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Central Java
CENTRAL JAVA
yogyakarta
Borobudur, one of the world’s greatest Buddhist monuments, was built sometime between 778 and 842 AD., during the Syailendra dynasty. It is the most prominent tourist object of Central Java. Hence, it is only proper to introduce Central Java by starting with the Borobudur temple.
It is more than proper to introduce the Borobudur temple. In 1100 AD the centre power of Java at that time had shifted to the eastern part of Java, and Borobudur was engulfed by vegetation and hidden under many layers of soil, probably including those moved by the eruption of volcanoes surrounding the temple.
With the UNESCO helping to raise money, the gigantic task of rescuing Borobudur was launched in August 1873. Work was completed in 10 years and President Soeharto officially reopened Borobudur on 23 February 1983.
Borobudur is only 41 km northwest of Yogyakarta: 31 km will take you a little north of Muntilan, where a sign posted ride road leads to the site. If you are coming from the north, there is another turn off 7 km south of Magelang.
Borobudur, as classical stupa, is both a meru (mountain) inhabited by the gods, and a replica of the there divisions of the Mayahana Buddhist universe : Khamadhatu, the lower sphere of the everyday world, ruphadatu, the middle sphere of form, spiritually superior to the world of the flesh, and arupadhatu, the higher sphere of total abstraction and detachment from the world.
There were originally 10 levels at Borobudur, each falling within one or other of the three spheres. At the bottom, now only partly visible, was a level with bas-reliefs depicting the delights and damnations of khamadhatu, the physical world. This level was probably covered even before the completion of the temple, possibly because the unholy realities of earthly lusts had no relevance to a pilgrim.
The next five level (the outer processional path and the four square terraces) show, in their reliefs, the life of Prince Sidharta on his way to becoming Gautama Buddha, his previous incarnations, and episodes from the life of Bodhisatva Sudhana. These are within the sphere of rupadhatu, and are the most absorbing and delightful of the Borobudur sculpture: ships, family life, musicians, dancing girls, saints and heavenly throngs.
The square terraces end. Above, three circular terraces support 72 latticed dagobs (miniature stupas), most of which are still whole. Most contain a statue of a dhyani Buddha, but one dhyani stands alone, bereft of his shell, gazing out towards the strange mountain range of Menoreh which seems to echo the silhouette of Borobudur and where one series of lumps and knobs is said to be the profile of Gunadharma, traditionally the temple’s architect.
These three terraces are transitional step between rupadhatu and the tenth and highest level, the topmost dagob the total abstraction. This crowning dagob contains to pyramidal chambers. The movement upwards from the material world to the realm of Sublime Reality would suggest that the two chambers were originally empty, the ultimate symbol of absorption into the supreme spirit; yet a kris and an uncompleted Buddha statue were found in the lower and the large chamber during the 19th century when there was a gaping hole (since sale) in the side of the dagob.
Borobudur was probably erected for the glorification of the Ultimate Reality, Lord Buddha, and as a tangible, tactile lesson for priests and pilgrims, a textbook on the path to enlightenment.
Once a year, on Waicak Day (the celebration of Lord Buddha’s birth and death), the temple relives some of its past splendor as thousand of saffron robed Buddhist priests perform a grand processional by the light of the full moon, offering flowers, incense and prayers. Even non-Buddhists revere the statues of the Dhyani Buddhas, silently shrouded within their latticed dagob, and good fortune is assured, if you can touch a figure through one of the square or diamond shaped hole.
Experience of Borobudur can vary. Most visitors are impressed by its size, and delighted by the reliefs. Other find the immense scale a little too much to cope with. Everybody remember the crowd, the beat and the steps, unless they have been among the first visitors to cross the gate at 6 am.
Candi Mendut was built about the same time as Borobudur, but it is not a stupa. It resembles most Central Javanese temples with its broad base, a high central body and a steep pyramidal roof once crowned by a large dagob and a series of smaller ones. The superbly carved panels on the outer walls depict various bodhisattvas and Buddhist goddesses, and are the largest in Indonesia.
On the outside of the staircase balustrade small panels related charming folktales, many of which, in the marmer of Aesop’s fable, are about animals. The walls of the passageway to the antechamber and the interior of the temple are also decorated with fine reliefs of the tree of heaven surrounded by post of money and kinnaras (half bird, half man) and with two beautiful panels of a man a woman amidst swarms of playful children. It is though that these represent a yaksa and a yaksini, child eating orges who converted to Buddhism and became protectors, instead of devourers.
The Mendut panels are delightful in their artistry and detail, but they hardly prepare you for the stunning impact of the temple interior and three of the Buddhist world: a magnificent 3 meter high figure of Buddha as Sakyamuni flanked on the left and right by Bodhisatva Lokesvara and Vajrapani. This is as Bernet Kempers say, one of the greatest manifestations of Buddhist spiritual thought and art for many visitor to Mendut a silent sojourn in the interior must be one of their most impressive contacts with a higher world.
Not far from Mendut and Borobudur you can find another temple, Pawon, together with the other two is an integral part of a whole complex of temple to be more completely enjoyed, if you visit all the three.
Many people respond with an equal or greater joy to Prambanan, a temple complex (16 km east of Yogyakarta) named after the village which thrusts up to the southern boundary of the temple group.
Prambanan is best seen shortly after dawn or in the late afternoon when slanting sunlight picks out details with a rounding, golden touch, but it is still beautiful at any time.
Prambanan was completed about 900 AD. It was deserted within a hundred years, and collapsed about 1600. Preparations for the restoration of the central Siva temple began in 1911. Work started 19 years later, and was completed I 1953. The Brahma temple was completed in 1987, and the Wisnu temple in 1990. Reconstruction is still carried out on minor buildings.
The highest courtyard contains the principal edifices. Entering from the south you pass a small ‘court temple’. On your left (west) are three large, the first was dedicated to Brahma, the second and largest to Siva, and the third to Visnu.
Opposite these are three smaller temples which contained the ‘vehicles’ of the Gods; the gander (hamsa) of Brahma, Siva’s bull (nandi), a monolithic beast carved with consummate skill, and unfortunately the only ‘vehicle’ remaining, and the sunbird (Garuda) of Visnu. At the far north is a second ‘court temple’.
Beyond the central courtyard, at a tower level, there were once 224 minor shrines or temples, almost all of which are still in ruins.
The largest temples, the masterpiece dedicate to Siva, is also known as Roro (or Loro) Jonggrang (Slender Virgin), a name sometimes given to the whole Prambanan temple complex. As legend has it, Loro Jonggrang was the daughter of Ratu Boko (Eternal Lord).
Woed by an unwanted suitor, she demanded that the man build a temple in one night, and then frustrated his almost successful effort by pounding the rice logs in a premature announcement of dawn. Enrage, he turned the maiden into stone. She remains at Prambanan as Siva’s consort, Durga, a statue in the northern chamber of the main temple.
Other major statues include Agastya, the “Divine Teacher” Ganesa, Siva’s elephant headed son and an outstanding 3 meter figure of Siva in the Central Chamber. There is also multi faced in the Brahma in the Brahma temple.
