August
6, Monday
This is the view of the gardens as I eat breakfast this morning
Daniel takes me to visit the Sultan’s Palace (Keraton) in the old part of the city known as Yogyakarta, Jogja and Yogya.
The Javanese really love their art. It is almost on every intersection. Most of it is traditional, but take a look at this one? It reminds me of something but my memory fails me.
The guard at the Sultan's Palace
Before we enter the private area on the grounds of the sultan's palace, we visit the traditional covered open area where he received the public. These are almost always used now to display musical instruments or other traditional objects.
The security guards only have a ceremonial role to play. We are told that they only work a few hours each day, or even each week, on a rotational basis. They only receive a very small amount of money, but they feel it is very prestigious to be able to serve their sultan.
Within the inner compound: A view of the palace on the right where the sultan lives and the ceremonial receiving area on the left.
The ceiling in one of the museum pavilions is quite elaborate. We find the sultan's desk here.
This is the sultan as a youth. Did you check out the ears? Is he related to Mr. Spock? No, we are told that these are gold decorative ear peaces. "Un petit lutin !"
A fight for independence: “One of the largest revolutions of the twentieth century, the struggle lasted for over four years and involved sporadic but bloody armed conflict, internal Indonesian political and communal upheavals, and two major international diplomatic interventions. Dutch forces were not able to prevail over the Indonesians, but were strong enough to resist being expelled. Although Dutch forces could control the towns and cities in Republican heartlands on Java and Sumatra, they could not control villages and the countryside. Thus, the Republic of Indonesia ultimately prevailed as much through international diplomacy as it did through Indonesian determination in the armed conflicts on Java and other island. The revolution destroyed the colonial administration of the Dutch East Indies which had ruled from the other side of the world. It also significantly changed racial castes, as well as reducing the power of many of the local rulers.”
We had a demonstration of the hand drawn technique. The wax is applied to the cloth, following the drawing.
Working conditions don't appear to be the best, but we are told that women can do this from home as well.
The first pattern is covered in wax now and ready for an application of dye, if desired.
After each application of dye, the cloth is washed in hot water to disolve the wax, and the next application of was is applied before dying for a second colour to be added. Repeat for each colour to be added.
Some of the patterns can be applied with wooden blocks rather than individually drawn. I saw this done in india, without it being batik.
I purchased a nice batik caftan to replace the one I’ve been wearing for eons, mid 80s I think!
Construction security standards don't seem to apply here. This guy was fixing cement overhead.
Incredibly delicate work being done by artists, based on pre-established designs
It is all done with filigree (! ! fil gris ! ! DAH ! It's finally dawning on me!)
This is the template for the sizing of the silver threads they use
And here is a roll of the silver thread
I purchased earrings of beautiful white filigree silver
Prambanan Temple
Bas relief
The bas relief carvings on the main temples depict Hindu legends of Ramayana and Krishnayana. My local guide provided me with generous amounts of information about these legends, filled with evil kings and kidnapped princesses.
As with Borodudur, the lava stones used to build Prambanan are all of mixed composition; some appear white, some yellow and some black. Some are of a harder substance than others, and the carvings on these are amazingly well preserved and hardly eroded at all.
Does remind me of some of the temples I saw in India
The trip notes I was given indicate that “the largest and tallest of the shrines, known as Loro Jongrang, is covered with wonderful relief depicting the Ramayana episodes, another appealing aspect of its glorious symmetry and grace, making it the most elegant and beautiful temple in Java.” It is quite impressive and I enjoyed this one more than any temple I visited in India. It’s also much cleaner.
One of the many statues, all elaborately carved. This one extremely well preserved
This shot give you a great look at the three main temples on the right and the three smaller ones on the left.
Stones that have not yet been identified as being part of which small shrine surrounding the main structures. Mission Impossible.
Leaving the temple site. Best shot. Jig saw puzzle time!
It is so nice to be staying 2 nights at a hotel. I don’t
have to get up early today since the city tour of Jogjakarta starts at 9
am. There was a very nice breakfast buffet at the Puri Artha
Hotel.
Daniel takes me to visit the Sultan’s Palace (Keraton) in the old part of the city known as Yogyakarta, Jogja and Yogya.
The Javanese really love their art. It is almost on every intersection. Most of it is traditional, but take a look at this one? It reminds me of something but my memory fails me.
The guard at the Sultan's Palace
“Yogyakarta, together with its twin city Surakarta (Solo), is the cradle of civilization on Java. This city was the seat of power that produced the magnificent temples of Borobudurand Prambananin the 8th and 9th century and the new powerful Mataram kingdom of the 16th and 17th century.”
