A place called Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta. Now that I’ve had a few months to live in this city, I can see what draws people here. Yogyakarta is an artistic and cultural hub—the place to find traditional dances, textiles, Javanese hospitality, historical sites, famous food, beautiful legends. It’s the only the place in Indonesia still governed by a pre-colonial monarchy, the Sultanate of Yogyakarta. And, for now, it’s my home.

I thought I’d post a bit more on this place, and this weekend is a great place to start. It was a quintessential tourist’s weekend in Yogya. On Friday evening my friend Melanie (another Fulbrighter) and I saw the Ramayana Ballet in an open air theatre under a nearly full moon. In the background we could see Prambanan Temple lit in red hues. The performance was mesmerizing between the gamelan, the costumes, the dances, and the absence of dialogue. We had an unexpected intermission due to rain. Melanie and I, along with two other people, were equipped to deal with it. So we stayed in our seats in the empty theatre and from beneath our umbrella we watched men mop off the stage.

Cute kids as rabbits! Photos by Melanie

On Saturday I went with a group of Americans to Borobodur, the local highlands, and to Prambanan. It was my second trip to Borobodur, the world’s largest Buddhist Temple, built approximately in the eighth century A.D. The temple was covered in volcanic ash when Merapi erupted in 1006. At that point the lake that had surrounded it disappeared. It was later uncovered under the direction of Thomas Stamford Raffles.

Photo by Melanie

After lunch we drove up into the highlands, where the temperature is cooler and on a clear day you can see the nearby mountains and Merapi. When Todd visited in April we climbed Merapi, the most active volcano in the archipelago. I’m including a photo taken from Merapi because we were in the vicinity on Saturday, but we did not see this kind of view.

We traveled from there to Prambanan, a Hindu Temple built around the ninth century A.D. It’s one of the largest Hindu temples in Southeast Asia and suffered severe damage in the 2006 Yogya earthquake.

That night a couple of us went on to meet two anthropologists, an American and Argentinean, who are here for a week before looking for research sites in eastern Indonesia. We met them at Via Via, a traveler’s restaurant where you can find great live music on the weekends and bacon (the real deal).

On Sunday morning, Melanie, her boyfriend and I went to Ganjuran Church outside of Yogya. This church has a structure that resembles a Hindu temple, yet it houses a statue of Jesus (a Javanese version). The Stations of the Cross are also Javanese depictions. It’s believed that the water here has special power. You can even purchase the water as a souvenir or bottle it up on your own. We washed in each of the nine springs.

We returned in time to eat lunch in the vicinity of the Kraton, where the Sultan of Yogya lives. We ate Gudeg, a central Javanese dish known especially in Yogya. While there are a few varieties, all are made of jackfruit and coconut milk.

While we were there we bought fruit from this woman.


You can read more about the Kraton and how it is positioned to be the center of the universe, situated between Merapi and the South Sea. One of these days I will post on the legends that surround the Kraton. Yogya is certainly feeling like the center of the universe. My aim has been to entice you to see this place for yourself. So who's coming to visit?