One aspect of Loro Jonggrang’s appeal is its glorious symmetry and grace. Another is its wealth of sculptural details; on the base of the main terrace, the so called ‘Prambanan Motif’ in which little lions in niches are flanked by trees of life and a lively menagerie of kinnaras, hares, geese, birds, deer and a host of other endearing creatures. On the outer balustrade of the terrace, animated groups of singers and dancers, and panels of relaxed, beautiful celestial beings. On the main wall of the temple, the regents of the heavenly quarters and finally, on the inner wall of the balustrade, the wonderfully vital and utterly engrossing Ramayana episodes, which end (on the Siva temple) with the arrival at Langka of Hanuman and his ape army.
The positioning of the relief is formal. The movement within each panel is free-flowing, filled with fascinating detail. Even the most tumultuous scenes include lovingly rendered touches: monkeys in a fruit tree, birds robbing a grain bin, kitchen scenes. Prambanan’s beauty and variety demand more than one visit.
Candi Sewu is at the far end of the fenced Prambanan complex about 1 km from the main group. Sewu, ‘Thousand Temples’, was built about 850 AD, with a central temple surrounded by 240 minor shrines. The central temple has been reconstructed, and the walls of the smaller temple reveal a tantalizing array of Buddhist deities. The large monolithic temple guardians have been a constant source of inspiration for Javanese artists. Replicas also adorn the courtyard of the keraton in Yogyakarta.
Surrounding Yogyakarta you can still find temples, Candi Plaosan (a Buddhist temple), Candi Sari (also Buddhist temple), Kalasan, Candi Banyunibo, Candi Sambisari.
Other places to visit from Yogyakarta is the shore at Parangtritis, twin beaches of Kukup and Baron, and Somas beach, though less attractive than Baron, Kukup or Parangtritis.
Kaliurang, 23 km due north of Yogyakarta, offers plenty of guesthouse, swimming pool, a tiny herd of deer from Bogor and a beautiful 2,5 km lung exercising walk to ‘Overseer Point’.
Dieng Plateau temple and lakes are among central Java’s great scenic rewards a landscape of constantly changing moods, swathed in mist at one moment, alive with sunshine next.
From Yogyakarta to Dieng and back is a long day trip. Better to spend a night in Dieng as the plateau is often clear of mist only in the early morning or better still, stay overnight in Wonosobo, where accommodation and food are much better and leave the little town early in the morning. Dieng is half an hour away.
The road from Yogyakarta passes Borobudur and Magelang, an unkempt little place like so many Javanese towns, before climbing into mountains covered in tea and tobacco. Gunung Sumbing (3,371 m) on your right and Gunung Sindoro (3,135 m) on your left, a handsome pair of sleeping volcanoes who haven’t bothered anyone for years.
Kledung, the pass between them, is crossed at almost 2,300 m, and the views are beautiful. The last major town before Dieng is Wonosobo, a pleasant, busy town and a popular based for tourist visiting Dieng.
The scenery is magnificent. The country becomes more steep and rugged, and the people change with it. They are a hill breed, though and stocky.
In Kejajar, 16 km from Wonosobo, the morning market is a festival of color: pale green cabbages the size of beach balls, coconuts from the lowland, cakes of boiled rice, and gula jawa (brow sugar).
In the next 9 km the road climbs more than 700 meters. The terraces become ragged, groping for a foothold here, toehold there, as they straggle up the precipitous slopes. The road noses upwards into what must be a dead end forge. Suddenly there’s narrow downhill, and there in an other wordlly light, lies the plateau. Straight ahead, the cluster of ancient, weathered temples.
The eerie strangeness of Dieng Plateau, its proximity to the heavens, may have been among the reasons that men labored there to erect the series of temples that still dominate the plateau.
Built to honor Siva, and probably constructed in the early decades of the 8th century, the Dieng temples are remarkable for their simplicity and their spare sculptural ornament.
The many group of temples is named after heroes and heroines of the Mahabrata through the names may have been given only little more than a hundred years ago. Arjuna, Puntadewa, Srikandi, and Sumbadra stand in the center of the flat field, accompanied by the squat, ungainly servant, Semar.
Candi Gatotkaca stand alone at the southern end of the plain, and farther south on a hill embraced by slender acacias is Candi Bima with the unique sculpted heads in horseshoe shaped roof niches.
There are two other temple sites high on mountain slopes of Central Java: Sukuh and Ceta on Gunung Lawu and Gedung Songo (Nine Buildings) group on the southern slopes of Gungung Ungaran above Bandungan.
At Gondang, a huge factory dated 1860, a remnant of Java’s early industrial revolution. Before and beyond, 100 meter thatched ‘long houses’ for drying tobacco. Delanggu, famous for its wood carvers, but more immediately notable for the masses of tukang gigi signs (Tukang gigi is a maker of false teeth, rather than a dentist) Kartasura, once known as Mataram, where only a crumbling brick wall recalls former glories, then a final 8 km to Solo’s main street.
Solo is the city loved by students and scholars of Central Javanese culture, for it was here that royal patronage brought that culture to its greatest flowering. Although at first glance the flat, sprawling city seems even less a royal capital than Yogyakarta, Solo rewards patience.
The famous ‘division of Mataram’ was also a blessing in disguise, at least posterity and today’s traveler. Art flourished on the court of Surakarta as it had not one for a hundred years in Mataram.
In Solo wayang kulit, dance, gamelan, kris making and batik are still very well maintained. It was perhaps an aristocratic hot house culture, but the culture (if not the power and the glory) survive even now.
The Kraton of Surakarta Hadiningrat, lies just to the eastern end of the city’s main street Jalan Slamet Riyadi. The road south runs a short distance to alun-alun lor, down between the two royal waringin trees, and stops in front of the pale blue pagelaran pavilion with its shining expanse of cool marble tiles and the glassed in audience chamber, Bangsal Pangrawit, from which Pakubuwono II address his subject in 1745.
At the back of the pagelaran a broad flight of steps, guarded on each side by iron railings and old cannons, leads up to the Sitihinggil pavilion originally faced onto the alun-alun lor. The great pendopo now contains sacred cannon, Nyai Setomi, one part of the Portuguese defenses in 16th century Malaca and late captured by the Dutch.
The main body of the kraton is enclosed in a series of courtyard of kori kamandungan lor. Here is the large audience halls of the Susuhunan. The columns supporting the roof are richly carved and gilded, but are hung with protective drapes which are removed only on special occasions.
Crystal chandeliers hang from the rafters, marble statues line the walkways, wrought iron columns and ornately glazed, Chinese flower pots vie or one’s attentions. A superb stained glass screen bears the arms of Pakubuwono X who, during a 46 year reign (1893-1939) was responsible for the main decorative elements that now delight the eye in eery corner of kraton complex. Most of what you see today, however, is a replica. The palace was destroyed by fire in 1985 and has been faithfully reconstructed.
The museum associated with the kraton was established in 1963 and constrains many interesting artifacts in 1963 and contains many interesting artifacts but is in deplorable state of maintenance. The Museum also display some remarkable figure heads from the royal barges, including the huge nosed visage of Kyahi Rojomolo, a giant of surpassing ugliness who decorated the prow of the Susuhunan’s private barge. The kraton and museum are open daily 12.30 pm (Friday, 9 am to 11.30 am).
