Java Jive '08 Part 9: The Bird, The Pool and the Centre of The Universe

Our final day in Jogjakarta saw us on a city tour which took us to three main tourist spot: The Bird Market, The Water Castle and lastly the Sultan's Palace.

First up was Ngasem, the famous Bird Market. Yes, they sell birds here. All kinds of birds. Actually, in hindsight, I wondered if it was such a good idea to visit a bird market in a country with the highest incident of human bird-flu infection.

The front part of market was also a proper produce market where vegetables, fruits and meat were sold.

There were many types of grains, like rice, corn, wheat and barley, in various colours and grain size. Some were for human consumption, while others were for the birds.

A lot of the stalls at the market were tended to by the womenfolk, most of them rather elderly. The whole scene reminded me of the market in Kota Bahru. Very colourful and very matriachal.

Then, we saw the birds. Live cockatoos, doves, even chickens and ducks can be found here.

These are fighting cocks, all caged up and separated from each other, lest they start killing each other with no one to profit from their duel to the death!

Actually, we found out that the market also doubled as a pet store where one could buy any domesticated (and not so domesticated) animal one wishes, from Persian cats to poisonous cobras.

Awwww....sooo cuuuuttteeee!!!! I was so tempted to buy this bunny rabbit till I remembered we couldn't bring live animals on board the plane. Sigh...

A couple of hundred metres behind the market, nestled amongst the village houses lies the ruins of what was once the royal swimming pool also known as Tamansari.

But first, in order to reach the pool, we had to make our way through a series of underground tunnels.

I was definitely not complaining as it was getting quite hot outside and the sheltered concrete tunnels made for a very cool passage.

As we got back out onto ground level, this huge wall filled with the typical Indonesian style carvings greeted us. It's the front gate to the pool compound.

Also known as the Water Castle, back in the 17th century Tamansari was a recreation garden or a resting house for the Sultan and his erm.. entourage (if you get what I mean. Wink wink.)

Every day, the ladies would go for a swim in the pool, frolicking and generally trying to look graceful and sexy, while the Sultan would peer out from the viewing deck above the pool and decide who shall be keeping him company for that day.

Speaking of Sultans, it was time to visit the palace of the reigning Sultan of Yogyakarta or Kraton which means the royal abode.

Located almost exactly at the centre of the island of Java east to west, the palace is defined as the centre of the world or universe as the Javanese knew it.

We were given a short guided tour into a part of the palace grounds which comprised of a series of pavilions which housed the orchestral instruments, library, and also the meeting hall.

When we arrived, a religious recital was taking place, and this lady was performing the blessings for the Sultan on the occasion of his youngest daughter's impending wedding.

Outside, I chanced upon this funny contraption hanging precariously in one of the gazebos. I am not quite sure what it was, whether it was a very elaborate silk-making machine or a contraption that perhaps Samantha Jones would find useful. ;)

At another corner, the palace officials were having a meeting to discuss a very important business at hand - what to have for lunch later. Bakso or bakmie?

Our final stop on the tour was a visit to the school building where the royals were educated by teachers specially brought in from Holland and England. In one of the rooms hung the 'family tree's of every Sultan that ever reigned the land. The leaves symbolised how many offsprings that particular Sultan had in his lifetime.

Needless to say, this one had a rather quiet household. ;)

Up next: sing along with me ... Begawan... Solo.....

Java Jive '08 Part 8: The Center of Central Java

One thing you must do while in Java is to visit Borobudur. Believed to be situated at the exact centre of Java, it is an ancient Buddhist temple complex (or candi) situated about one hour's drive from Jogjajakarta, in the city of Magelang.

Borobudur was founded around 800 AD during the Sailendra dynasty as a shrine to Buddha and also as a Buddhist pilgrimage site. Its construction took 75 years, and when completed, resembled a pyramid with each side a point on the compass, namely North, East, South, West.

The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms representing the three planes of conciousness - Kamadhatu(the world of desire);Rupadhatu (the world of forms); and Arupadhatu (the world of formless).

