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Sutopo’s heart beats for Prambanan

Without a doubt, scholars have done extensive studies on the architecture and religious significance of Prambanan. I know because I read some of the accounts prepared by those scholars.  I find, however, that the best account about Prambanan is that of Sutopo, who is by no means a learned scholar. Sutopo was our guide at Prambanan. He is a Muslim who lived all his life in and around the premises of Prambanan. While he may not have read scholarly accounts about Prambanan, he certainly supplied us with accurate information about it. More than that, his account contained something  missing in those scholarly accounts. That something is a heart that beats for Prambanan.

LS and I barely slept the night before our 6:00 a.m. flight to Jogjakarta. As soon as our plane landed, Danang took two sleep-deprived girls to Prambanan. We got there at 7:30 a.m. and were introduced to Sutopo in the receiving area, which was some distance from the temple complex. At that point, I was dreading the long walk to the temples on a hot day and wondering how soon the tour would end so I could get some shut-eye at our hotel.  Surprisingly, Sutopo later managed to stimulate my senses by introducing us to his beloved Prambanan.

Sutopo began our tour by showing us a miniature version of Prambanan displayed some distance away from the temples. He told us that there were over two hundred temples in Prambanan. According to him, the 1006 Gempa (earthquake) that moved like a wave destroyed all of the temples. Although the temples in the inner precinct were rebuilt, it was impossible to reconstruct the temples in the middle and outer precincts as the blueprint of the temples could not be found. One thousand years later and after the inner temples had been placed back together, the 2006 Gempa that also moved liked a wave destroyed the temples once again. Sutopo thinks that the earthquakes occur once every thousand years. As he was recounting the destruction of the temples, I sensed Sutopo’s sadness and frustration. He told us that he wishes that during this lifetime, he would be able to see all the temples rebuilt. Sutopo knows, however, that this is impossible because many of the stones used to build the temples have been taken away by tourists, artifacts collectors and even local villages who used the stones to build their homes.

Sutopo then took us for a quite stroll along the path that leads to the inner precinct. From a distance, I saw Prambanan, and it took my breath away. I noticed then that Sutopo had a big smile on his face as if he expected us to be surprised by what we saw. Sutopo then allowed us some quite time to absorb the sight of Prambanan amidst the greeneries.  Much later, as we moved along the path, Sutopo showed us the stones that looked like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be put together. He pointed out that the stones were grayish-black as such were volcanic rocks most likely from Gunung (mountain) Merapi. While I was taking pictures of a tree, Sutopo suddenly laughs and tells us that there is linga, which is actually a symbol of Shiva but, which some say is a symbol of fertility.

We quietly continued our walk towards the inner precinct.  Along the way, Sutopo drew for us on the sandy path, the general layout of the temples.  Like a teacher, he explained that the temples of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma faced the West, while the temples dedicated to their vahanas faced the East.

Sutopo then took us to visit each of the temples.  Unfortunately, for safety reasons, we were not allowed inside the temples of Brahma and Shiva. We did, however, see the statue of Vishnu inside his temple.  Of course, Sutopo did not tell us that there were bats inside the temple until we were inside it and he joked about the smell of their urine.  He also showed us some of the carvings on the side of the temple showing bare-breasted women, and after, Sutopo asked us whether the time would come when women would dress that way again in public.  LS and I were shocked at first and then we began to laugh when we realized it was Sutopo’s way of getting our attention.

After our tour of Vishnu’s temple, Sutopo told us that we were free to roam around his beloved inner precinct.  He also allowed us to drag him around and continued to give us his anecdotes about the place.  Sometimes, when Sutopo thinks we were not looking, I would see him from the corner of my eyes loving touching the temples or looking at them with awe.  Without a doubt, Sutopo loves Pramabanan, and somehow, his love for this place has rubbed off on us.

There are times when I catch myself thinking of our quite walk in Prambanan on a fine weather day.  I then remember Sutopo and his passion for this place and realize that Prambanan is one of the most beautiful and whimsical places I have seen.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 12:08 am and is filed under My Indonesian Experience, People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.