Prambanan Temple Refurbished...

This past week I made a visit to Prambanan, a large temple complex located about 17 kilometers from the center of Jogjakarta in Central Java.  I first visited Prambanan back in 2007 and was really impressed by the structure, which was built in the 9th and 10th centuries by kings from the Sanjaya dynasty.  At that time, though, the temples had been heavily damaged by the catastrophic earthquake that struck the Jogja region on May 27, 2006.  Scaffolding surrounded several of the main temples, and because of the danger of falling stones you couldn't get too close.  I was pleased to see on my most recent visit that the restoration work seems to have been completed, and now visitors can actually enter some of the temples of the main compound.  Although I'd been to Prambanan several times, I was still awestruck by the temples, which seem all the more majestic without scaffolding surrounding them.

Photo taken in 2007

During the later half of the first millennium AD there were several competing kingdoms in the central part of Java.  One of these dynasties, the Sailendras, built the Buddhist monument of Borobudor which I've described in a couple of posts previously.  It is thought that construction of Hindu Prambanan (1) started later and was at least in part a response to the Borobudor project.  Prambanan is the largest temple complex on Java (there are over 230 temples in total), and so construction of all the hundreds of temples at the site took a long time, but most of the work was carried out under the reign of two kings: Rakai Pikatan and Rakai Balitung.  The main part of Prambanan consists of a walled compound of 11 temples.  Six of these are quite large and are what you see in the postcards of Prambanan.  The one in the middle, at 47 meters, is actually 5 meters higher than Borobudur.  This temple is for Shiva, while the large temples to the north and south are for Brahma and Vishnu respectively.  These three gods represent the Trimurti of deities in the Hindu religion and correspond to the cyclical nature of the universe; Brahma is the god of creation, Vishnu is the sustainer, and Shiva is the destroyer.  Each of these main temples has a smaller temple immediately to the west for each god's vehicle: Nandi the bull for Shiva, Garuda the eagle for Brahma, and Hamsa the sacred swan for Vishnu.  Outside of this central square there are several concentric squares of smaller temples, known as perwara ("guardian" or "companion") temples.  Almost all of these still stand as heaps of rubble, but you can easily get the idea of how expansive the complex was in its heyday.  Beyond this second square is a third square where religious ceremonies were held.  It is thought that in this area there were buildings for priests and pilgrims, but since those structures would have been built out of wood, none have survived.  You can see a diagram of the main compound and the surrounding smaller temples in the diagram below.

Diagram from here.

There's also an interesting local legend about the construction of Prambanan.  According to the story, a prince named Bandung Bondowoso fell madly in love with a princess named Roro Jonggrang.  Prince Bandung wanted to marry Roro, but she refused because Bandung had killed her father.  Prince Bandung was insistent, though, and wouldn't take "no" for an answer.  Roro told Bandung that she'd marry him if he could construct a temple with 1000 statues in a single night.  Bandung accepted the challenge and went to work, summoning spirits to help him with the project.  As the night wore on Roro noticed that Bandung was close to finishing the task while morning wasn't approaching fast enough, and so she asked all the villagers to start fires to fool the roosters into thinking it was dawn.  Her plan worked; the roosters crowed and Prince Bandung was thwarted just as he finished the 999th statue.  Enraged and feeling jilted, he called upon evil spirits to curse poor Roro.  She was turned to stone and the legend has it that she's the 1000th statue; according to the story she's the Durga statue in the main Shiva temple.

Like Borobudur, Prambanan has a series of story-telling reliefs, but in this case they illustrate scenes from the Ramayana rather than the life of Guatama Buddha.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, the Ramayana epic is really important in the Hindu religion, and you can find versions of the story all across Southeast Asia.  The epic narrates how Prince Rama's wife, Siti, is kidnapped by the evil goblin king and spirited away to the island of Langka.  The story unfolds as Rama enlists the aid of divine friends, including the great white monkey king Hanuman, who has an impressive array of superpowers.  It's an interesting story to read, and it will help you understand Prambanan (as well as ceremonies still performed in Bali) a bit better.  Another attraction of Pramabanan is the Ramayana ballet, which is performed most nights.  The performance is a shortened version of the Ramayana and uses modern interpretive dance to tell the story.  It's fun to watch, and is really nice visually as they use pyrotechnics and use a dramatically-illuminated Prambanan as the backdrop.  They also have a buffet dinner that you can pay extra for.