There is a different but equally absorbing museum in the Mangkunegaran Palace, north of Jalan Slamet Riyadi at the top end of Jalan Diponegoro. At the palace only the museum and the huge front pendopo, built for Mangkunegoro IV early in the 19th century, are open to visitors.
The pendopo, is reputed to be the largest in Java. The ceiling, from which are hung huge chandeliers, is elaborately decorated with color patches designed to keep off specific evils, and associated wuth the Javanese Zodiac. The pendopo houses four grand gamelan sets, one of them is regularly used for concerts and dance performances, the others are reputed to process magic properties and are played only on special occasions. Dance rehearsals and Gamelan concerts are held every Wednesday at 10 am, and are opened to the public.
The museum is in the main hall of the palace building, immediately behind pendopo. A regal flight of steps leads past an array of gilded statues into the hall (open from 9 am, to noon daily except Sundays).
The collection covers gold plated dance ornaments, pieces of miniature furniture in filigree gold and color enamels, a sirih set in silver mounted agate, there are dozens Hindu–Javanese bronzed (mirrors, bracelets, bangles), cases of gold jewelry and superb rings. The palace also has a fine collection of wayang topeng masks, and one of the oldest sets of wayang kulit surviving.
At Sriwedari Park, on Jalan Slamet Riyadi, is the Radyapustaka Museum, the only museum not established by the Dutch it has a good though not outstanding collection, and the food stalls outside are a pleasant place for lunch. It is open from 8 am, to 12.30 pm.
The Sriwedari Park boasts the most accomplished wayang wong group in Java. There is the performance now on alternating day (Please check through your hotel). The wayang performance is from 8 pm to midnight. Dance rehearsals and occasional performances may be seen at the Akademi Seni Karawitan Indonesia (ASKI) and the Pusat Kebudayaan Jawa Tengah, both near the main kraton.
Halfway between Jalan Slamet Riyadi and the Mangkunegaran Palace on the right side of Jalan Diponegoro is Pasar Triwindu (Pasar Windu Jenar), Solo’s flea market.
Solo has a reputation as one of Java’s most important batik centers, and calls itself the city of Batik. To discover why, pay a visit to the huge Pasar Klewer at the eastern end of Jalan Secoyudan, under the shadow of the west gate of alun-alun lor.
The entire market is devoted to fabrics, with hundreds of neat stalls jammed together along narrow passageways on two floors. Batik is overwhelmingly predominant, though some stalls specialize in lurik of various grades and a few offer kain ikat and other materials.
A two stringed rebab, with a beautifully turned neck and delicate tuning screws, can be bought or made to order at the Balai Agung on the alun-alun lor. There is also a big selection of the various kinds of percussion instruments that make up the rest of the gamelan orchestra.
Many kinds of Javanese music, gamelan music with or without vocal accompaniment, and the music which accompanies the many forms of wayang are now available on pre-recorded cassette tapes. If you like browsing and strawling, a walk down Jalan Secoyudan, and goldsmiths’ street, can be entertaining, not just for the dozens of took mas with their golden baubles, but also for some of the names.
A side trip from Solo can bring you to Candi Sukuh, built in the middle of the 15th century during the twilight years of glorious Majapahit, on a site which may once has been occupied by a temple dedicated to ancestor worship.
The main road eastwards to Madiun and Surabaya skirts the northern edge of the mountain, but there are two reasons for travelling up or even over Lawu. First, is for a glimpse of one of Java’s most mysterious temples: Sukuh temple. Second, for some inspiring scenery.
Candi Sukuh, 910 meters up on Lawu’s western slope, is sometimes billed as ‘Java’s only example of erotic temple carving. If erotic means the explicit presentation old a stone penis or two, then the description fits, though don’t except the convoluted couplings found in some Nepalese and Indian art.
Sukuh’s appeal lies in its blend of mystery, of dark disarray, of almost satanic majesty, presented in a superb setting. It is utterly different in mood and in structure from temples elsewhere in Java, and this alone makes it worth seeing.
Five kilometers east of solo take a right fork off the main road towards Karangpandan, a few meters beyond ‘TAW-12’ km post there is a side road to the village of Kemuning. Follow this road for post for the steep climb up to the temple. The road is surfaced all the way. If you do not have your own transport, you must charter a bemo from Karangpandan.
Sukuh strikes a disquieting, alien chord its flat topped ‘Egyptian’ step pyramid and its ‘mayan calendar’ carvings. Only after a while do the familiar panakawan clowns, carved in the distorted wayang kulit style found in East Java, emerge intelligibly from the crude reliefs, weird and shocking after the sculptural finesse of Loro Jonggrang.
Sukuh poses many question that remain un-answered. Were they locally-born, mountain dwelling inheritors of an ancient faith. Were they perhaps the survivors of the great Central Javanese kingdoms of the 9th and 10th centuries. What were the origins of their diverse and seemingly unrelated sculptural styles.
From Solo you still have other alternatives for side trips: Candi Ceta, with its Bima figures, built about the same time as Sukuh, but is less interesting. It lies beyond Kemuning, some 600 meter higher up the mountain than Sukuh, reached by a bad track.
You can also go to Sarangan, a popular cool-climate weekend resort for people from Maduin and the surrounding area.
A couple of dozen losmens, hotels and guest houses cluster at the northern edge of Telaga Sarangan, many of them offering superb views across the small lake with its background of soaring wooded peaks. Boating, riding, bush walking and working up an appetite in the crisp mountain air are the main diversions in Sarangan, which is easily approached from Madiun. If you prefer to avoid the low gear route over Lawu from Solo.
Other places of interest are Ngerong, little village nestles at the head of a pretty valley, only 5 km below Sarangan. With 2 or preferably 3 days to spare your jaunt to Candi Sukuh, Tawangmangu and Sarongan or Ngerong can be extended to include a surfing beach, harshly beautiful landscapes, a gamelan orchestra with limestone stalactites for instruments, and a hundred hills looking like giant cupcakes.
The destination is Pacitan, across the border in East Java on an estuarine plain where the Kali Grindulu runs into the sea and meets long lines of roles sweeping into the board bay. With Solo as your point of departure and return there are several possible routes. You can go east around Gunung Lawu to Madiun, across Lawu to Sarangan. In both cases you then head south to Ponorogo and on to Pacitan, and complete the circuit by coming back through Wonogiri for a total of roughly 300 km.
An alternative is the southern route direct from Solo through Wonogiri to Pacitan, and back the same way. Gua Tabuhan, one of the finest caves, is said to have provided refuge to Prince Diponegoro during his 5 year war against the Dutch. Purely as a cavern, hung with grey with columns of quilted, ruppled limestone (some of them still dripping, still growing) it is impressive. The big event at Gua Tabuhan is the orchestral performance in the main chamber.
The road leading to Gua Tabuhan is desa track in much better condition than the main road. The turn off is well signposted: approaching from Pacitan it is 3 km beyond Punung. From Wonogiri, it is 2.7 km beyond Donorojo. The track runs one km in from the main road, and another signpost guides you left for the last 1,5 km to the cave entrance.
