Java - Borobodur

Yogyakarta is about 25 miles from the temple of Borobodur.
We decided to cycle to see it, overnight in a guesthouse and allow ample time to visit the temple.
Leaving most of our stuff at the hotel in Yogyakarta and travelling light, we headed out of the city for the first half an hour along with the usual frenzy of traffic, noise and fumes. As we drifted into the countryside we left it all behind,
We both enjoyed the ride. The landscape was mostly agricultural and dominated by fields of rice, fruit and vegetables.
Farmers worked hard, many wearing the conical ‘caping’ hat, woven from palm leaves or bamboo, and used to protect them from the sun and rain.
We wondered if many of the crops were those of subsistence farmers, who grow their own food to eat directly, or maybe to sell if there is surplus. The labour seemed mostly physical and we saw hardly any mechanised help.

We meandered along tiny lanes through small hamlets of houses, sleepy and quiet. Chickens and their small chicks scratched in the leaf litter and cats lazed in the shade of trees.
The rain came - several times and we frequently stopped to put on wet weather gear and then take it off again, hiding under whatever shelter there was during the heavier showers.
We arrived at the homestay damp and ‘foosty’ and set about covering the entire room in clothes to dry them out. We can be the worst guests.

The next day we cycled over to the temple entrance a couple of kilometres away.

After showing our tickets we were asked to remove our shoes and put on some complimentary bamboo slippers, to protect the stone steps mainly. To manage visitor numbers and our effect on the temple, a maximum of 1200 visitors are allowed to enter the temple each day - accompanied by a guide.

Our guide, a small lady with a cheeky smile and all wrapped up to protect herself against the sun chaperoned us through the grounds and up to the temple.
She told us lots about the temple.
The first thing she mentioned was that the site used to be used for music concerts. The last two artists to appear were Mariah Carey and Westlife (not at the same time). Who would have thought!

Some stats in a Top Trump style:

Scale: The Largest single Buddhist temple in the world

No. of Buddha statues: 504, each carved from a single block of stone. Many Buddha statues are enclosed in the numerous smaller perforated stupas. We noticed that many of these had no head. Our guide mentioned this was due to looting or acquiring for collections and many fell into the hands of western museums.

Stone relief panels: more than 2000.

Age: 1200 years old.

No of annual visitors: 1.5 million (approx).

The monuments layout led us through, along each level and then ascending to the next.
Buddhists visit to perform a ceremonial pilgrimage by walking around the temple clockwise. The temple guides the pilgrims through its systems of stairways and corridors from bottom to top, past the many relief panels that depict the normal daily life of Java, as well the law of karma and the life of Buddha.

Each of the temple levels represents one stage of enlightenment, on the path to nirvana, and passes through the realms of Buddhist cosmology - the world of desires, the world of form and the formless world.

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the British overseer of Java in the 19th century became aware of the existence and location of the temple by native Indonesians. He did not visit in person but sort of kick started the need to preserve Borobudur. He enlisted a Dutch engineer to investigate. Subsequent visits by Dutch archaeologists uncovered the full extent of the temple and the work was continued by others,

All of the stones in a variety of sizes used in the build interlock and fit together, like a puzzle, using no mortar or other artificial methods. Amazing!

It was quite a spiritual experience and a privilege to visit something so intricate. To be astounded by its physical construction.
One lovely moment I will remember is when a bee like insect alighted on one of the statues - the only one of the stupa Buddhas open to the air. It settled for a while right on the top of a serene looking Buddha’s head. This image summed up for me the enormous sense of calm I felt in this place.

Leaving the temple we make a quick pit stop back at the guest house to pick up our panniers, and then made our way to a place that Amanda discovered when she was doing research back in Edinburgh.
About 4km out of town lies the ‘chicken church’. We cycled out to see this strange sight and hoped to find out more about it and why it was built.
Positioned at the top of a very steep hill, Bukit Rhema, commonly called Gereja Ayam (Chicken Church) was inspired by a dream its creator, Daniel Alamsjah, had to build a prayer house for all faiths of all nations in the shape of a dove, an emblem of peace. The dove has a vision for the future to bring peace and prosperity to everyone who visits and to those who live in the surrounding area.

Due to various reasons construction was never finished and halted in 2000. and the building was left to deteriorate for several years.
With the help of the local community, the building was maintained and the vision for the church grew to be house of prayer for all religions. He initiated many good causes from providing rehabilitation for addicts, growing food to donate to those who need it, and empowering women from local villages.
It has become a tourist attraction and so Daniel’s vision to have visitors from all over the world has come to fruition. It is also a popular wedding venue!

Each of the floors displays themes of living a good life, helping others, how prayer can help those with faith, local wisdom, and hope.
Whether the visitor is one of faith or not, there is something to be said for a place with prayer or meditation spaces for all, irrespective of nationality, faith or religion, or spirituality and all under one roof.
A hope for all, bound in concrete and iron and shaped like a chicken!Læs mere