Hindus, Buddists, and an odd chicken

We are in Yogyakarta ( pronounced more like JoJokarta), the site of two of Java's most famous monuments, namely Prambanan and Borobudur. Both date from the 8th century, but interestingly, the first one is Hindu, and the 2nd one is Buddist. ( Oscar thought that Prambanan was about bananas because "banan" is pronounced like the French word banane). Well, he is almost right since Hinduism really is bananas with its colourful mix of weird and exotic Gods. The temple has a few of the better-known ones. We took a guide who explained to the children how body language in the carvings is to be interpreted, and he helpfully reminded them of the importance of respecting and obeying mum and dad. The thing that stuck me about the carvings at both sites, is that they are much tamer in terms of violence and sex than we have seen in India and Cambodia. Borobudur is, for my taste, the more impressive site. The magnificent backdrop of mountains and volcanoes helps, as does the far more complete status of the restoration.

After these two religions, we go for a third, namely Christianity, where we all learn for the 1st time about the symbolic chicken of peace. You may misremember this as being a dove, but you are wrong, and the bizarre chicken church is proof of that. It's not clear what happened here. Was this a dove that was so poorly designed that they thought, what the hell, let's go for a chicken instead, or did they not know that a dove doesn't have a red beak or a crown.

Whatever the case, the place is now a multi faith centre, I guess because the Christians were too embarrassed to use it as a church.Read more