One of the temple compounds to the north
of the main compound

It's easy to get to Prambanan from Jogja; you can hire a cab for about US$5 from the city center, but it's difficult to get a cab coming back.  You can also ride the crowded TransJogja busway to Prambanan and cross the busy street to get to the site.  Sometimes it's hard to get on the bus in the middle of the route because they are too full, but it's easy to get on at Prambanan because it's the terminus of the line.   My suggestion then is to take a taxi to the monument (unless you have your own transportation) and then take the busway back.  It costs US$13/7 (adults/kids) to get in, but if you have a kitas you can get in at the local rate.  If you are in the area you should definitely visit Prambanan; it's something you won't forget.

Notes

(1) The name "Prambanan" comes from a nearby village.

Wayang Kulit: An Introduction to Javanese Shadow Puppets

Wayang Kulit is the name given to a variety of Indonesian traditional drama utilizing shadow puppets (1).  Wayang kulit shows are popular across Java and Bali and have been performed for at least the past 800 years.  The puppets for wayang kulit are traditionally made out of buffalo hide, hence the name "wayang kulit" (kulit means "skin"; wayang is a derivation of the word for "shadow").  Shadows from the puppets are cast onto a backlit linen screen; the light is traditionally provided by a special oil lamp which creates a sepia-type of effect but electric lights are now commonly used as well.  Different figures are represented by different puppets; a normal "village set" has about 100 different puppets, and some "palace sets" have upwards of 500 puppets.  Wayang kulit performances are staged for some religious events, but they also are parts of some celebrations and fairs.  Some wayang kulit shows can last all night long, but you can usually find a performance that lasts around two hours.  It's a good opportunity to catch up on some sleep or play with the lesser-used functions and modes of the digital SLR camera you paid too much money for (2).

An array of puppets at a performance

Most shadow puppet shows are based on either the Maharabata or the Ramayana, two ancient Hindu epics originating in India, but sometimes Javanese shows are performed as well.  Puppets come in many different sizes, ranging from small animals to giant deities and monsters (raksasa: literally "giant").  The stylized puppets are carefully designed to provide symbolic information about the characters, and most people in Indonesia can recognize the most popular characters by sight.   Different shaped eyes and noses convey character traits; for instance, narrow eyes indicate nobility or refinement, whereas a downturned head indicates humbleness.  More aggressive characters are generally bigger and are painted with shades of red, with larger noses and eyes.  In the picture to the right of this paragraph you can see an array of puppets at a performance; all puppets are carefully painted even though you just see the shadow.  The display of the puppets is part of the show.  

Dalang as the center of attention

The guy that moves the puppets around is called the Dalang (2).  The position of dalang is highly respected amongst wayang kulit officienados.  Dalangs are masters of a variety of skills; they don't just move the puppets but they also tell the story using different voices and tones for the different characters.  The dalang has to be able to do several things at once; all the sites and sounds, including the rapping percussive cadences that symbolize movement or serve as dramatic punctuation come from him.   In addition to this they sing and conduct the gamelan orchestra that accompanies the performance.  Apart from the performance itself the dalang often creates new shows, makes his/her own puppets, serves as an informal teacher in the community.  In many cases the dalang will invent new stories or characters to satirize current events or create a modern-day fable that viewers can relate to.

Rama and Siti puppets in the famous "smell
my finger, Rama" scene

As I mentioned above, the puppets are made from leather and are quite intricate and creative.  In Jogja there is a whole cottage industry involved in producing and selling these puppets, and they've long been a favorite souvenir for tourists.  If you'd like to visit a shop to see how they are made and browse the wares there are lots of them in the Taman Sari area near the Kraton. The puppets are chiseled with very fine tools.  In some cases individual craftsmen make the puppets, but in some workshops teams of skilled workers work on several puppets at the same time.  Depending on the quality of the puppet, the process can take from a few hours to several weeks.

