Yogyakarta

I mention about my summer vacation on the previous post (click here). Second stop - Yogyakarta. Its a shame to be an Indonesian and never visit Yogyakarta; It's one of the most cultural city in Indonesia. So me and my sister decided to be a local tourist for five wonderful days.

There are so many things to say about this rich city. The pictures I post is a very brief summary and I don't think they do any justice to be a representative of Javanese Culture.

Well first of all Yogyakarta (Jogja) is rule by a kingdom called 'Kraton'. Its beautiful because here in Kraton Jogja, it still maintains values of glorious Javanese culture from ancient times. I believe that traditions and culture have to be preserve because this makes a place distinctive. 

Kraton symbol carved into stone

Kala; character in the javanese culture. This figure are almost in all door entrance to prevent evil spirit entering the place. 

Kraton guards

Batik is a traditional textile made by wax resist dying technique. No one knows where the technique originally come from but Indonesia is the only country that use this technique until today. It has become one of our treasures as it was designated by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage and Humanity on October 2, 2009. The more complicated the pattern and the color is the more expensive the textile will be.  I am a big fan of batik my self and I'm very proud of it.  

The process of manual drawing of patter. Wax onto textile. 

This is the 'brush' the artisan use to apply wax onto textile. Called canting. 

Today we produce pattern stamp to make the process of batik easier. But the most precious are the hand drawn ones. 

Process of dying.

Drying on rack of bamboos

Silver making

Wayang means puppet. This is traditional Indonesian puppet made out of leather. Most of them are in characters of Indian influenced tales such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. These wayang are usually played behind a scene and we would watch their shadows.

Wayang Kulit means Leather puppets

This is another type of Wayang but its made out of wood. 

Indonesia is very rich in her natural resources. The volcanic ashes/ sand are the best recourses to build.

A man taking volcanic sands to build

Most of the temples in Central Java is made around 8th - 9th century.

Stone relieves around the temples

The Prambanan temple is build as the Hindu Sanjaya Dynasty's answer to the Buddhist Sailendra Dynasty's Borobudur temples. Its amazing really how both religion can live peacefully side by side. 

Prambanan Temple

Indonesian architecture is just unbelievable. These stone works are just stack up volcanic stones and yet they can be so beautiful and it survive through centuries. The stones are shaped so that they interlock with each other and amazingly not one stone is exactly the same with the other. Again these temples are surrounded by stone relives of hindu teachings. These temples are build with reasons. the beautiful lotus flower surrounding the temple symbolizes virility. Im amazed by the depth of symbolism and the thought that is put into this temple. Revering back to my staircase studies. I realize how tall the rises are on the stairs that link us into the temples. The difficulty of climbing the stairs symbolizes that its never easy to reach god. Simple and beautiful. 

Ramayana Performance. A beautiful outdoor theater with the Prambanan temple scene behind. 

The stage was on fire between act 1 and act 2

The Ramayana performance includes traditional javanese orchestra called the Gamelan.

I also went into traditional markets. Its exiting to see the local people and how they live everyday. 

Bird Market

Traditional Market in Jogja

Indonesian Spices 

Clay making

Mount Merapi

The distruction cause by the eruption of Mount Merapi on 2010

Love, harmony and serenity are among the values taught for people to live by. The Javanese word sumeleh refers to a pure and peaceful state of mind without greed or any need to be restless. Achieving this would be valued as a perfect life. Perhaps our inability to reach this is the cause of our troubled world.  

I want to live in Jogja. 

Photograph by Hana Fiona Tindjau