Jogja

One thing is very obvious once you arrive in Yogyakarta, known as Jogja, is that it loves it's street art. Everywhere you look the city has been painted, taged, and bombed. Filled with an endless array of characters; it's one of the best cities to just get lost walking it's side streets. If you've read this blog at all in the past you know I'm a sucker for a good peice of street art.

What I love about this expression of creativity is how it builds an even greater culture of artists. On one block you can walk past store after store of clothing shops, filled to the ceiling wth local start up street wear brands. I found this city nothing less than inspiring.

Romance of Rama

While in Yogyakarta we couldn't get our fix of the play Ramayana so we also watched it be performed by shadow puppets. While nothing fantastic, it was fun to watch and a nice escape from the heat and traffic outside. 

Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, oh my!

Just around the corner from Borobudur, is another fascinating temple called Prambanan. This Hindu temple was built in the 9th century, and is the largest temple in Indonesia dedicated to Shiva. The complex consists of 240 temples; however, a lot are in ruins because of earthquakes and volcanoes. The carvings on the three of the tallest temples are details of the epic: Ramayana. It was dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, all great Hindu divinities.  

One of the things we missed at this site was the nightly performace of Ramayana performed by live actors. At night they light up the remaining temples and perfrom with it in the background. I'm sure it would have been the ideal way to see this show but we saw the show in downtown Yogyakarta the day before, which was fantastic. 

Stup Tacular!!!

The first time I heard and saw pictures of the Borobudur Temple was back in Seattle while talking to my good buddy Henry Sia. I'll admit, I had a good chuckle when I viewed the photo of Henry when he was a kid amongst the 72 stupas at the top of the Temple. While my laughing subsided, my desire to see this temple did not.

Known as one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world, Borobudur was built in the 8th and 9th centuries AD during the reign of Syailendra Dynasty. Built in three tiers the lower levels are decorated with intricate relief carvings; while the top level has 72 stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha. It's no wonder why this is known the world over, it's a stunning piece of architecture.