As I mentioned previously, many performances are based on the Ramayana and Maharabata, but there are local adaptations as well.  Javanese shows often feature moral lessons or comic relief provided by a family of "clown" puppets:  Semar (the father), Gareng (the oldest son), Petruk (middle son), and Bagong (the youngest son).  In the two movies below you can see a couple of short scenes from a shadow puppet performance.  In the first one the puppets are arguing about something; in the second they proceed to mix it up.  While I was filming my camera kept going in and out of focus, but I think that adds a bit to the artistic effect.  Aside from this the dalang often takes the puppets in and out of focus to give the impression of movement.

Wayang Kulit shows are a good place to hear the cacophonous gamelan orchestra as well.  I'll write a post in the future about Gamelan, but this musical ensemble consisting of gongs, xylophones, stringed instruments, and woodwinds is an ever-present part of Javanese and Balinese cultural events.  The Gamelan is also pretty divisive; some people love it and some people hate it (I personally fall into the "like" category).  In the movie below you can see the "behind the scenes" view of what goes on at a shadow-puppet performance.  Many people prefer to sit and watch from this angle; though it's interesting you don't get the full effect of the performance.  This particular show was staged for tourists, and to tell you the truth I don't think anyone realized how you're supposed to watch the show until I walked around to the "front" to see the shadows.  At first I was sitting all alone, but then little by little the rest of the audience joined me.  So rule number one for watching shadow puppets: if you aren't watching the shadows you aren't watching the right thing.

If you happen to be in Yogyakarta and would like to take in a wayang kulit show, you can see one at the Sono Budoyo museum just inside the Kraton.  It is across the street to the north from the Alun-Alun Utara (the northern park).  They have performances there just about every night starting at 8pm.  The show lasts around two hours and costs Rp20,000 for adults, Rp10,000 for kids.  You'll need to pay an additional Rp3,000 for your camera.

Notes

(1)  Other types of theater include Wanag Klitik, in which two dimensional wooden puppets are used, and Wayang Golek, which uses three dimensional wooden puppets.

(2)  If you take enough pictures, surely you'll eventually get a winner...

(3)  The term "dalang" in Indonesian also has the same connotations as "puppet master" in English; figuratively the dalang is the mastermind or the guy that pulls the strings.

Kruizin' the Kraton...

One of the neat things you can do when you're in Jogjakarta is to stroll through the Sultan's palace and surrounding walled district, known locally as the Kraton (or more specifically, the Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat). The Kraton is the royal residence of the family that rules the Jogja Special Region (Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta) along with the mini-city which traditionally housed the people that worked for the Sultan, including servants, artisans, and soldiers. The current Sultan is the 10th from his dynasty, the Hamengku Buwono dynasty. The Kraton sits in the middle of town, and is easily accessible. You'll find that you can walk, ride a bike, or, if your one of those lazy ones, you can ride a horse-drawn carriage (andong). You'll find the residents cheerful and welcoming. Below I've included a map I lifted from this site. The map doesn't show all the little alleys, but you can get the idea of the organization of the Kraton, along with the mini-districts within the walled city originally set aside for specific professions.



Today I spent a few hours riding my bike through the winding back alleys (gang) of the Kraton. For me this is really relaxing, and there are all sorts of day-to-day things that catch your eye. But before I mounted up I began with a walk through the actual palace, which seems to be open only towards the middle of the day. They have displays of all sorts of Jogja-type stuff and assorted royal accouterments and appurtenances, including the ultra-rare relic featured in the picture to the right: a gas burning stove used by one of the royal wives to cook fried instant noodles or some such. If you're lucky, the gamelan orchestra will be playing when you get there.

The Kraton's also filled with traditional artisans plying their trade both for the tourist market and the "culture industry" that thrives in Jogja. I stopped to talk with a couple of guys making puppets and props for wayang kulit (shadow puppet shows). They emboss and carve intricate designs into dried buffalo leather, creating a variety of stylized puppets which are then painted. There are also folks that make batik and do wood carvings. After a bit of wandering through the gangs you're bound to stumble onto Taman Sari, the water palace. This complex originally functioned as the Sultan's seraglio (1), but it fell into disrepair or was destroyed for some reason or another. It's been restored over the past few years, and the Sultan is working to convert the area into a park. I included a couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure. The first is a view from the back of the palace. From this angle it looks like something that belongs on Tatoinne. Inside Taman Sari has reflecting ponds and a number of chambers for the ladies to occupy and entertain themselves when they weren't otherwise occupied. The last picture is just a general view of one of the gangs. These winding ways are narrow and densely populated, but their clean and quiet.

