Borobodur

July 19

Random fact: Yogya is the only province in Indonesia with a sultan still in power/a king as governor. And, all the carvings of the sultan depict him with large ears. This is because the sultan has to be a good listener to listent to all the people. Interesting!

This morning we met at 9am to go to Borobodur. Borobodur is the largest Buddhist monument in the world. To get to the top you have to climb 150 steps. As our local guide said, "Climbing to Nirvana is not easy!" It definitely wasn't. The stairs were large, although not as steep as they were at Angkor Wat.

Before we got to go inside, we had to have a sarong tied around our waists. Panji said that in Buddhism and Hinduism, the lower part of the body is considered the area of desire. Therefore, it is required to put a sarong around your waist before entering these sites. We have to do it for Prambanan too when we go there. I got a student discount with my isic card here too. It was great. I think it was 95,000 rupiah instead of 190,000! Win!

The temple was built in the 8th century by a Buddhist king. There were 2 dynasties at this time who were fighting. One, the Buddhist dynasty, built this temple and the Hindu dynasty built Prambanan (we will go here on our way to Solo in a few days). This temple is more like a monument. You can't actually go inside any rooms in the temple. For the Buddhists, it is more of a place to concentrate energy of the earth, an area sort of like Mecca for Muslims, a place of pilgrimage.

It was built in 800 AD and was carved from a huge pile of stones (individual blocks). It was built out of lava stone because it is strong and easy to carve. Borobodur is also near the most active volcano in Indonesia, Merapi. It is 2900m above sea level. The temple was originally built with 500 Buddha statues with different meanings. Many of the statues have the head missing. This is because there was a point when it was something a number of people were stealing. It was too hard to take the whole statue, body and all, so they just cut the head off and sold that for money. Here are the main 6 Buddha statue meanings the guide taught us. I'm sure there are more. I definitely can't remember all of the hand signs and what they look like so if you're curious you'll have to look them up. They are: 

1. Meditation

2. Touching the ground as a witness 

3. Giving blessing

4. Teaching

5. Reincarnation

6. No fear

In Nirvana, at the top of the temple, there are 32 stupas and there is a Buddha in each stupa. However, in the middle/top of the temple, there is a very large stupa. This stupa is empty and is supposed to represent empty life. Even the stupa and the way that was constructed has a meaning. The large "rope" or circle at the bottom is Buddhas life, the "lotus flower" represents Buddhas first steps (since a lotus flower bloomed under his feet), the "bowl of rice" represents the circle of life which is where the actual Buddha statue is kept, and the "stick" is pointing to nirvana.

At this point, she was also talking about 108 temptations, but I don't really know what she was referring to or what the significance of it is.

Borobodur was found in 1814 by an English man (the same one who built Singapore). When it was found, it was covered in ash, sand, and trees. The Dutch (who controlled Indonesia at the time) opened it in 1835. In 1907 the first restoration project was done by the Dutch. In 1973-1983, UNESCO helped restore the temple because it had been sinking due to an earthquake. They spent about 25 million USD. In 2010 Mt Merapi erupted and they had to close down the temple because there was about a 10cm thick layer of ash covering everything.

There are 10 levels to the top of the temple. It takes 7 levels to get to nirvana, but some of the levels are repeats of the 7 just to have more space to illustrate different things such as the life of Buddha, or ignorance and desire which is the first of the main 3 levels. She explained to us that the temple is separated into 3 main levels. The first is ignorance and desire which is when you do not know the wisdom of Buddha which means you will have punishment in your next life. On this part of the wall there were carvings of many different things. A few of the ones she pointed out to us were murders, a family with many children and not enough money to support and feed all of them, and gambling (which showed people with sad faces because they never win). This covered a couple levels I think. The next division, which also covered a number of levels, had carvings depicting Buddhas life from birth to death, as well as carvings of the lives of more people after knowing about Buddha and his teachings. Then I think there was a level that was just there to separate the second from the third level which is Nirvana. Nirvana had many stupas with buddhas in them. So essentially, from bottom to top it progressed as a monument describing Buddhist hell, then Buddhist life on earth, and finally Buddhist heaven, or nirvana.

So, I've heard, and possibly even recounted Buddhas life story a number of times on this trip. However, I hadn't heard this part before: 

His mother had a dream about white elephants (I think 7) flying around her three times. They visited a priest and he said it meant they would have a child who would either be a holy man or powerful but only if he was protected from knowing about sorrow. Otherwise, he would become the king of suffering. 

When Buddha was born (Siddhartha was the real name), right off the back he took 7 steps so they knew he was a holy man. His father built 3 palaces that were all full of joy so the boy would know of no sorrow or suffering. It was a miracle that after he was born he could walk right away. Plus, with every step he took, a lotus flower sprouted from under his steps (7 lotus flowers). This all happened in Lumbini in 560 BC. They also say his mother gave birth to him while standing (which is a miracle in itself) and that she died 7 days after his birth. Therefore, Buddha was then raised by his aunt. His last name came from his aunt. 