Donorojo is famous for two things agate and wayang beber. Agates are found in the gullies and river beds of the surrounding area, and a triving cottages industry cuts and polishes the stone. They are for sale.
Wayang beber is an ancient and almost extinct form of storytelling in which the tale literally unwinds on a series of painted scrolls.
The last remaining practitioner of this art, the dalang Pak Samen, lives in a village near Donorojo and performs about seven times a year. Hit scrolls carry episodes from Panji tales, and the responsibility for their care is shared by families in the area.
Expert agree that the scroll are extremely old. Although it is impossible to date them conclusively, there may be some truth in the local belief that the scrolls once belonged to the royal dynasty of Majapahit, and were given for safekeeping to Pak Samen’s ancestors when Muslim Demak was rising to power in the north.
A little beyond Donorojo, still within the hills and heading towards Wonogiri, the road crosses the border between East and Central Java. In case you miss the boundary maker, a larger painted emblem of the Diponegoro Division will tell you where you are.
This is the northern edge of the coastal range. Below you, the road winds down onto the plains and into a familiar landscape of paddies and palms.
If you are still in the mood for scenic vistas and energy consuming climb, a high pinnacle of rock, at the back of Wonogiri offers superb views across the plains to Merapi, Merbabu, Lawu and the hills to the south.
At present Wonogiri is very proud of the first international open gliding championship held in August 1994, attended by 60 participants from 8 countries in the world, including Swiss, the US, England, Australia.
With its newly built dam irrigating hundreds of thousand hectares of Surakarta paddies fields, which are also used by local tourists to enjoy some of the water sports, Wonogiri (around 30 km south war from Solo) is now a new tourist destination, complete with its internationally recognized spots for gliding.
From Jakarta eastward first you will reach Cirebon, where Javanese, Sundanese and Chinese elements are blended here.
According to Crawford, who wrote Descriptive Dictionary in 1856, perhaps the name of Cirebon originally was Caruban, in Javanese means mixture. In Kota Udang (Shrimp City), thanks to its local fishing produce, as Cirebon locally nicknamed, people speak, except the national language, their own local language which more likely like a blending of the Sundanese and Javanese.
Cirebon since 15th century was warred over by Padjajaran (Hindu) and Demak (Muslim) and sandwiched between the kingdom’s of Banten and Mataram in 17th century, after being conquered and re-conquered, finally under the Dutch in Batavia in 1705, jointly administered by the three sultans.
Two of the Cirebon ancient kratons, Kasepuhan and Kanoman are opened for tourists. Kasepuhan is located in the southeast corner of the city, adjoining a striking tiered-roof mosque. A small museum which only opened by request has some marvelous but ill kept treasures and curiosities.
About 4 km out of Cirebon on the south eastern bypass you will reach Candi Sunya Ragi, first built by a Cirebon prince early in the 18th century, its present weird form was put together by a Chinese architect in 1852, which amalgam of plaster, red brick and concrete. A small amphitheater beside the parking lot is used for Prambanan-style sendratari or dramatic dance performance on every September.
You can visit the sacred tomb of Sunan Gunung Jati, one of the nine wali who helped establish Islam in Java, which is 5 km north along the main Jakarta Road.
Though with almost strictly different pattern, color combination and special artistic touch, Cirebon batik as in industry as also flourishing.
Entering Central Java, by leaving Cirebon eastward, you will first enter a small town of Brebes, which is proud of its red onion produce.
The next is Tegal, with its traditional pottery and handicrafts, though now Tegal has entered an economic stage of ‘mini’ industrialization, among its production is a mini tractor for the rice field. Pekalongan, like Cirebon, is a famous batik center.
Going further east you will reach Semarang, the capital of the province of Central Java with not so many relics of its illustrious past. Expect some old and not so old Chinese shop houses in many parts of the city.
Although Semarang is not a batik making center, an excellent range of Pekalongan batik and smaller selection from Cirebon and Solo can be bought here. Two good shops are GKBI on Jalan Pemuda and PPIP at B.12 Jurunatan shopping center on Jalan Haji Agus Salim.
On the main road to Kendal, westward from Semarang, is the large red and yellow Sam Po Kong temple, also known as Gedung Batu. Its history goes back to the middle of the 15th century when a small cave was dedicated to the memory of Chinese Muslim Admiral Chengho, a high ranking envoy from the imperial court of the Ming dynasty, who visited Java in 1406 and again in 1416. According to tradition, he landed at the site of the temple on the shore of a small cove 500 years ago.
For those who have special interest in performing arts and theatre the best place to visit in Semarang is Ngesti Pandowo at Jalan Pemuda 116. Both Wayang wong and ketoprak are performed here.
Taking Semarang as a base one day return trips to Demak, Kudus and Jepara can be arranged quite comfortably. These towns can also be visited if you are travelling straight to Surabaya.
Demak in 1475 has conquered Cirebon, and shortly afterwards Palembang and Jambi, and later became a Muslim sultanate under Raden Patah in 1511. Its forces has destroyed the weak successors of Majapahit by 1520, and in 1526 Faletehan, also known as Sunan Gunung Jati, perhaps Demak’s most illustrious son, established the sultanate of Banten before capturing Sunda Kelapa, the site of modern Jakarta, in 1527.
As far as 24 km east from Semarang you will reach Kudus with its historical mosque founded by Jafar Sidik (Sunan Kudus). The tall red brick minaret, is the tomb of the Sunan, surrounded by many graves of his descendants. Even today there are townsfolk of humble means who proudly carry the title of Raden, denoting their blood ties with the great Wali.
The town’s prosperity in mainly derived from the production of roko kretek, the aromatic clove cigarette, produced by more than 100 large and small ‘factories’ Kudus producers around a quarter of the whole clove cigarette in the whole country. A small museum jointly established by the leading companies illustrates the history of kretek cigarette.
From Kudus, about 33 km is Jepara, long famous for the skill woodcarving. Two daughters of Jepara have achieved enduring fame. The queen of Jepara, Ratu Kali Nyamat, widowed about the time Jepara overthrew the Demak sultanate, laid siege to Portugal’s Malacca stronghold in 1551 and again in 1574 with doubtful support first from Johor and then from Aceh. Although unsuccessful in both camoaigns, she succeeded in scaring the Portuguese with less.
Raden Ajeng Kartini belongs to modern Indonesia’s pantheon of heroes, a place earned through her spirit of emancipation and freedom. Her writings, published as letter of a Javanese Princes (originally written in the Dutch), are famous throughout the country.
Born in 1879 in Mayong, a small desa outside Jepara, Kartini was the daughter of the regent of Jepara. She married a progressive regent of Rembang, and died at the age of 25, shortly after bearing a son.
Both Kartini and Ratu Kali Nyamat are buried in the grounds of the old mosque at Mantingan, about 19 km south of Rembang on the road to Blora. The original mosque was built at the instigation of Ratu Kali Nyamat.
yogyakarta
Borobudur, one of the world’s greatest Buddhist monuments, was built sometime between 778 and 842 AD., during the Syailendra dynasty. It is the most prominent tourist object of Central Java. Hence, it is only proper to introduce Central Java by starting with the Borobudur temple.
