Spring Of Taman Sari Water Park

Taman Sari Royal Water Park in Yogyakarta is a spectacular place to visit and a must-see on your itinerary when visiting the beautiful city. Located only a ten minute walk south-west of the Sultan’s Palace, it is steeped in history.

Translated, Taman Sari means ‘Beautiful Park’. Built in 1757 by Sultan Hamengku Buwono 1, the style of the building is a mixture of Javanese and Portuguese architecture. At the east gate of the park stands two dragon statues marked 1682 and this being the year according to the Javanese Calendar when Taman Sari was built.

Taman Sari is also called Segaran – a Javanese word meaning ‘man-made’ or ‘artificial sea – and the place where the sultans went boating by passing under the suspension bridge called Kreteg Gantung which connects to the front of the palace. This water tunnel was also a means of escape should the palace be under threat of an enemy attack.

The park sits on 10 hectares of land, and, in the grounds can be found fragrant Kenanga trees. Interestingly, one part of this place is called Pulau Kenanga. Lofty buildings and ponds were specially built and it was from here the Sultan could observe women bathing and choose his ‘lady’ for the night, or so it was said. The ponds were also used by the Sultan and his family as Royal Bathing Pools.

Wandering around this historical place is sheer pleasure and one gets the feeling of what it was actually like when first built. If Batik processing is your thing, then in the entrance grounds you will see some of the only locals allowed to live there displaying their techniques of painting the cloth using cap, a small curved bowl-pen.

Candi Sewu Or Thausand Temple Tourim

Sewu Temple is located 2 km north of Prambanan Temple. This is the second largest Buddhist Temple complex in Java.

Restoration is professionally underway to reach its original form. It is a MANDALA, manifesting the universe in the center temple of Mahadeva, surrounded by four rings of 250 smaller temples of Gods.

Sewu Temple complex is located in Prambanan Temple Park area, about 800 meters to the north of Rara Jongrang Temples. The fact that this temple was built near Prambanan Temple, which is a Hindu temple, indicated that the Hindus and Buddhists lived in harmony.

The main temple has 1 main room and 4 small rooms of which are doorways to the temple. The east door serves as main door to the main room. That way, the main temple faces to the east. The structure has 9 'roofs'; each of them forms a stupa on the top. It is believed to be a royal temple and was one of the religious activity centers in the past.

Based on the inscription dated back to 792 AD, which was found in 1960, the name of the temple complex was probably "Manjus'rigrha" (The House of Manjusri). Manjusri is one of Boddhisatva in Buddhist teaching. Sewu Temple was probably built in the 8th century at the end of Rakai Panangkaran administration. Rakai Panangkaran (746 AD - 784 AD) was a popular king from the old Mataram kingdom. HC Cornelius studied the temple firstly in 1807. NJ Krom did the first archeological study in 1923.

Merapi Mountain Volcano

Of the 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, Merapi is the most active, and has had at least twelve eruptions that killed people. The name Merapi means "Mountain of Fire". The volcano is considered sacred and every year a priest climbs to the top to make an offering








High 2968 meters, it is located 25 km north of Yogyakarta.
The mountain erupts about once every 5.5 years and has killed as many as 1,600 people in 26 eruptions since 1930.








The major eruption was on 22 November 1994, at 10.15 hrs local time. A flow containing 220°C burst of gas, steam, and ashes killed more than 80 people. More than 1.3 million cubic yard of lava pour six kilometres down the mountainside along the river Boyong in Turgo village.









On March 19, 2006 some explosions are recorded which could announce a regain in the Merapi volcanic activity. The mountain was put on alert, but for the time being the eruptions are considered as small. The picture here above is the Merapi view on Sunday 20th, from the village of Cangkringan.








As you may have heard, Merapi is fixing to erupt sometime soon. People who live on the mountain - and there are thousands of them, mostly scattered in farming villages - have a whole set of traditional beliefs centered around the existence of a spiritual kingdom atop the volcano. When the volcano erupts, it's because the spirits are having a big party or ceremony. Villagers believe if they take good care of the mountain and are respectful toward its god, they'll be okay.

Famous Palace Of Yogyakarta

It is located in the center of the city of Yogyakarta or just Yogya as the local people call it. Karaton means a place where the Ratu-king lives, other word is Kedaton, with the same meaning. In the Javanese teachings, it has a deep philosophical meaning.









The architect designer of this palace was Sultan Hamengkubuwono I himself, who was also the founder of the kingdom of NGAYOGYAKARTA HADININGRAT. His skill in architecture was appreciated by the dutch scientist - DR. Pigeund and DR. Adam who adored him as " the architect of his brother-Pakubuwono II of Surakarta".









The first king moved to his huge and magnificent Karaton on October 7, 1756. Although there are some European style of some parts of the building, structurally this is the vivid example of Javanese palace architecture.











The 14.000 sq. m of the Karaton Yogya has deep philosophical meaning with all its building, courts, carving, trees, and location. This is a Karaton full of significant symbols of human life.










Usually visitors are coming from MALIOBORO STREET, southward through the Alun-alun (north square). In order to understand perfectly well the symbolic meaning of the Karaton, one should walk from south to north. Start from Krapyak, a village of about 3 km south of Karaton.

Prambanan Hindu Temple

Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia, located in Central Java, approximately 18 km east of Yogyakarta. The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the largest Hindu temples in south-east Asia. It is characterised by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the 47m high central building inside a large complex of individual temples.

It was built around 850 CE by either Rakai Pikatan, king of the second Mataram dynasty, or Balitung Maha Sambu, during the Sanjaya Dynasty. Not long after its construction, the temple was abandoned and began to deteriorate. Reconstruction of the compound began in 1918. The main building was completed in around 1953.









Much of the original stonework has been stolen and reused at remote construction sites. A temple will only be rebuilt if at least 75% of the original stones are available, and therefore only the foundation walls of most of the smaller shrines are now visible and with no plans for their reconstruction.










The temple was damaged during the earthquake in Java in 2006. Early photos suggest that although the complex appears to be structurally intact, damage is significant.









Large pieces of debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground. The temple has been closed to the public until damage can be fully assessed. The head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency stated that: "it will take months to identify the precise damage".