Yogya And Buddha's Cosmos
Posted On Friday, March 20, 2009 at at 5:04 PM by AlvinShort for Yogyakarta, Yogya is the cultural center of Java and we loved it so much that we stayed for 7 days ! The main street – Jalan Malioboro was lined with interesting shops and vendors selling different Batik merchandises and garments. The word “Batik” is an ancient Javanese word meaning “to dot”. The dazzling choices of the many colorful Tee-shirts with different Batik patterns on offer, were just about the most plentiful in all the countries we have traveled in South East Asia. We gladly parted with our Rupiah for a few of these interesting garments. Here is the psychedelic Tee I bought depicting the Wayang character: Togog !
Our long stay in Yogya was occupied with many nearby day trips that of course included the Yogya Kraton (Sultan Palace), the famous Hindu heritage sites of Borobudur and Prambanan as well as the hill station village of Kaliurang that sat at the foot of the temperamental Merapi volcano. We also visited the nearby village of Kota Gede where Mandy bought herself an interesting silver Ramayana necklace.
Borobudur was deservedly one of the highlights of our visit to Java. The amazing monument with its many stupas, is believed to represent The Buddha’s vision of “The Cosmos” and the many levels of “Enlightenment” – my very amateur interpretations. The walls at the base of the monument are covered with a series of stone carvings ranging from royal dancing girls to depictions of the daily lives of the then royal courts. The structure reminded us of a similar stone platform representing the Buddha’s layout of the Universe called Doi Tong that we came across in Ching Rai in Northern Thailand, most interesting !
Our long stay in Yogya was occupied with many nearby day trips that of course included the Yogya Kraton (Sultan Palace), the famous Hindu heritage sites of Borobudur and Prambanan as well as the hill station village of Kaliurang that sat at the foot of the temperamental Merapi volcano. We also visited the nearby village of Kota Gede where Mandy bought herself an interesting silver Ramayana necklace.
Borobudur was deservedly one of the highlights of our visit to Java. The amazing monument with its many stupas, is believed to represent The Buddha’s vision of “The Cosmos” and the many levels of “Enlightenment” – my very amateur interpretations. The walls at the base of the monument are covered with a series of stone carvings ranging from royal dancing girls to depictions of the daily lives of the then royal courts. The structure reminded us of a similar stone platform representing the Buddha’s layout of the Universe called Doi Tong that we came across in Ching Rai in Northern Thailand, most interesting !