The Jogja region is unique in Indonesia in that its leader isn't elected; Sultan Hamengkubuwono is the administrative head, and this office is passed down through the family. The Sultan is known as very progressive and is highly respected around Jogja and Indonesia in general. The Sultanate has in fact played a very important role in Indonesian history, both in the colonial era and since independence. In the early 1800s, Prince Diponegoro, the first son of Hamengkubuwono III, was past over for succession to the throne in favor of his younger brother, who was supported by the Dutch. Eventually Diponegoro would lead the most successful (though failed) revolt against the Dutch colonial masters. He is still viewed as a hero today. In the early 1900s Budi Oetomo, regarded as the first Indonesian nationalist movement, had its first major meetings in Jogja. The region, under Hamengkubuwono IX, also played a leading role in the war of liberation from the Dutch. The Sultan's contribution was recognized when Jogja was declared a special administrative region after independence was won. The Jogja region is also the birthplace of Indonesia's second president and longtime authoritarian ruler, Suharto.

The Kraton area is also a place where you can see Java's unique system of community organization. Indonesia has 5 levels of government extending from the central government down through the provinces, regions (kabupaten), subregions (kecamatan), and wards (keluruhan). Below the ward are two further administrative divisions, but these aren't part of the official state apparatus. Rather they are headed by volunteers from the community. The upper division is the rukun warga (RW). The head of the RW is elected by residents and functions like a magistrate; he/she signs and stamps papers related to marriages, moves, deaths, and births. Below the RW is the rukun tetangga (RT), which might be translated as "neighborhood association". The numbers vary, but here in Jogja the RT consists of around 40-50 households. The head of the RT is elected by residents and serves as the eyes and ears of the government; it is the RT's job to know what's going on in the neighborhood. The RT also disseminates information concerning public health, elections, and community events. It's a pretty neat system if you can get over the "big brother" feeling of a creeping state intruding on every aspect of public life.

Well, that's it for today. In the coming weeks I'll dedicate posts to other interesting aspects of Jogja, including gamelan music and batik design and manufacture.

(1) A seraglio is where you stow your ladies.

BEWARE The Queen of the Deep...and other tales...

A couple of weeks ago I decided to go out looking for surf, because it had been too long since I was last in the water. As you may know, Indonesia has some great waves. Unfortunately most of the famous sites like Nias and G-land seem to be too far from Jogja. So I decided to seek out something a little more local. There is a beach about 25 kilometers (1) south of here that many of the locals go to. I'd been there before and the waves looked decent. So I asked around among my friends. "Does anyone surf Parangtritis?" I asked.

"Oh no...it's much to dangerous", they said. "There are very strong currents and many people drown there". As a general rule, it's a good idea to trust the local knowledge of the water, and so I decided to look elsewhere. As it turns out, there's more than the current that makes Parangtritis dangerous: the Queen of the Deep Nyai Roro Kidah. I've included a picture of her, and no, I didn't take this picture myself.

Apparantly Queen Roro is pretty feisty. Every year the Sultan (2) of Jogjakarta brings an offering to the beach and sets it afloat to keep her happy. According to legend, Queen Roro was once married to the king of the Mataram kingdom. However. a jealous rival cast a spell on her, causing her majestic beauty to fade and wither. She fled the kingdom in shame and threw herself into the ocean, where she was saved and given a castle beneath the sea and her beauty restored. Here she rules over all the creatures of the sea. The legends say that the Sultan of Jogjakarta is supposed to marry the queen, which gives him power over the land. But swimmers beware...if she or one or her minions catches you in the water you will be taken to her underwater world, never to be seen again! Sometimes she even comes ashore for her victims. There's a way to protect yourself though (on land, at least): don't wear the color green, as this is the color her long lost love will wear when he comes back for her. If she sees you wearing green, she may drag you to her watery realm.

I did finally find some surf, but I'll save that for another post...



