Sampling lava's Many Treasures

摘要

The region on ]ava surrounding the beautiful city of Yogyakarta (Yogya) provides an excellent introduction to Indonesia's rich cultural heritage. Borobudur, a colossal Buddhist temple from the 8th and 9th centuries, consists of a pyramid of 5 square terraces, topped by a trio of concentric circular platforms that are surmounted by a monumental stupa. Bas-reliefs carved in the andesite blocks of the walls and ballustrades portray phases of the soul's progression toward redemption and scenes from the Buddha's life. Slightly younger, the 10th-century Hindu complex at Prambanan includes 224 temples. At its center are three large temples dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, which are decorated with reliefs illustrating the epic of the Rama-yana. Archaeological and geological evidence suggests that the temples were abandoned after a major 10th-century eruption of nearby Mt. Merapi; they were rediscovered by Thomas Raffles in 1815.