Upon arrival at the complex, we hired an English-speaking local guide to help us make sense of what we were seeing as apparently there were almost 3000 bas reliefs (stone carvings) depicting various aspects of life, Buddhist mythology and historical records.

Our guide was also very good at suggesting the best spots to take great pictures by taking advantage of the way the sunlight hits the temples many corners and angles.

It was a good thing we arrived early at the temple, as the sun was still not prohibitively hot, but that didn't stop us from running from shade to shade even as we tried to keep up with the guide's stories and explanations about the stories behind some of the bas reliefs.

This one tells the story of how the King had a dream one night and summoned his advisors to interpret his dream. The advisors told him that he will soon be blessed with a male heir to the throne, something he has been waiting for years to happen. Or so I think... I wasn't really listening the guide when he was explaining....
The middle and upper rungs of the temple is occupied by more than 500 statues of Buddha, seated cross-legged in a lotus position.

We were given ample time and opportunity to take our photographs, and there seemed to be countless carvings, statues and temple features that caught my eye, like this gigantic and well preserved water spout.

Along the way, we learned that Borobudur was establshed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1975, and since then, conservation and repair efforts have been undertaken by both the Indonesian government And UNESCO to restre this magnificent temple along with its beautiful carvings and statues to its former glory.

Like the Hindu-influenced Angkor Wat, the temple was built high up with narrow steep staircases built on each side. I really appreciated the steel side railing while I was climbing the rather tall steps, often times with my hands and feet.

After a while, I kinda got bored with the guide's monologue.... so I decided to walk around the second tier a bit... and look what I spotted taking breather on a stupa. (Hey, that rhymed!)

Ok, by now you'd have figured it out that this ia a Buddhist temple judging from the countless statues of the guy everywhere, looking all serene and contented, right? Then this Western tourist (probably European) suddenly asked the guide, "Isn't this a Hindu shrine, like the Angkor Wat?" D'oh!

I would've loved to be sitting where this particular statue was, as it had a commanding view of...

... Mount Merapi, an active volcano that's still spewing lava and smoke today!

The top tier symbolises the plane where one is supposed to be beyond human desires and has reached realm of the Gods... I think. Wasn't really paying attention to the guide as I was busy snapping pics of these stupas.


Each stupa contains a statue of Buddha, and even though there are about a gazillion stupas here, only one contains the 'lucky Buddha'. And if you stick your hand (and arms) and touch the ring finger of the statue and make a wish, that wish will come true! Oh boy, I am so in trouble with my church elder now when he sees this. ;)

Someone blew the lid off one of the stupas.... Looks like Buddha in a flying saucer a la the Jetsons, doesn't it?

Next, we headed to another ancient ruin, this time to Prambanan, the largest Hindu temple complex in South-east Asia.

In May 2006, the temples were rocked by a powerful earthquake that cracked some of the candis and reduced others to rubble.

Restoration work is still in progress, and we could see the aftermath of the earthquake everywhere.

Prambanan was built in the 9th century by either the kingdom of Mataram or Sanjaya and is characterised by its tall and pointed Hindu style architecture.

We opted not to hire a guide for this temple, as we realised not many of us were actually paying to the last one at Borobudur anyway. So we just wandered around the complex in twos and threes, taking our time to marvel at the architectural wonders.

The entire complex was completely cordoned off from the public, so we could not get too near for fear of falling stones and interference to the restoration works. Luckily I brought along my Tamron zoom lens to get some pretty zoomed up shots of the candis.

Everything was grey, and looking at my pics afterwards, I thought I had accidentally switched on the b/w filter. Still, the stupas, carvings and statues were amazingly detailed and beautiful.

As you can see, the temples were really huge and one has to wonder the practicality of building such great monuments and the amount of blood, sweat and tears that went into it.

Before we knew it, the sun was beginning to set, signaling the closing time for the site. As I was taking one last breather before we headed for the hotel, I spotted a few goats having an early dinner amongst the ruins. Hmmmm... I wonder if the mutton satay stall will be open tonight. ;)