It is more than proper to introduce the Borobudur temple. In 1100 AD the centre power of Java at that time had shifted to the eastern part of Java, and Borobudur was engulfed by vegetation and hidden under many layers of soil, probably including those moved by the eruption of volcanoes surrounding the temple.
With the UNESCO helping to raise money, the gigantic task of rescuing Borobudur was launched in August 1873. Work was completed in 10 years and President Soeharto officially reopened Borobudur on 23 February 1983.
Borobudur is only 41 km northwest of Yogyakarta: 31 km will take you a little north of Muntilan, where a sign posted ride road leads to the site. If you are coming from the north, there is another turn off 7 km south of Magelang.
Borobudur, as classical stupa, is both a meru (mountain) inhabited by the gods, and a replica of the there divisions of the Mayahana Buddhist universe : Khamadhatu, the lower sphere of the everyday world, ruphadatu, the middle sphere of form, spiritually superior to the world of the flesh, and arupadhatu, the higher sphere of total abstraction and detachment from the world.
There were originally 10 levels at Borobudur, each falling within one or other of the three spheres. At the bottom, now only partly visible, was a level with bas-reliefs depicting the delights and damnations of khamadhatu, the physical world. This level was probably covered even before the completion of the temple, possibly because the unholy realities of earthly lusts had no relevance to a pilgrim.
The next five level (the outer processional path and the four square terraces) show, in their reliefs, the life of Prince Sidharta on his way to becoming Gautama Buddha, his previous incarnations, and episodes from the life of Bodhisatva Sudhana. These are within the sphere of rupadhatu, and are the most absorbing and delightful of the Borobudur sculpture: ships, family life, musicians, dancing girls, saints and heavenly throngs.
The square terraces end. Above, three circular terraces support 72 latticed dagobs (miniature stupas), most of which are still whole. Most contain a statue of a dhyani Buddha, but one dhyani stands alone, bereft of his shell, gazing out towards the strange mountain range of Menoreh which seems to echo the silhouette of Borobudur and where one series of lumps and knobs is said to be the profile of Gunadharma, traditionally the temple’s architect.
These three terraces are transitional step between rupadhatu and the tenth and highest level, the topmost dagob the total abstraction. This crowning dagob contains to pyramidal chambers. The movement upwards from the material world to the realm of Sublime Reality would suggest that the two chambers were originally empty, the ultimate symbol of absorption into the supreme spirit; yet a kris and an uncompleted Buddha statue were found in the lower and the large chamber during the 19th century when there was a gaping hole (since sale) in the side of the dagob.
Borobudur was probably erected for the glorification of the Ultimate Reality, Lord Buddha, and as a tangible, tactile lesson for priests and pilgrims, a textbook on the path to enlightenment.
Once a year, on Waicak Day (the celebration of Lord Buddha’s birth and death), the temple relives some of its past splendor as thousand of saffron robed Buddhist priests perform a grand processional by the light of the full moon, offering flowers, incense and prayers. Even non-Buddhists revere the statues of the Dhyani Buddhas, silently shrouded within their latticed dagob, and good fortune is assured, if you can touch a figure through one of the square or diamond shaped hole.
Experience of Borobudur can vary. Most visitors are impressed by its size, and delighted by the reliefs. Other find the immense scale a little too much to cope with. Everybody remember the crowd, the beat and the steps, unless they have been among the first visitors to cross the gate at 6 am.
Candi Mendut was built about the same time as Borobudur, but it is not a stupa. It resembles most Central Javanese temples with its broad base, a high central body and a steep pyramidal roof once crowned by a large dagob and a series of smaller ones. The superbly carved panels on the outer walls depict various bodhisattvas and Buddhist goddesses, and are the largest in Indonesia.
On the outside of the staircase balustrade small panels related charming folktales, many of which, in the marmer of Aesop’s fable, are about animals. The walls of the passageway to the antechamber and the interior of the temple are also decorated with fine reliefs of the tree of heaven surrounded by post of money and kinnaras (half bird, half man) and with two beautiful panels of a man a woman amidst swarms of playful children. It is though that these represent a yaksa and a yaksini, child eating orges who converted to Buddhism and became protectors, instead of devourers.
The Mendut panels are delightful in their artistry and detail, but they hardly prepare you for the stunning impact of the temple interior and three of the Buddhist world: a magnificent 3 meter high figure of Buddha as Sakyamuni flanked on the left and right by Bodhisatva Lokesvara and Vajrapani. This is as Bernet Kempers say, one of the greatest manifestations of Buddhist spiritual thought and art for many visitor to Mendut a silent sojourn in the interior must be one of their most impressive contacts with a higher world.
Not far from Mendut and Borobudur you can find another temple, Pawon, together with the other two is an integral part of a whole complex of temple to be more completely enjoyed, if you visit all the three.
Many people respond with an equal or greater joy to Prambanan, a temple complex (16 km east of Yogyakarta) named after the village which thrusts up to the southern boundary of the temple group.
Prambanan is best seen shortly after dawn or in the late afternoon when slanting sunlight picks out details with a rounding, golden touch, but it is still beautiful at any time.
Prambanan was completed about 900 AD. It was deserted within a hundred years, and collapsed about 1600. Preparations for the restoration of the central Siva temple began in 1911. Work started 19 years later, and was completed I 1953. The Brahma temple was completed in 1987, and the Wisnu temple in 1990. Reconstruction is still carried out on minor buildings.
The highest courtyard contains the principal edifices. Entering from the south you pass a small ‘court temple’. On your left (west) are three large, the first was dedicated to Brahma, the second and largest to Siva, and the third to Visnu.
Opposite these are three smaller temples which contained the ‘vehicles’ of the Gods; the gander (hamsa) of Brahma, Siva’s bull (nandi), a monolithic beast carved with consummate skill, and unfortunately the only ‘vehicle’ remaining, and the sunbird (Garuda) of Visnu. At the far north is a second ‘court temple’.
Beyond the central courtyard, at a tower level, there were once 224 minor shrines or temples, almost all of which are still in ruins.
The largest temples, the masterpiece dedicate to Siva, is also known as Roro (or Loro) Jonggrang (Slender Virgin), a name sometimes given to the whole Prambanan temple complex. As legend has it, Loro Jonggrang was the daughter of Ratu Boko (Eternal Lord).
Woed by an unwanted suitor, she demanded that the man build a temple in one night, and then frustrated his almost successful effort by pounding the rice logs in a premature announcement of dawn. Enrage, he turned the maiden into stone. She remains at Prambanan as Siva’s consort, Durga, a statue in the northern chamber of the main temple.
Other major statues include Agastya, the “Divine Teacher” Ganesa, Siva’s elephant headed son and an outstanding 3 meter figure of Siva in the Central Chamber. There is also multi faced in the Brahma in the Brahma temple.