Buddha actually lived a fairly normal life. He had to compete to marry the princess, who became his wife. They got married and had 12 happy years with his wife. They also had a son together. His name was Raoul.

After this was when the whole moving palaces thing happened and he was shocked to find out about the old, sick, and dying people. He cut his hair (not sure of the significance of this) and left his family. For 7 years he walked around to see human suffering. He wanted to escape palace life and go to the jungle to meditate. In Hinduism, to live in the forest is to live far away from the world without eating, drinking, or taking care of yourself. He didn't find the answer and basically he gave up. He then meditated under a bodi tree for 7 years and came to the conclusion that life is full of suffering. We suffer because of desire. He came up with 8 holy ways to stop it. He then taught this to people.

Buddhists celebrate Buddhas birth, Buddhas enlightenment, and Buddhas death. He died on the full moon of May under a Bodi tree. Buddhism is a way of life... A philosophy. Buddha taught that everyone can be like him if they follow his teachings. (Not like a god figure). 

Borobodur is beautiful. From the top level looking out especially. The landscape is so green and nice with mountains in the backdrop. Definitely a great panoramic view. We had about 20 minutes to walk around and take photos. I have continued to let people take photos of me and not correct them on how the photo should look. But, some of these photos could have been so much cooler if I would have told them where I wanted my body to be in relation to the stupas and the background. Oh well. At least I can prove I was there.

From the top, you could also see a Buddhist temple in the distance. This was built for Buddhists to pray since they can't pray at Borobodur since it is not a temple. The temple reminded me of Nepal though. It had the prayer flags coming from the top of the temple in all different directions with the golden pole on top. It still looks just as cool to me.

The temple/monument is a dark stone color and looks beautiful against the blue and white sky and clouds. As you climb, you can circle each level which had carvings in it to tell some type of story. The carvings are pretty detailed and impressive. The form of the temple is supposed to resemble a lotus flower. 

Borobodur is probably one of my favorite things in Indonesia so far. (Now that I'm writing this later I also really enjoyed Prambanan and Mt Bromo). There really doesn't seem to be too much to do in Indonesia actually. I have still enjoyed the trip though. We still get to see the people and learn about the history and culture and daily life here.

We got back around 4pm. Jillienne, Marion, and I went to find a mini mart to buy Jillienne some bug spray, me some body soap, and Marion some shampoo and body soap. We didn't have to go too far to find a mini mart. Unlike most of our other hotels though there wasn't a mini mart or 7-eleven right next door. 

We waited around in the hotel room until 6:30pm when we had to meet in the lobby to collect our laundry. For all my clothes except the cleanest ones I was wearing, it was 15,000 rupiah ($1.50)! It was about 1.5 kilos. I was happy with this. And super excited to have clean clothes, you don't even understand. 

After we settled our laundry debt, Rowie, Jillienne, Katie, Henny, Marion and I went to the street market. It was like any other street market. Rows and rows of shops and tables, all selling the same thing. Which was fine with Marion and I. No one else seemed to enjoy it though. Marion and I were all about it though. I got some more gifts for people. So yup. Always good.

We took a taxi there which was about 23,000 rupiah. We split it 3 ways (Henny, Rowie, and I). When we got in the taxi at the hotel, the taxi drivers were really adamant to talk to Panji. Panji told us they were nervous we would think they were jipping us off and they wanted him to tell us that gas prices have been raised and the base rate for taxi meters haven't yet so they would add 10,000 rupiah to whatever the meter showed. It's probably good Panji told us this because I'm sure we would have thought we were getting screwed. On the way back, we went directly to the backpackers road and the driver didn't even use the meter. He said 20,000 rupiah and we figured it was fine since we paid more than that on the way there. Jillienne, Katie, and Marion paid 18,000 for theirs and their cab driver had added only 5,000 instead of 10,000 for gas. Maybe they had different gas types. The first cab was really nice and the ones we hailed were pretty run down looking. 

We all met up at this Italian restaurant that David and Marie had tried the previous night. It was highly recommended. And wow, it met expectations! It was like real Italian food. So good. It was an amazing break from rice and noodles. No more Nasi Goreng! We split bruschetta and garlic bread appetizers... Of course there were 6 of us and they brought out 5 on each plate. We problem solved and cut them in half and people ate what they wanted. We were all starving. Marion got pasta and the rest of us got pizza. Mine was 4 cheese with garlic and mushroom and it was AMAZING! 5 stars. Took that business card. If anyone goes to Yogyakarta, I will be recommending that place (aglioos, or something like that). Even the crust was great. As Katie would say, it was like proper Italian pizza! 

Batik tomorrow! So pumped!