Yogyakarta Day 2 - Borobudur

Got up early at 6am today and left the hotel at 7am to make our way to Borobudur which is about an hour away. The plan was to try and beat the crowds. Well, we failed.

Here's my first sight of the temple as we walked towards it. The trees are in a park which was specially added to make space for the visitors to the temple. Apparently, in the past, cars could drive right up to the foot of of the temple.

The carvings on the temple walls are really amazing. There are hundreds of illustration and here is small sample of the carvings which tell the story of Buddha's life from birth to enlightenment.

Here's a pic of Borobudur's main stupa - the big one in the middle. The smaller ones surrounding it have a statue of buddha in them. Apparently, if you reached in and touched the statues (on the fingers for men and on the feet for women), your wish will come true (provided it's not about material gain!).

Here's a pic of the buddha statue inside the smaller stupas.

Our final view of Borobudur from afar as we made our way back to the coach.

Borobudur is constructed in a straight line with two other temples. Here's the one in the middle, the Pawon temple. Similar architecture but much much smaller.

And the other temple in a straight line is the Mendut Temple. The stupa on the top of this temple was destroyed.

It was an interesting visit but I must admit it was spoilt by the crowds. There were hundreds if not thousands of visitors and many were having picnics around the main stupa of Borobudur. On one hand, I think it's nice that Borobudur is so much a part of the people (from the way they were picnic-ing and having fun around the structure). But on the other hand, I wished it was accorded more respect as an important monument from the past.

Tomorrow, I'll be visiting Mt Merapi, Indonesia's most active volcano as well as a few other famous temples. Hope the weather will be nice.