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BOROBUDUR TEMPLE

The Borobudur Temple Compounds is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world, and was built in the 8th and 9th centuries AD during the reign of the Syailendra Dynasty. The monument is located in the Kedu Valley, in the southern part of Central Java, at the centre of the island of Java, Indonesia. The main temple is a stupa built in three tiers around a hill which was a natural centre: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. The walls and balustrades are decorated with fine low reliefs, covering a total surface area of 2,520 m2. Around the circular platforms are 72 openwork stupas, each of them is containing a statue of the Buddha.

The Borobudur Temple Compounds consists of three monuments: namely the Borobudur Temple and two smaller temples situated to the east on a straight axis to Borobudur. The two temples are Mendut Temple, whose depiction of Buddha is represented by a formidable monolith accompanied by two Bodhisattvas, and Pawon Temple, a smaller temple whose inner space does not reveal which deity might have been the object of worship. Those three monuments represent phases in the attainment of Nirvana. The temple was used as a Buddhist temple from its construction until sometime between the 10th and 15th centuries when it was abandoned. Since its re-discovery in the 19th century and restoration in the 20th century, it has been brought back into a Buddhist archaeological site.

The vertical division of Borobudur Temple into base, body, and superstructure perfectly accords with the conception of the Universe in Buddhist cosmology. It is believed that the universe is divided into three superimposing spheres, kamadhatu, rupadhatu, and arupadhatu, representing respectively the sphere of desires where we are bound to our desires, the sphere of forms where we abandon our desires but are still bound to name and form, and the sphere of formlessness where there is no longer either name or form. At Borobudur Temple, the kamadhatu is represented by the base, the rupadhatu by the five square terraces, and the arupadhatu by the three circular platforms as well as the big stupa. The whole structure shows a unique blending of the very central ideas of ancestor worship, related to the idea of a terraced mountain, combined with the Buddhist concept of attaining Nirvana. The Temple should also be seen as an outstanding dynastic monument of the Syailendra Dynasty that ruled Java for around five centuries until the 10th century.

The temple has remained strong even through ten centuries of neglect. It was rediscovered in 1815, buried under volcanic ash. In the 1970’s the Indonesian Government and UNESCO worked together to restore Borobudur to its former majesty the restoration took eight years to complete and today Borobudur is one of Indonesia and the world’s most valuable treasures.

 

PRAMBANAN TEMPLE

Prambanan Temple is locally known as the Roro Jonggrang Temple, or the Temple of the "Slender Virgin", it is the biggest and most beautiful Hindu temple in Indonesia. The temple complex of Prambanan lies among green fields and villages. It has eight shrines, of which the three main ones are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. The main temple of Shiva rises to a height of 130 feet and houses the magnificent statue of Shiva's consort, Durga. There are 224 temples in the complex; three of them, the main temples are Brahma Temple in the north, Vishnu Temple in the south, and the biggest among the three which lies between Brahma and Vishnu temples is Shiva Temple (47 meters high).

Prambanan Temple is the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia. The first mention of Prambanan was in the Syiwagrha Inscription (856 AD). The three main temples for the Trimurti are Shiva the destroyer of the universe, Vishnu the keeper of the universe, and Brahma the creator of the universe. Back in the glory days of the old Mataram Kingdom, Prambanan is used as a Candi Agung for various royal and religious ceremonies. The temples collapsed due to earthquake, volcanic eruption and a shift of political power in the early 11th century, and they were rediscovered in the 17th century. These compounds have never been displaced or changed. Restoration works have been conducted since 1918, both in original traditional method of interlocking stone and modern methods using concrete to strengthen the temple structure. Even though extensive restoration works have been done in the past and as recently as after the 2006 earthquake, great care has been taken to retain the authenticity of the structures. 

Prambanan is a magnificent spectacle and an icon of Indonesia’s cultural heritage. A heritage site established in the 9th century which located in Prambanan Village Klaten regency, Central Java and administratively belongs to two districts and two provinces at once. Those are Sleman and Klaten Regency. The distance is about 20 km from city of Yogyakarta. Prambanan is beautiful and unique. It has a large garden. There are four temples in one complex, namely Prambanan, Lumbung, Bubrah and Sewu temples.

               

 

YOGYAKARTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (YIA)

As information, that New Yogyakarta international airport is called YIA or NYIA airport located in Temon Kulonprogo Yogyakarta. This airport was official open on 28 Agustus 2020 to replace Adisutjipto International Airport as the main flight in the province. YIA spans over 528 hectares where 359 hectares are air side, and 223 hectares are land side with 3.250 meters of runway length. Air side facilities included rapid taxiway 1, holding bay 1, parallel taxiway, exit taxiway, and the apron.

PT Angkasa Pura I (API) constructed the airport to replace the existing Yogyakarta Adisutjipto Airport. The project was part of a plan to develop the country's first airport city. Construction on New Yogyakarta International Airport, also referred as Kulon Progo Airport, project commenced on 27-Jan-2017 and was completed in Apr-2019. Citilink launched Jakarta Halim Perdanakusuma-New Yogyakarta service on 06-May-2019. While land side facilities are such as a terminal building of 12,000 square meters, supporting buildings (such as the Flight Accident Aid and Firefighters building, cargo, airplane expedition, mosques, Main Powerhouse, and administrative buildings. 

The airport is equipped with a passenger terminal spanning 219,000 square meters and has a total capacity of 20 million passengers per year, a significant upgrade from Adisutjipto’s capacity of 1.8 million passengers per year. The distance From City center of Yogyakarta-to-Yogyakarta International Airport is about 50 km and takes 2 hours if you drive a car or motorbike. Besides, the government also launched an airport train from Tugu stations. The airport trains will shorten the travel time from Yogyakarta City to the airport to only 40 minutes.               

YIA will be the third largest airport in Indonesia; the development plan expected 15 million passengers per year in the first phase, and then will reach 20 million passengers in the second phase. When the development has been completed, YIA will be integrated with industrial and tourism areas.

Since it closed in December 2021 because of the increasing of covid 19 case, now Yogyakarta International Airport reopened for international flights. The government declares a formal statement about new update of this international flight by The Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister. “One thing we still have to improve is the international flight capacity which is still far from normal,” said Luhut Pandjaitan after holding a limited meeting on the evaluation of the Public Activity Restrictions (PPKM) on Monday, April 4, 2022.

 

 Update: 30 May 2024