One aspect of Loro Jonggrang’s appeal is its glorious symmetry and grace. Another is its wealth of sculptural details; on the base of the main terrace, the so called ‘Prambanan Motif’ in which little lions in niches are flanked by trees of life and a lively menagerie of kinnaras, hares, geese, birds, deer and a host of other endearing creatures. On the outer balustrade of the terrace, animated groups of singers and dancers, and panels of relaxed, beautiful celestial beings. On the main wall of the temple, the regents of the heavenly quarters and finally, on the inner wall of the balustrade, the wonderfully vital and utterly engrossing Ramayana episodes, which end (on the Siva temple) with the arrival at Langka of Hanuman and his ape army.
The positioning of the relief is formal. The movement within each panel is free-flowing, filled with fascinating detail. Even the most tumultuous scenes include lovingly rendered touches: monkeys in a fruit tree, birds robbing a grain bin, kitchen scenes. Prambanan’s beauty and variety demand more than one visit.
Candi Sewu is at the far end of the fenced Prambanan complex about 1 km from the main group. Sewu, ‘Thousand Temples’, was built about 850 AD, with a central temple surrounded by 240 minor shrines. The central temple has been reconstructed, and the walls of the smaller temple reveal a tantalizing array of Buddhist deities. The large monolithic temple guardians have been a constant source of inspiration for Javanese artists. Replicas also adorn the courtyard of the keraton in Yogyakarta.
Surrounding Yogyakarta you can still find temples, Candi Plaosan (a Buddhist temple), Candi Sari (also Buddhist temple), Kalasan, Candi Banyunibo, Candi Sambisari.
Other places to visit from Yogyakarta is the shore at Parangtritis, twin beaches of Kukup and Baron, and Somas beach, though less attractive than Baron, Kukup or Parangtritis.
Kaliurang, 23 km due north of Yogyakarta, offers plenty of guesthouse, swimming pool, a tiny herd of deer from Bogor and a beautiful 2,5 km lung exercising walk to ‘Overseer Point’.
Dieng Plateau temple and lakes are among central Java’s great scenic rewards a landscape of constantly changing moods, swathed in mist at one moment, alive with sunshine next.
From Yogyakarta to Dieng and back is a long day trip. Better to spend a night in Dieng as the plateau is often clear of mist only in the early morning or better still, stay overnight in Wonosobo, where accommodation and food are much better and leave the little town early in the morning. Dieng is half an hour away.
The road from Yogyakarta passes Borobudur and Magelang, an unkempt little place like so many Javanese towns, before climbing into mountains covered in tea and tobacco. Gunung Sumbing (3,371 m) on your right and Gunung Sindoro (3,135 m) on your left, a handsome pair of sleeping volcanoes who haven’t bothered anyone for years.
Kledung, the pass between them, is crossed at almost 2,300 m, and the views are beautiful. The last major town before Dieng is Wonosobo, a pleasant, busy town and a popular based for tourist visiting Dieng.
The scenery is magnificent. The country becomes more steep and rugged, and the people change with it. They are a hill breed, though and stocky.
In Kejajar, 16 km from Wonosobo, the morning market is a festival of color: pale green cabbages the size of beach balls, coconuts from the lowland, cakes of boiled rice, and gula jawa (brow sugar).
In the next 9 km the road climbs more than 700 meters. The terraces become ragged, groping for a foothold here, toehold there, as they straggle up the precipitous slopes. The road noses upwards into what must be a dead end forge. Suddenly there’s narrow downhill, and there in an other wordlly light, lies the plateau. Straight ahead, the cluster of ancient, weathered temples.
The eerie strangeness of Dieng Plateau, its proximity to the heavens, may have been among the reasons that men labored there to erect the series of temples that still dominate the plateau.
Built to honor Siva, and probably constructed in the early decades of the 8th century, the Dieng temples are remarkable for their simplicity and their spare sculptural ornament.
The many group of temples is named after heroes and heroines of the Mahabrata through the names may have been given only little more than a hundred years ago. Arjuna, Puntadewa, Srikandi, and Sumbadra stand in the center of the flat field, accompanied by the squat, ungainly servant, Semar.
Candi Gatotkaca stand alone at the southern end of the plain, and farther south on a hill embraced by slender acacias is Candi Bima with the unique sculpted heads in horseshoe shaped roof niches.
There are two other temple sites high on mountain slopes of Central Java: Sukuh and Ceta on Gunung Lawu and Gedung Songo (Nine Buildings) group on the southern slopes of Gungung Ungaran above Bandungan.
- SURAKARTA
At Gondang, a huge factory dated 1860, a remnant of Java’s early industrial revolution. Before and beyond, 100 meter thatched ‘long houses’ for drying tobacco. Delanggu, famous for its wood carvers, but more immediately notable for the masses of tukang gigi signs (Tukang gigi is a maker of false teeth, rather than a dentist) Kartasura, once known as Mataram, where only a crumbling brick wall recalls former glories, then a final 8 km to Solo’s main street.
Solo is the city loved by students and scholars of Central Javanese culture, for it was here that royal patronage brought that culture to its greatest flowering. Although at first glance the flat, sprawling city seems even less a royal capital than Yogyakarta, Solo rewards patience.
The famous ‘division of Mataram’ was also a blessing in disguise, at least posterity and today’s traveler. Art flourished on the court of Surakarta as it had not one for a hundred years in Mataram.
In Solo wayang kulit, dance, gamelan, kris making and batik are still very well maintained. It was perhaps an aristocratic hot house culture, but the culture (if not the power and the glory) survive even now.
The Kraton of Surakarta Hadiningrat, lies just to the eastern end of the city’s main street Jalan Slamet Riyadi. The road south runs a short distance to alun-alun lor, down between the two royal waringin trees, and stops in front of the pale blue pagelaran pavilion with its shining expanse of cool marble tiles and the glassed in audience chamber, Bangsal Pangrawit, from which Pakubuwono II address his subject in 1745.
At the back of the pagelaran a broad flight of steps, guarded on each side by iron railings and old cannons, leads up to the Sitihinggil pavilion originally faced onto the alun-alun lor. The great pendopo now contains sacred cannon, Nyai Setomi, one part of the Portuguese defenses in 16th century Malaca and late captured by the Dutch.
The main body of the kraton is enclosed in a series of courtyard of kori kamandungan lor. Here is the large audience halls of the Susuhunan. The columns supporting the roof are richly carved and gilded, but are hung with protective drapes which are removed only on special occasions.
Crystal chandeliers hang from the rafters, marble statues line the walkways, wrought iron columns and ornately glazed, Chinese flower pots vie or one’s attentions. A superb stained glass screen bears the arms of Pakubuwono X who, during a 46 year reign (1893-1939) was responsible for the main decorative elements that now delight the eye in eery corner of kraton complex. Most of what you see today, however, is a replica. The palace was destroyed by fire in 1985 and has been faithfully reconstructed.
The museum associated with the kraton was established in 1963 and constrains many interesting artifacts in 1963 and contains many interesting artifacts but is in deplorable state of maintenance. The Museum also display some remarkable figure heads from the royal barges, including the huge nosed visage of Kyahi Rojomolo, a giant of surpassing ugliness who decorated the prow of the Susuhunan’s private barge. The kraton and museum are open daily 12.30 pm (Friday, 9 am to 11.30 am).
