New Zealand - Colours of Spring

Spring is such a lovely time
Colourful flowers blooming every where

from far, this tree looks green, which the eyes may deceive as leaves

but it's actually flowers in green

Mount Merapi - Kaliurang

Kaliurang is a small town located about 25 km north of the town of Yogyakarta. It is on the southern slopes of Mount Merapi.

After the 2010 eruption, villagers living on the slope were relocated to the temporary settlement.

Their livehood as shepherds, cow-herds and farmers, together with their homes, were obliterated by the eruption.






Pak Mbah Marijan, the octogenerian spiritual guardian of Mount Merapi, was buried under ash spewed from the volcano he served. His son is now the guardian of Mount Merapi.





Scenes of Mt Merapi's might

On the way to Kaliurang, more than 5km from Mt Merapi


coconut trees dying ..... from the heat of lava


houses covered with ash/lava

new steel bridge under construction

(the old wooden bridge was burnt/destroyed by lava river flowing below)


river of lava/ash


harvesting lava rocks


burnt skeleton of motorcyle at Kaliurang

remain of house and charred trunks

Candi in Jogjakarta

Aside from Prambanan and Borobudur, there are smaller candi (temples) in Jogjakarta. As they are not Unesco proclaimed, not many people will visit them, hence a lower entrance fees (RP1,000-Rp2,000 per pax).

Candi MENDUT

Mendut is a ninth century Buddhist temple, located in Mendut village, Mungkid sub-district, Magelang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia.

The temple is located about three kilometres east from Borobudur.

During the Wesak celebration, devotees would start their ritual walk from this candi to Borobudur.

CANDI SEMBISARI

Sambisari is a 9th century Hindu temple located at Sambisari hamlet, Purwomartani village, Kalasan, Sleman regency, Yogyakarta. The temple was buried about five metres underground from the ash/lava during one of Mt Merapi earlier eruptions (not the 2010).

Original temple have been excavated . The temple is located about 8 km east of Yogyakarta. It was discovered by a farmer, whom struck the top of the Candi with his hoe. (tat's how the Terracotas were discovered too in China).

Taman Sari Water Castle aka Royal Bath

This is the royal bath/or swimming pools.

One pool was for the concubines / gundeks, the other for the royal kids

The Sultan would watch his concubines from the cubicle at the top of the building, choose the one he likes or fancies. The lucky lady will share his private pool on the other side of the wall

After the bath. they will retire to their bed room for their siesta time.

Borobodur Temple

Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 8th-century Buddhist monument.

The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa.
The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path circumambulating the monument while ascending to the top through the three levels of Buddhist cosmology, namely Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness).

Each platform represents one stage of enlightment.












Narrative panels which tell the story of Sudhana and Manohara are grouped into 11 series encircled the monument with the total length of 3,000 meters (9,843 ft).

The final gallery was not open to tourists as it is being clean from the volcanic ash of Mt Merapi's eruption.

Prambanan Hindu Temple - Jogjakarta

Prambanan Temple is a ninth century Hindu temple, built around 850AD.

It is dedicated to Brahma, God of Creator, Vishnu, the Sustainer and Shiva, the Destroyer.

The temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia, and is one of the largest Hindu temples in south-east Asia. It is characterised by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the towering 47m high central building inside a large complex of individual temples.

Get a local tour guide service at the entrance, it is only Rp60K. It will definitely made the visit a vast different, with a better indepth knowledge of this historical site. Prambanan also known as legendary as Roro Jonggrang, a fair maiden forced to marry a man not her choice and was turn to stone.





These are the smaller temple surrounding the main temple, which were built for the guardians of the gods.


Main shrine dedicated to Shiva, the Destroyer.
As this is the era of the Destroyer (with more than 4,000years to go), more importance is placed on Shiva to appease him.
The two smaller shrines next to the main shrine.
The left shrine is dedicated to Brahma, the creater while the right shrine is dedicated to Vishnu - the sustainer.