Unfortunately, it was a pretty cloudy day so Mt Merapi chose to hide from me. You just have to imagine the volcano hidden in the clouds in the pic below.
The first scene was of buildings drowned in the dried lava. The level of the lava was more than half the height of the houses. Apparently, in the last eruption, there were no fatalities except for two people who were supposedly volunteers, not villagers.
This was a breathtaking view for me. I was standing on the river bed of a former river which was dried up by the lava flow.
Further down the river was this drop. I can just imagine the beautiful waterfall which was here before 2006. It's pretty amazing to be able to actually see the river bed without any water.
The area around the volcano is extremely fertile and there are rice fields everywhere. I caught this view of farmers threshing the rice.
I continued on to Plaosan temple - A buddhist temple with hindu influences. Although much smaller than Borobudur, I thought it was no less grand.
I continued on to Plaosan temple - A buddhist temple with hindu influences. Although much smaller than Borobudur, I thought it was no less grand.
It was also eyeopening to see a restoration project taking place. There are hundreds of these little temples around the main temple and almost all of them were destroyed by earthquakes. On the right is a temple which they are rebuilding by trying to match the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Next up was Prambanan Temple. While Borobudur is a buddhist temple, Prambanan is a Hindu temple. It was a real pity that all the main temples were damaged by the last major earthquake in 2006. All except one was closed to visitors. This is the view from the back. If I got it right, the one in the middle is the temple dedicated to Shiva. The one on the left is dedicated to Vishnu while the right is dedicated to Brahma. In front of each temple (in the case of the pic below, it should be directly behind each temple) there was another animal temple which housed the 'transport' for the gods. Vishnu's was the garuda, Shiva's was the bull and Brahma's was the swan.
Here are part of the carvings on Vishnu's temple. They show the dance steps of the Ramayana.
The final temple I visited was a last minute inclusion. I heard about the Sambisari temple from the local guide and decided to visit it. As you can see from the pic, it's actually located within a pit. The temple was originally hidden as it was covered by layers of volcanic ash. It was discovered by a farmer in 1966 and then excavated and restored.
Next up was Prambanan Temple. While Borobudur is a buddhist temple, Prambanan is a Hindu temple. It was a real pity that all the main temples were damaged by the last major earthquake in 2006. All except one was closed to visitors. This is the view from the back. If I got it right, the one in the middle is the temple dedicated to Shiva. The one on the left is dedicated to Vishnu while the right is dedicated to Brahma. In front of each temple (in the case of the pic below, it should be directly behind each temple) there was another animal temple which housed the 'transport' for the gods. Vishnu's was the garuda, Shiva's was the bull and Brahma's was the swan.
Here are part of the carvings on Vishnu's temple. They show the dance steps of the Ramayana.
The final temple I visited was a last minute inclusion. I heard about the Sambisari temple from the local guide and decided to visit it. As you can see from the pic, it's actually located within a pit. The temple was originally hidden as it was covered by layers of volcanic ash. It was discovered by a farmer in 1966 and then excavated and restored.
All in, it's been a pretty busy day but very enjoyable. Tomorrow, I'll probably just spend a lazy day in the hotel while I wait for my flight back to Singapore.
No comments:
Post a Comment