There is a different but equally absorbing museum in the Mangkunegaran Palace, north of Jalan Slamet Riyadi at the top end of Jalan Diponegoro. At the palace only the museum and the huge front pendopo, built for Mangkunegoro IV early in the 19th century, are open to visitors.
The pendopo, is reputed to be the largest in Java. The ceiling, from which are hung huge chandeliers, is elaborately decorated with color patches designed to keep off specific evils, and associated wuth the Javanese Zodiac. The pendopo houses four grand gamelan sets, one of them is regularly used for concerts and dance performances, the others are reputed to process magic properties and are played only on special occasions. Dance rehearsals and Gamelan concerts are held every Wednesday at 10 am, and are opened to the public.
The museum is in the main hall of the palace building, immediately behind pendopo. A regal flight of steps leads past an array of gilded statues into the hall (open from 9 am, to noon daily except Sundays).
The collection covers gold plated dance ornaments, pieces of miniature furniture in filigree gold and color enamels, a sirih set in silver mounted agate, there are dozens Hindu–Javanese bronzed (mirrors, bracelets, bangles), cases of gold jewelry and superb rings. The palace also has a fine collection of wayang topeng masks, and one of the oldest sets of wayang kulit surviving.
At Sriwedari Park, on Jalan Slamet Riyadi, is the Radyapustaka Museum, the only museum not established by the Dutch it has a good though not outstanding collection, and the food stalls outside are a pleasant place for lunch. It is open from 8 am, to 12.30 pm.
The Sriwedari Park boasts the most accomplished wayang wong group in Java. There is the performance now on alternating day (Please check through your hotel). The wayang performance is from 8 pm to midnight. Dance rehearsals and occasional performances may be seen at the Akademi Seni Karawitan Indonesia (ASKI) and the Pusat Kebudayaan Jawa Tengah, both near the main kraton.
Halfway between Jalan Slamet Riyadi and the Mangkunegaran Palace on the right side of Jalan Diponegoro is Pasar Triwindu (Pasar Windu Jenar), Solo’s flea market.
Solo has a reputation as one of Java’s most important batik centers, and calls itself the city of Batik. To discover why, pay a visit to the huge Pasar Klewer at the eastern end of Jalan Secoyudan, under the shadow of the west gate of alun-alun lor.
The entire market is devoted to fabrics, with hundreds of neat stalls jammed together along narrow passageways on two floors. Batik is overwhelmingly predominant, though some stalls specialize in lurik of various grades and a few offer kain ikat and other materials.
- BATIK KERIS MAINTAINS A SORT OF LIVING MUSEUM AT ITS FACTORY IN SOLO
A two stringed rebab, with a beautifully turned neck and delicate tuning screws, can be bought or made to order at the Balai Agung on the alun-alun lor. There is also a big selection of the various kinds of percussion instruments that make up the rest of the gamelan orchestra.
Many kinds of Javanese music, gamelan music with or without vocal accompaniment, and the music which accompanies the many forms of wayang are now available on pre-recorded cassette tapes. If you like browsing and strawling, a walk down Jalan Secoyudan, and goldsmiths’ street, can be entertaining, not just for the dozens of took mas with their golden baubles, but also for some of the names.
A side trip from Solo can bring you to Candi Sukuh, built in the middle of the 15th century during the twilight years of glorious Majapahit, on a site which may once has been occupied by a temple dedicated to ancestor worship.
The main road eastwards to Madiun and Surabaya skirts the northern edge of the mountain, but there are two reasons for travelling up or even over Lawu. First, is for a glimpse of one of Java’s most mysterious temples: Sukuh temple. Second, for some inspiring scenery.
Candi Sukuh, 910 meters up on Lawu’s western slope, is sometimes billed as ‘Java’s only example of erotic temple carving. If erotic means the explicit presentation old a stone penis or two, then the description fits, though don’t except the convoluted couplings found in some Nepalese and Indian art.
Sukuh’s appeal lies in its blend of mystery, of dark disarray, of almost satanic majesty, presented in a superb setting. It is utterly different in mood and in structure from temples elsewhere in Java, and this alone makes it worth seeing.
Five kilometers east of solo take a right fork off the main road towards Karangpandan, a few meters beyond ‘TAW-12’ km post there is a side road to the village of Kemuning. Follow this road for post for the steep climb up to the temple. The road is surfaced all the way. If you do not have your own transport, you must charter a bemo from Karangpandan.
Sukuh strikes a disquieting, alien chord its flat topped ‘Egyptian’ step pyramid and its ‘mayan calendar’ carvings. Only after a while do the familiar panakawan clowns, carved in the distorted wayang kulit style found in East Java, emerge intelligibly from the crude reliefs, weird and shocking after the sculptural finesse of Loro Jonggrang.
Sukuh poses many question that remain un-answered. Were they locally-born, mountain dwelling inheritors of an ancient faith. Were they perhaps the survivors of the great Central Javanese kingdoms of the 9th and 10th centuries. What were the origins of their diverse and seemingly unrelated sculptural styles.
From Solo you still have other alternatives for side trips: Candi Ceta, with its Bima figures, built about the same time as Sukuh, but is less interesting. It lies beyond Kemuning, some 600 meter higher up the mountain than Sukuh, reached by a bad track.
You can also go to Sarangan, a popular cool-climate weekend resort for people from Maduin and the surrounding area.
A couple of dozen losmens, hotels and guest houses cluster at the northern edge of Telaga Sarangan, many of them offering superb views across the small lake with its background of soaring wooded peaks. Boating, riding, bush walking and working up an appetite in the crisp mountain air are the main diversions in Sarangan, which is easily approached from Madiun. If you prefer to avoid the low gear route over Lawu from Solo.
Other places of interest are Ngerong, little village nestles at the head of a pretty valley, only 5 km below Sarangan. With 2 or preferably 3 days to spare your jaunt to Candi Sukuh, Tawangmangu and Sarongan or Ngerong can be extended to include a surfing beach, harshly beautiful landscapes, a gamelan orchestra with limestone stalactites for instruments, and a hundred hills looking like giant cupcakes.
The destination is Pacitan, across the border in East Java on an estuarine plain where the Kali Grindulu runs into the sea and meets long lines of roles sweeping into the board bay. With Solo as your point of departure and return there are several possible routes. You can go east around Gunung Lawu to Madiun, across Lawu to Sarangan. In both cases you then head south to Ponorogo and on to Pacitan, and complete the circuit by coming back through Wonogiri for a total of roughly 300 km.
An alternative is the southern route direct from Solo through Wonogiri to Pacitan, and back the same way. Gua Tabuhan, one of the finest caves, is said to have provided refuge to Prince Diponegoro during his 5 year war against the Dutch. Purely as a cavern, hung with grey with columns of quilted, ruppled limestone (some of them still dripping, still growing) it is impressive. The big event at Gua Tabuhan is the orchestral performance in the main chamber.
