This year, I was very lucky to have had the opportunity to take a road trip to the amazing city of Yogyakarta. And although I live in Indonesia (born and raised), I say I’m lucky to have been able to go on this trip because not only was it in 2020 (yes, during COVID), but also because I’ve never really had a culture trip to learn about Indonesia's rich history... In this three part series, I will tell, and show, you all about the beautiful places and cultural landmarks I visited on my road trip with my family. So come and follow me on this journey!
Prambanan
Where two religions meet as one
July 13, 2020
We left Bandung excited for what the next 5 days will bring us. For me personally, this trip was particularly exciting because it’s my first trip around Indonesia that wasn’t so touristy and beachy, like Bali. I was excited to see what other major cities around Indonesia looked like, also particularly because the cities we were going to visit were rich in history and culturally different from the city of Bandung, where I grew up.
Our first day consisted of stopping by Cirebon for lunch, where we ate a hearty meal of empal gentong, empal asem, and tahu gejrot (my personal favorite), and finally arriving at Solo where we spent the night. We ate gudeg to our heart’s content and fell asleep with a full tummy.
July 14, 2020
We woke up bright and early and headed towards the city of Jogja. Although the cities that we visited were full and bustling with life (keep in mind this was during COVID), the toll roads were eerily empty. There were very few cars—which made sense because very few people were traveling between cities during these times—but it was still odd to see Indonesia, a country infamous for its traffic, so rid of cars. Nevertheless, it made for speedy travel times.
Going on this road trip, I was particularly excited about visiting Prambanan and Borobudur, two of the most widely known historic monuments in Indonesia. I’ve never visited—can you imagine an Indonesian who hasn’t? Well, that was me. So I was brimming with excitement when we finally pulled up to Candi Prambanan.
Funnily enough, we actually would have driven by Candi Prambanan without realizing it if my mom didn’t suddenly look up in the middle of our journey and ask if we wanted to go to Prambanan. I immediately said, “Of course?!” And lucky enough, we were actually just 5 minutes away from the temple. If mom was just a few minutes late in looking up the directions, we would have missed this stunning temple complex. Could you tell we were clearly winging this whole road trip without much of a set plan?
The Legend
Indonesia is known for our stories, myths, and legends, so let me start with the legendary love story surrounding Candi Prambanan:
Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess named Rara Jongrang. When Bandung Bandawasa wanted her hand in marriage, Rara Jongrang asked for 1,000 temples to built overnight as her one condition. With the help of spirits, Bandung Bandawasa was able to build 999 temples. Alarmed at Bandung Bandawasa's near success, and unwilling to marry him, Rara Jongrang ordered the villagers to light their fires and pound rice with heavy mortar. The spirits that were helping Bandung Bandawasa fled, thinking sunrise was approaching. Furious at Rara Jongrang's interference, Bandung Bandawasa turned her into a stone statue, completing his mission to build 1,000 temples. Her statue still stands there today.
The Real History
The statue, which according to legend is of Rara Jongrang, is actually the statue of the Hindu god Durga Mahisasuramardhani, who is believed to be the incarnation of Rara Jongrang. Hence, the temple is also known as Candi Rara Jongrang. Because the temple is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, its original name in Sanskrit is Candi Siwagrha, or Candi Siwalaya.
Unfortunately because of COVID, we were unable to enter into the individual temples and see the statues of the Hindu gods and their animal counterparts.
Candi Prambanan was built in 850 by Rakai Pikatan, King of Mataram Kuno, as an offering to the three great Hindu gods: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site as the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia and also one of the most beautiful temples in Southeast Asia. Located in two different districts and provinces, Prambanan sits between the provincial borders of Central Java and Yogyakarta.
It is said that King Rakai Pikatan built Prambanan to compete with the Buddhist temple of Borobudur. It is also said that Prambanan was a physical representation of a Hindu king from the Sanjaya dynasty coming into power in central Java (in competition with the Sailenda dynasty who were Buddhists).
Multiple kings saw to the building of this temple, which resulted in a beautiful temple complex not just housing one large temple, but hundreds of smaller temples on the side. The splendor of Prambanan makes it the pride of the Mataram Kingdom, serving as meeting places, rituals, and royal ceremonies.
Traditional Indonesian ballet dances and performances are usually available on specific days and times at Prambanan. However, because of COVID, these performances have been temporarily stopped until further notice.
So why does my title say that Prambanan is a place where two religions meet as one?
Although Prambanan was created to compete with the Buddhist temple of Borobudur, at the time, the Mataram Kingdom is a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom that flourished between the 8th and 11th centuries. As a result, many smaller Buddhist temples were built within the Hindu temple complex of Prambanan: Candi Bubrah, Candi Lumbung, and Candi Sewu just to name a few.
You can see that these Buddhist temples have a different look to them with their statues and rounded tops.
Although the weather was very hot, it was such an amazing experience to actually see a part of my country's history. Our tour guide told us so many amazing stories and facts, I wish I could list them all. Despite the grandeur of the temple itself, I was most inspired by the people's resilience and hard work to restore Prambanan. Prambanan had been damaged in more ways than one when it was rediscovered in the 17th century.
Piles of rubble stack on top of each other outside the main temple complex and our tour guide told us that when Prambanan was rediscovered, a majority of it was lying in rubbles. It was the archeologists who worked hard, compiling and identifying each and every piece of rock and rebuilt the temple. Even now, the work continues...
Although I was disappointed to leave Prambanan, I was glad to get out of the heat. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but feel sad at the lack of tourists and people visiting the temple. Places like Prambanan are usually swarming with foreign tourists. But because of COVID, there was practically no one there. I couldn't help but think about my country's economy and the way that the workers here are struggling to have a steady income now that tourism isn't booming.
Nevertheless, I was very surprised at how well the workers were handling the few visitors who were there. There were multiple hand-washing stations placed throughout the complex and we had to wash our hands at each station. Before even entering the vicinity, we had to walk through a tunnel and get sprayed with disinfectant alcohol. Masks were mandatory, our temperatures were taken at different check points and we even had to take a socially-distanced family photo!
On to Yogya: After Prambanan, we stopped for some gelato at Tempo del Gelato and ended our night with a visit to Jalan Malioboro (there, I got myself a batik samping). But of course, we can't be in Yogya and not eat some gudeg. All in all, it was a great first day's worth of traveling, sightseeing, and eating.
Catch my next blog for my adventures to the Kraton of Yogyakarta!
*** We followed COVID safety protocols and wore masks throughout the trip, and constantly washed our hands in stations that were provided throughout these locations that we visited.
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