The current sultan still lives there with his 4 or 5 wives. He has 5 children, but they are all daughters; our lady guide tells us that the local people have not yet despaired; the sultan is only 64 years old and he can always take on more brides to try to have a son. And she is very serious when she says this. The sultan however is only a figure head since Indonesia obtained its independence from the Dutch in 1945. The capital was then moved from Jogjakarta to Jakarta. 
Before we enter the private area on the grounds of the sultan's palace, we visit the traditional covered open area where he received the public. These are almost always used now to display musical instruments or other traditional objects.
The security guards only have a ceremonial role to play. We are told that they only work a few hours each day, or even each week, on a rotational basis. They only receive a very small amount of money, but they feel it is very prestigious to be able to serve their sultan.
Within the inner compound: A view of the palace on the right where the sultan lives and the ceremonial receiving area on the left.
The ceiling in one of the museum pavilions is quite elaborate. We find the sultan's desk here.
This is the sultan as a youth. Did you check out the ears? Is he related to Mr. Spock? No, we are told that these are gold decorative ear peaces. "Un petit lutin !"
A fight for independence: “One of the largest revolutions of the twentieth century, the struggle lasted for over four years and involved sporadic but bloody armed conflict, internal Indonesian political and communal upheavals, and two major international diplomatic interventions. Dutch forces were not able to prevail over the Indonesians, but were strong enough to resist being expelled. Although Dutch forces could control the towns and cities in Republican heartlands on Java and Sumatra, they could not control villages and the countryside. Thus, the Republic of Indonesia ultimately prevailed as much through international diplomacy as it did through Indonesian determination in the armed conflicts on Java and other island. The revolution destroyed the colonial administration of the Dutch East Indies which had ruled from the other side of the world. It also significantly changed racial castes, as well as reducing the power of many of the local rulers.”
From there I am taken to a batik factory
The pattern is drawn by hand by an artist. Cloth is then placed over the drawing and traced by hand.
Working conditions don't appear to be the best, but we are told that women can do this from home as well.
The first pattern is covered in wax now and ready for an application of dye, if desired.
After each application of dye, the cloth is washed in hot water to disolve the wax, and the next application of was is applied before dying for a second colour to be added. Repeat for each colour to be added.
Some of the patterns can be applied with wooden blocks rather than individually drawn. I saw this done in india, without it being batik.
I purchased a nice batik caftan to replace the one I’ve been wearing for eons, mid 80s I think!
And then to a silver factory
Incredibly delicate work being done by artists, based on pre-established designs
It is all done with filigree (! ! fil gris ! ! DAH ! It's finally dawning on me!)
This is the template for the sizing of the silver threads they use
And here is a roll of the silver thread
I purchased earrings of beautiful white filigree silver
From there we drive Northwest out of the city to visit Prambanan Temple built around 900 AD,
the largest Hindu complex in South-East Asia, comprising three main temples
dedicated to Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu.
Each one has a smaller temple (called Wahana) containing the emblem of
the vehicle that carried them to heaven (the bull, the swan and the
eagle). Only the bull statue remains in
the middle temple, the two statues from the other Wahanas disappeared a long
time ago. These 6 main buildings are
surrounded by 224 Perwara or shrines.
This is another World Heritage Site, thankfully, since there was massive
earthquake (5.9 on the Richter scale) in May 2006 which damaged most of the
temples. Extensive restoration work
continues to be done on the site and the Shiva temple still has not reopened to
visitors. My guide on this visit is
excellent and I learn more than I did on any of my temple visits in India.
Bas relief
The bas relief carvings on the main temples depict Hindu legends of Ramayana and Krishnayana. My local guide provided me with generous amounts of information about these legends, filled with evil kings and kidnapped princesses.
Does remind me of some of the temples I saw in India
Of the 224 shrines that surround the complex, only 2 have
been rebuilt. The stones scattered
around the site have been scavenged over the centuries and many are missing,
making it almost impossible to rebuild the other 222 shrines.
The trip notes I was given indicate that “the largest and tallest of the shrines, known as Loro Jongrang, is covered with wonderful relief depicting the Ramayana episodes, another appealing aspect of its glorious symmetry and grace, making it the most elegant and beautiful temple in Java.” It is quite impressive and I enjoyed this one more than any temple I visited in India. It’s also much cleaner.
One of the many statues, all elaborately carved. This one extremely well preserved
This shot give you a great look at the three main temples on the right and the three smaller ones on the left.
Stones that have not yet been identified as being part of which small shrine surrounding the main structures. Mission Impossible.
Leaving the temple site. Best shot. Jig saw puzzle time!
It is an extremely hot and humid afternoon, I’ve climbed up and down enough stairs
today. When we get back to the vehicle
and Daniel asks if I want to do more sightseeing within the city or want to
return to the hotel, I opt for the hotel.
It is 2 pm when we leave the temple site and passed 3 pm by the time we
return to the Puri Artha. Shower and a
nap will do very well thank you !
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