Pandoraspace

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.

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Candi Borobudur is not a temple but a monument

According to the dictionary, a temple is a place of worship and the dwelling place of gods. It is derived from the Latin word templum, which means “open or consecrated space”. The reason I looked up this word is because Aisha and Danang took pains in emphasizing that Borobudur is not a temple but a monument. Aisha even told us that the literal translation of Borobudur is “monument on a hill”. I found this strange because the signs leading to Borobudur say “Candi Borobudur” and candi is the Indonesian word for temple.

Perhaps what Aisha and Danang meant when they said that Borobudur is not a temple is that, although it is a place where one could pray, it is not a place where people go to worship or bring offerings to their gods as there are no religious icons or statues of gods in Borobudur. The only statues one would find are those of Buddha. According to Aisha, Buddha is not a god and neither does Buddhism teach one to worship Buddha. (more…)

Tip No. 9: Avoid the crowds.

You get a better feel of the temples if there are only a few people around. Tourists usually troupe to the temples after breakfast, leave right before lunch, return to the temples at two in the afternoon and leave before sunset. To avoid the crowd, we would visit the temples before breakfast or late in the afternoon. Of course, this rule does not apply to Angkor Wat since tourists visit it at all hours of the day.  To known more about avoiding the crowds, check this out.

On the second day of our stay in Siem Reap, our guide excitedly told us that he was taking us to the jungle temple where the movie Lara Croft was shot. Although I enjoyed that movie, using it to promote Ta Prohm did such an injustice to this alluring and mystical temple.  Ta Prohm is a sight to behold and no words are needed to promote it.  Fortunately, our guide later redeemed himself by taking us around Ta Prohm and sharing with us a wealth of information he had about this jungle temple.

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