The Temples in Yogyakarta

Borobudur Temple:

This impressive Temple is the biggest Buddhist temple in the world! It is adorned with many statues of Buddha stationed along the walls, in different mudras, each symbolising a different virtue, according to whether they are on the North, East, South or West walls. It has a chamber at the top which has no entrance, no one knows what is hidden inside…

Prambanan:

The myth of Roro Junrang is associated with the statue of the goddess Durga (also known as Ishani!) in Prambanan Temple. A man wants to marry the princess Roro Junrang but she does not want to marry him. Therefore, she sets him the seemingly impossible task of building a thousand temples in one night! However, the man’s intense determination made him persevere, until he was on temple nine hundred and ninety nine. Roro Junrang was worried and commanded the villagers to start a fire to pretend that it was morning. When her suitor found out about this scheme he was furious and turned her into stone. He then built a temple around her, fulfilling her wish.

This beautiful ‘temple of a thousand temples’ only ever had 200 temples, most of which are in ruins. The three biggest temples are the ones of Shiva, Vishnu and Bhrama. Each one has a story inscribed on the balcony walls, carved into the ancient stone. The statue of Durga\Ishani is next to them. It’s spectacular!!!

Chandi Sambisari – the Underground Temple:

This temple was buried under the ground for thousands of years under a thick, compact layer of ash and volcanic dust from when the nearby volcano – Mt. Merapi – erupted. Many years later, a farmer working on the fertile land found the top of it. This led to the rest of it being uncovered by archaeologists. It is the only remaining ancient temple that has a surviving linga – yoni in an ancient temple! AWSOME!