The road leading to Gua Tabuhan is desa track in much better condition than the main road. The turn off is well signposted: approaching from Pacitan it is 3 km beyond Punung. From Wonogiri, it is 2.7 km beyond Donorojo. The track runs one km in from the main road, and another signpost guides you left for the last 1,5 km to the cave entrance.
Donorojo is famous for two things agate and wayang beber. Agates are found in the gullies and river beds of the surrounding area, and a triving cottages industry cuts and polishes the stone. They are for sale.
Wayang beber is an ancient and almost extinct form of storytelling in which the tale literally unwinds on a series of painted scrolls.
The last remaining practitioner of this art, the dalang Pak Samen, lives in a village near Donorojo and performs about seven times a year. Hit scrolls carry episodes from Panji tales, and the responsibility for their care is shared by families in the area.
Expert agree that the scroll are extremely old. Although it is impossible to date them conclusively, there may be some truth in the local belief that the scrolls once belonged to the royal dynasty of Majapahit, and were given for safekeeping to Pak Samen’s ancestors when Muslim Demak was rising to power in the north.
A little beyond Donorojo, still within the hills and heading towards Wonogiri, the road crosses the border between East and Central Java. In case you miss the boundary maker, a larger painted emblem of the Diponegoro Division will tell you where you are.
This is the northern edge of the coastal range. Below you, the road winds down onto the plains and into a familiar landscape of paddies and palms.
If you are still in the mood for scenic vistas and energy consuming climb, a high pinnacle of rock, at the back of Wonogiri offers superb views across the plains to Merapi, Merbabu, Lawu and the hills to the south.
At present Wonogiri is very proud of the first international open gliding championship held in August 1994, attended by 60 participants from 8 countries in the world, including Swiss, the US, England, Australia.
With its newly built dam irrigating hundreds of thousand hectares of Surakarta paddies fields, which are also used by local tourists to enjoy some of the water sports, Wonogiri (around 30 km south war from Solo) is now a new tourist destination, complete with its internationally recognized spots for gliding.
- FROM CIREBON TO JAPARA
From Jakarta eastward first you will reach Cirebon, where Javanese, Sundanese and Chinese elements are blended here.
According to Crawford, who wrote Descriptive Dictionary in 1856, perhaps the name of Cirebon originally was Caruban, in Javanese means mixture. In Kota Udang (Shrimp City), thanks to its local fishing produce, as Cirebon locally nicknamed, people speak, except the national language, their own local language which more likely like a blending of the Sundanese and Javanese.
Cirebon since 15th century was warred over by Padjajaran (Hindu) and Demak (Muslim) and sandwiched between the kingdom’s of Banten and Mataram in 17th century, after being conquered and re-conquered, finally under the Dutch in Batavia in 1705, jointly administered by the three sultans.
Two of the Cirebon ancient kratons, Kasepuhan and Kanoman are opened for tourists. Kasepuhan is located in the southeast corner of the city, adjoining a striking tiered-roof mosque. A small museum which only opened by request has some marvelous but ill kept treasures and curiosities.
About 4 km out of Cirebon on the south eastern bypass you will reach Candi Sunya Ragi, first built by a Cirebon prince early in the 18th century, its present weird form was put together by a Chinese architect in 1852, which amalgam of plaster, red brick and concrete. A small amphitheater beside the parking lot is used for Prambanan-style sendratari or dramatic dance performance on every September.
You can visit the sacred tomb of Sunan Gunung Jati, one of the nine wali who helped establish Islam in Java, which is 5 km north along the main Jakarta Road.
Though with almost strictly different pattern, color combination and special artistic touch, Cirebon batik as in industry as also flourishing.
Entering Central Java, by leaving Cirebon eastward, you will first enter a small town of Brebes, which is proud of its red onion produce.
The next is Tegal, with its traditional pottery and handicrafts, though now Tegal has entered an economic stage of ‘mini’ industrialization, among its production is a mini tractor for the rice field. Pekalongan, like Cirebon, is a famous batik center.
Going further east you will reach Semarang, the capital of the province of Central Java with not so many relics of its illustrious past. Expect some old and not so old Chinese shop houses in many parts of the city.
Although Semarang is not a batik making center, an excellent range of Pekalongan batik and smaller selection from Cirebon and Solo can be bought here. Two good shops are GKBI on Jalan Pemuda and PPIP at B.12 Jurunatan shopping center on Jalan Haji Agus Salim.
On the main road to Kendal, westward from Semarang, is the large red and yellow Sam Po Kong temple, also known as Gedung Batu. Its history goes back to the middle of the 15th century when a small cave was dedicated to the memory of Chinese Muslim Admiral Chengho, a high ranking envoy from the imperial court of the Ming dynasty, who visited Java in 1406 and again in 1416. According to tradition, he landed at the site of the temple on the shore of a small cove 500 years ago.
For those who have special interest in performing arts and theatre the best place to visit in Semarang is Ngesti Pandowo at Jalan Pemuda 116. Both Wayang wong and ketoprak are performed here.
Taking Semarang as a base one day return trips to Demak, Kudus and Jepara can be arranged quite comfortably. These towns can also be visited if you are travelling straight to Surabaya.
Demak in 1475 has conquered Cirebon, and shortly afterwards Palembang and Jambi, and later became a Muslim sultanate under Raden Patah in 1511. Its forces has destroyed the weak successors of Majapahit by 1520, and in 1526 Faletehan, also known as Sunan Gunung Jati, perhaps Demak’s most illustrious son, established the sultanate of Banten before capturing Sunda Kelapa, the site of modern Jakarta, in 1527.
As far as 24 km east from Semarang you will reach Kudus with its historical mosque founded by Jafar Sidik (Sunan Kudus). The tall red brick minaret, is the tomb of the Sunan, surrounded by many graves of his descendants. Even today there are townsfolk of humble means who proudly carry the title of Raden, denoting their blood ties with the great Wali.
The town’s prosperity in mainly derived from the production of roko kretek, the aromatic clove cigarette, produced by more than 100 large and small ‘factories’ Kudus producers around a quarter of the whole clove cigarette in the whole country. A small museum jointly established by the leading companies illustrates the history of kretek cigarette.
From Kudus, about 33 km is Jepara, long famous for the skill woodcarving. Two daughters of Jepara have achieved enduring fame. The queen of Jepara, Ratu Kali Nyamat, widowed about the time Jepara overthrew the Demak sultanate, laid siege to Portugal’s Malacca stronghold in 1551 and again in 1574 with doubtful support first from Johor and then from Aceh. Although unsuccessful in both camoaigns, she succeeded in scaring the Portuguese with less.
Raden Ajeng Kartini belongs to modern Indonesia’s pantheon of heroes, a place earned through her spirit of emancipation and freedom. Her writings, published as letter of a Javanese Princes (originally written in the Dutch), are famous throughout the country.
Born in 1879 in Mayong, a small desa outside Jepara, Kartini was the daughter of the regent of Jepara. She married a progressive regent of Rembang, and died at the age of 25, shortly after bearing a son.
Both Kartini and Ratu Kali Nyamat are buried in the grounds of the old mosque at Mantingan, about 19 km south of Rembang on the road to Blora. The original mosque was built at the instigation of Ratu Kali Nyamat.