpt:
"Merapi, in Indonesian Gunung Merapi, is a volcano in Indonesia located on the island of Java, north of the city of Yogyakarta. It rises nearly 2,900 meters above forests and fields. With 49 eruptions between 1548 and 2010, it is considered the most active and dangerous volcano in Indonesia.
[...]
On October 25, 2010, after more than three years of inactivity, Merapi erupted again after a seismic phase that saw its lava dome grow several centimeters per day for several weeks. Numerous pyroclastic flows descended its slopes, causing more than 100,000 people to flee, killing 122 people and injuring more than 150 by November 5, 2010."

the ancient "baths" of the palace

Return to Yogyakarta, and small walk around the Jalan alun Utara square where the youth of the city gathers.