Another great story that is told through dance and wayang (traditional puppet shows; the picture shows an example of a wayang kulit shadow puppet) is the Ramayana. This is an ancient Hindu story. Hinduism is one of the world's major religions, practiced by almost a billion people. Though it originates in India (3), Hinduism spread to Indonesia more than 1500 years ago and was the official religion of some of the early Javanese kingdoms. The Ramayana tells the story of Prince Rama, whose wife is kidnapped by the evil demon-king Ravana, who takes her back to his island of Langka. Prince Rama embarks upon a journey to rescue his wife, aided by his magical friend Hanuman, a giant white monkey that can change his shape and size. The story tells about their journey and their battle against the evil armies of Langka. It's a really great adventure, and you can see and read about many different versions of the Ramayana from all over the world. When you come to Jogja make sure you catch the dance performance of the Ramayana in front of the ancient Hindu temple complex of Prambanan.

That's all for now...I'm off to sleep to dream about magical monkeys and undersea kingdoms! While you wait for the next post, why don't you have a look at the following questions. Then you can watch the flash-animation story of Queen Roro I borrowed from youtube. Although it's in Indonesian, you can get the idea of the story while listening to some traditional Javanese music. Can you make up your own text of the story? What do you think is going on?

1. Kilometers are the unit of distance used in most of the world outside of the US. There are approximately 1.61 kilometers in a mile, and one kilometer is approximately .62 miles. Can you figure out how many miles 25 kilometers (km) is?

2. The Sultan is the ruler of Jogjakarta. The Sultan comes from a royal family, and Jogjakarta is the only place in Indonesia where the Sultan actually has political power. The Special Province of Jogjakarta is his domain, and he also serves as governor of the province.

3. Can you find India on a map? What can you find out about Hinduism?

4. Do you know any stories from Hawai'i like these?

Becak Becak Becak!

Ah the becak...one of the characteristic sites of Jogjakarta. A becak (bay-chak) is a common form of transportation here. Becaks are a type of pedicab(1); that is, the driver propels the vehicle with his own power, in this case his feet. Other types of pedicabs include trishaws and bicycle rickshaws. You may have seen one of these vehicles rolling around Waikiki or Ala Moana.

It's simple to ride a becak in Jogja. In most cases, you don't even have to look for one, because they will find you. Tell the becak driver where you want to go and he will quote a price. Make sure you have your bargaining shoes on, because the first price is never the final price. Sometimes the final price is less than half the first price quoted by the driver. If it's raining though you can expect to pay a little more. And it's more expensive to go uphill than downhill! But for most people the becak represents an affordable and efficient way to get around.(2)

Riding a becak is great fun and an excellent way to see the city. It's also a good way to pick up some bits and pieces of Javanese, the local language that is spoken by many people in this city. But this form of transportation is not without problems, both for the operator and the city at large. Becak drivers don't make very much money. The average day's wage for a becak driver is around 30,000 rupiah (the unit of money in Indonesia). While this may sound like a lot, think about it this way: there are approximately 9,000 rupiah in one US dollar. Can you figure out how much the becak driver earns in a day in dollars? Can you imagine trying to live on this much money every day?

Another problem is crowding. There are an estimated 6,500 becaks operating with permits in Jogja alone, with perhaps another 1,000 without permits. Becak drivers are often criticized for blocking traffic. Indeed the use the same streets as cars and motorcycles, and on narrow roads they can slow things up quite a bit. There have been proposals to limit the number of becaks on the road as well as the hours of operation. Some have suggested banning becaks from some areas or even eliminating all of the becaks. In fact, Indonesia's capital city (can you remember what the capital of Indonesia is?) banned becaks years ago to improve traffic.

1. ped- words usually refer to the feet (latin roots) or children (greek roots)...what do the following words have to do with feet or children?
a. pedestrian
b. pedicure
c. pediatrician
d. pedal
--Can you think of some other examples?

2. In addition to being affordable and efficient, can you think of some other benefits becaks provide?

Check out the National Geographic video I included from Youtube. What do you think?

http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/bisnis/2010/06/10/brk,20100610-254271,id.html
http://www.karbonjournal.org/focus/perjalanan-becak-perjalanan-kota-benarkah-becak-yogyakarta-masih-raja-jalanan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w3k311tgEs