Time Out
Intimations of royalty
NIVEDITA CHOUDHURI
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Yogyakarta is called the cultural capital of Java, and not without reason. It offers everything, from spectacular temples to grand palaces to renditions of the Ramayana in a moon-lit amphitheatre.
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Photos: Dr. Indranil Choudhuri
Intricate work: The Sultan’s palace in Kraton (left) and the Candi Shiva Mahadeva temple.
Yogyakarta is the heart of a historical landscape whose temples are rivalled only by the Angkor complex of Cambodia. All Southeast Asian art forms, from temple building to puppetry, batik and the music of gamelan orchestras, have found perfection here. Reason enough to spend at least a couple of days in the city, which is often dubbed the cultural capital of Java.
We set off for the Prambanan temple complex a few minutes after landing at Yogyakarta. The shrines were heavily damaged in an earthquake two years ago and are still being restored by the Indonesian government. The quake left intricately carved and carefully restored reliefs lying on the ground and destroyed years of restoration work in less than a minute. Some of the entrances were entirely blocked by debris.
Mists of time
The temples were erected in the middle of the 9th century, but little is known about their early history. The complex is thought to have been built by Rakai Pikatan to commemorate the return of a Hindu dynasty to sole power in Java. It was in ruins for centuries and it was not until 1937 that reconstruction was first attempted.
Although there were more than 200 temples in the Prambanan plain, the main temple to Shiva — Candi Shiva Mahadeva — is the most dramatic and most complete in its architecture and carvings. Inside the main chamber, a statue of Shiva rests oddly on a lotus bloom, a Buddhist symbol. This and other details lead scholars to believe that Prambanan was probably built around the era of Borobudur. Other gods fill smaller niches, including one who, according to some accounts, could either be Durga or a legendary Javanese woman turned to stone for refusing to marry a monster.
The two neighbouring candis dedicated to Brahma and Vishnu are smaller. On Candi Vishnu, the reliefs tell the stories of Krishna, while those on the balustrade of Candi Brahma are a continuation of the Ramayana epic which begins on Candi Shiva.
Opposite these three shrines are the ruins of three smaller temples. Each is dedicated to the mount of a Hindu god: facing Candi Shiva is Nandi, in front of Candi Vishnu is Garuda and facing Candi Brahma is Hamsa. The magnificent statue of Nandi is the only mount that still survives.
To the north of the Shiva Mahadeva temple is the archaeological museum and some smaller temples leading to Candi Sewu. A “minitrain” from the museum loops to Candi Sewu.
Unusual architecture
Next we proceeded to Candi Sari, which lies a few km north of the main cluster of temples in the middle of coconut and banana groves. This square temple is one of the most unusual in the area, consisting of two storeys and with the appearance of a third. With three cellas on each of the two levels and porticos almost like “windows”, it resembles a house. The exterior is decorated with particularly accomplished carvings of goddesses, Bodhisattvas playing musical instruments and the female Buddhist deity, Tara.
That evening, we went to see the Ramayana Ballet at an open-air theatre. In the amphitheatre under the stars, the moonlit stage was drenched with over 100 elaborately masked and costumed dancers acting out Hindu legends. We watched the spectacle of clashing monkey armies, stilted giants and acrobats swaying to the rhythm of the Javanese-style gamelan orchestra of gong players and nasal divas. Not everyone was impressed though. On our way back to the hotel, an American lady in our bus complained loudly that it was the “worst performance” she had ever been to and that she was “sorely disappointed”. Personally, I felt the presentation was marvellous and it certainly was one of the highlights of my trip.
We spent the next day looking around Yogyakarta. First impressions of the city aren’t always positive. Although Yogyakarta (also spelled Jogjakarta, and often simply called Jogja) is small, it is not easily accessible. It takes quite a while to slip beyond the densely clustered shops that run the length of Jalan Malioboro, the main thoroughfare. The street claims to take its name from the Duke of Marlborough, but it is more likely to have derived its name from a Sanskrit term meaning “bouquet” as this was the route for royal processions. For many years in the 1980s, a huge billboard for Marlboro cigarettes was placed on the street, no doubt to pun with the name of the road.
Heart of the city
The best place to penetrate the veneer of Jogja is at the Kraton, its most formal edifice, which, for more than 350 years, has been the artistic and commercial hub of the city. Construction of the Kraton was begun in 1755 by Prince Mangkubumi, who took the title of Sultan and adopted the name of Hamengkubuwono. Over 25,000 people live within the greater Kraton compound today and the current Sultan still resides in the innermost group of buildings.
Two hours spent in the Kraton will give visitors a useful introduction to the richness of Jogjakarta’s cultural heritage. There are mosques, schools and a couple of museums. The museums hold an extensive collection, including gifts from European monarchs, gilt copies of the sacred pusaka (heirlooms of the royal family) and gamelan instruments. Unfortunately, all the captions were in Bahasa Indonesia and so we could understand little.
The best ways to navigate the warren of side streets that surround the Sultan’s palace are on foot or by becak, which is a three-wheeled cycle-rickshaw. The driver sits at the rear unlike the version found in India where the driver sits in front of you.
Becak drivers always have friends in the business, no matter what the business is. We were talking among ourselves on the best places to scout for batik paintings in the city when our driver butted in and announced that he would take us to a shop where we would get a very good deal. With great difficulty, we managed to persuade him to take us to Pasar Ngasem (the local bird market).
No, thank you!
A colourful bird market crowded with budgerigars, roosters, and turtle-doves, pigeons are most fancied here as they are trained as well as eaten. A tout latched on to us and almost sold us a pigeon, saying it would not be difficult to carry the bird home! We made good our exit in five minutes.
The ride back to the hotel was a grand affair. We hired a horse-drawn cart, which was brightly coloured with decorative motifs and bells. The bellboys almost fell over laughing when we entered through the gate. But we couldn’t care. We felt like royalty, if only for a few minutes, and intended to make the most of it.
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