On top of being one of the most diverse countries in the
world, Indonesia also has one of the biggest Buddhist monuments in the world.
At first I was very confused as to why it would be in Indonesia of all places.
As I read more about Indonesia’s history and asked a lot of questions, I
found out that Indonesia is one of those countries with lots of resources and
for centuries everyone wanted a piece of the pie; dating all the way back to
the 8th century. So during the long holiday I booked a flight to
check out what makes these temples so special. It is 3 hour drive from Yogjakarta. It’s one of the most spectacular buildings/temples I’ve ever seen. The
structure is meant to last forever. Every brick had a story and even the
damaged ones had stories.
According to my tour guide and Wikipedia, it was built in the 9th century but was abandoned when the Hindu rule in Java came to an end. However, in 1800s it existence was realized and the temple went through multiple restorations and it is now one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.
So when you enter the temple there are two entrances: First entrance is for the local people, which cost 50 000 Rupiah ($5) to get in. The second entrance is for the tourist. And it cost 180 000 Rupiah ($18). I really don’t understand why we get charged more.
Before we get to the temple itself, we have to wear a sarong to show respect.
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| The top view |
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| At the base of the temple |
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| The view from the top of the temple. It was foggy that day. |
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| There's a Budha statue inside each of the tiny temples. |
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| The souvenir lady |
ReplyDeletehttps://unexploredbuddhistmonuments.com/ Buddhism goes beyond religion and is more of a philosophy or 'way of life'. It is a philosophy because philosophy 'means love of wisdom' and the Buddhist path can be summed up as: