The distinctive experience of eating at a nasi campur stall :)

What I had for lunch at my favorite nasi campur place in Penang...

...and what my German friend chose to have at the same place ;b

For two years of my life, I lived in Kuala Lumpur: to be precise, the section of the city outskirts known as Bukit Jalil.  Like another city I spent time in (this time, Philadelphia, over in the US), my best memories of the place often revolve around food; with probably my favorite eatery there being a nasi campur stall in neighboring Kinrara which had the largest "toppings" -- as well as plenty delicious! -- selection that I've seen at a any nasi campur place to date.

It may not have as wide a selection as the eatery in Kinrara but after moving back to Penang as an adult, I was introduced to another nasi campur joint in Tanjung Tokong that I absolutely must eat at whenever I'm back in town.  And on my most recent return to Penang last month, I introduced my German friend to what's definitely up there among my favorite places to eat in the food capital of Malaysia.   

Seeing things through her eyes, I got to realizing that the way things are done at a nasi campur place really can bemuse first timers.  First up is how unfamiliar and even exotic many of the food selections are for those new to all kinds of Malaysian food (which is many non-Malaysians, since Malaysian food isn't as easily found outside the country as, say, Chinese or Italian food is outside of their home territories).  Then there's the "free and easy" buffet style approach to selecting and getting one's food, which nonetheless begins with your getting a plate of rice from the person who also frequently figures out how much you have to pay and gets the money from you.

On this particular visit, however, the individual in question was too busy ladling out rice to also act as cashier.  So we were told to eat first before someone would come over to our table to calculate how much our bill would be -- and adding to my German friend's bemusement was the stall staff taking his sweet time to come over to our table so that we could settle the bill!

Looking at my German friend's selection, it was clear that she had focused on the vegetarian options.  Something that worried me a bit was that her selection (which included two types of pineapple options, a mango salad and a spicy dish whose main ingredient was morning glory), looked on the distinctly spicy side but she actually turned out to be much less fazed by the generous amounts of red chillies and shallots on her plate than I thought would be the case!

For my part, I went for an omnivorous selection that included a winged bean salad and a slice of curried pineapple (whose mere mention has caused me to salivate in a Pavlovian manner!) but also portions of fish roe, cow lung and other innards that I have to honestly say that I can't actually give a name to but can recognize, and know that I like eating!  And yes, as improbable as it sounds, I think all of these selections go well together -- and with the rice that is essential to this meal, as it's not for nought, after all, that nasi campur translates from Bahasa Malaysia to English as "rice mix"! ;b

Is Perak Tong Malaysia's most visually impressive cave temple? (Photo-essay)

After our visits to Sam Poh Tong and Nam Thean Tong, my daytripping party of four drove back into Ipoh town to have an afternoon snack (of sweet -- and pleasingly ultra-smooth -- tofu fa) and some food shopping.  (No, I really wasn't kidding about reckoning that there are lots of good eats to be found in Perak's capital.)  After that, it was back to cave temple visiting, with our deciding to stop and check out Perak Tong -- over on the northern outskirts of Ipoh -- before heading back to Penang.

As it turns out, we seemed to have ended up saving the best for the last -- because this Buddhist temple which takes its name from the Malaysian state that it's in (and which, in turn, takes its name from the Malay word for "silver") was by far the most beautifully decorated and visually spectacular to my mind.  

On the cave walls have been painted religious murals of impressive size and detail.  And on altars spread about this temple founded by a husband-and-wife pair from China in 1926 can be found gleaming statues of Buddhist religious figures.  Then there's the cave itself, whose limestone formations take interesting shapes -- including, in one case, what uncannily looked like a recognizable humanoid face to my mind...

View of cave and temple

 

Puppet Ponyo posing in front of the temple's main entrance

 

Warning signs (in Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, English and Tamil) 

at the main entrance that I think alludes less to the dogs 

and more to the sections of wet floor caused by dripping water

 

 Past the canine and human temple guardians, and

stone lion guardians, can be found sights like these

 

I asked my German friend to stand near one of the

murals to help give a good idea of its large size!

 

Light and shadow add to the awesomeness but, actually, 

the murals and statuary already are cool sights on their own!

 

 Adding to the amazing experience of visiting the place

is the sense that not many people seem to know about it..

 

As for the face I alluded to earlier, do you see it too? ;b

Nam Thean Tong: Sam Poh Tong's less well known but arguably more atmospheric neighbor

Sam Poh Tong's neighbor, Nam Thean Tong

Within it are many stairs and steps to climb up (and then down)

Built into a very large cave is a multi-leveled temple

The top tiers are home to religious figurines

that look on the distinctly antique side

I have to be honest: I was a bit disappointed with what I found over at Sam Poh Tong.  Yes, its landscaped garden had its charm but it also looked on the rundown side.  And after having braced myself to climb several meters up inside of it to get amazing views of the surrounding countryside, it was rather a let down to not be able to find a way up to the upper tiers of the temple (with my companions and I speculating that it was because certain sections of the temple had become unstable in recent years, or at least dangerous to move around because of there being so much water dripping down in the cave).

In contrast, my expectations were on the low side with regards to the cave temple located next to Sam Poh Tong, which hadn't been mentioned in any guidebook belonging to my German friend or myself, and doesn't have such as its own Wikipedia entry.  Indeed, the only reason why we decided to check out Nam Thean Tong was because a stranger that one of my party had been chatting with at Sam Poh Tong told us that the neighboring temple actually contained more interesting things to see -- and, as I went on to discover, she was absolutely right!

According to an information panel found at the site, Nam Thean Tong was established in 1867 by a Chinese priest named Kuong San Teik.  While the temple doesn't look that old at first glance, if you were to venture inside and then climb a couple of hundred steep steps up to its highest section, you will find yourself in a part of the temple which one can easily believe is on the old side and that, frankly, also felt rather spooky; thanks in part to that space being on the dark side and few people deciding to make the climb up there -- with half of my party declining to do so! -- but also because the antique figurines there got me thinking of corpses for some reason!

While Googling for information on Nam Thean Tong, I came across a blogger who claims to have caught sight of a ghost there!  So it most definitely isn't just me who feels that there's something haunted -- as well as haunting -- about the place.  Nonetheless, on balance, I actually enjoyed visiting this less well known temple to the much more hyped-up Sam Poh Tong.  If nothing else, you could say that it definitely had more atmosphere -- especially the further up the temple and cave one ascended! 

To sum it up: if you don't want to climb up too many steps, Sam Poh Tong would be the place to go.  But if you're up for ascending a number of stairs, even if some of them are on the noticeably old and rickety side, then make for Nam Thean Tong.  Or, if you're interested and energetic enough, go for both -- and more, since there actually are not just one or two but many cave temples in the Ipoh area! ;b

Visual gems abound at Ipoh's Sam Poh Tong

Packed altar and alcoves at Sam Poh Tong

 

Venture deep into the cave and you'll find an opening, nearby 

which you'll see this intriguing looking temple building :b

 

I've flown to Ipoh a number of times in my life and have even taken a train from Butterworth over to the state capital of Perak.  For the most part, however, I've travelled to Ipoh by car -- and, irregardless of whether we're arriving there from the north or south, know that we're near our destination upon spotting the visually striking limestone hills that surround the town.

 

Something else that I've long known is that within many of those limestone hills can be found cave temples -- with the most famous of them all being Sam Poh Tong, situated on the southern edge of town in a limestone hill known as Gunung Rapat.  And the Cave of Triple Gems (which is what its name translates into English from the Cantonese spoken by the majority ethnic group in the area) was where my party headed over to after lunching in town on my most recent roadtrip to Perak.

 

After lingering for a bit in the ornamental garden in front of the main cave entrance, we ventured into what actually is a pretty sizable cave that's been home for more than a century now to a Buddhist temple established by a monk from China who was passing through Ipoh.  Inside the organic space that's ever-growing and -changing, as evidenced by the drip, drip sound of water flowing down stalactites and enlarging them along with creating new stalagmites, we found a profusion of religious figures and figurines arranged on altars, in natural alcoves and such.

 

Having read that Sam Poh Tong had an upper level from where excellent views of Ipoh and the surrounding area could be had, I felt letdown upon learning that access doesn't seem to be allowed anymore up to that part of the temple.  On the other hand, I was happily surprised to discover that the cave goes far deeper inside the hill than I had thought would be the case -- and that one of the passageways in the temple leads into an open air area within Gunung Rapat itself that's completely encircled by towering cliffs, where an interesting building, interesting statuary and a pond-filled with tortoise are to be found!

 

Approximately one and half years before our Ipoh trip, my German friend and I had visited a Chinese Buddhist temple in Amsterdam. Although the He Hua Temple is supposed to be Europe's largest Buddhist temple, it is completely dwarfed by Sam Poh Tong.  Still, it's not Sam Poh Tong's size that is its most visually impressive facet but, rather, its location within a cave.  It may not be a venue that normally springs to mind when thinking of where a temple is to be housed -- but it does appear that the founder of Sam Poh Tong really did make an inspired choice with regards to its location! :) 

Sam Poh Tong's award-winning (in 1993!) landscaped garden

Fish getting ready for a feeding frenzy that never was!

Puppet Ponyo posing with something in the garden of Sam Poh Tong

that called to mind the Summer Palace's Marble Boat ;b

 

A landscape in the Sam Poh Tong garden that's 

far smaller in reality than it looks in the picture!

 

If it had been up to my mother, our excursion to Ipoh would have pretty much only involved eating and buying food stuffs (such as Tambun pomelos and whole baked chickens) for friends and to take back home to eat later.  As it was though, she was kind enough to accede to my German friend's and my request to do some sightseeing in between the tea as well as lunch and dinner that we had on our day trip to Perak's capital last month; with the famous cave temple of Sam Poh Tong being the attraction decided upon to head over to after the first of our three meals in Ipoh.

 

My mother tells me that she and my father had taken me to visit this Chinese Buddhist temple built into a limestone cave when I was a child.  However, I have no recollection of that which is the oldest and most famous of Perak's cave temples -- and certainly did not know that in its grounds is situated that which was named the best landscaped garden in Malaysia in 1993.      

If truth be told, that green ornamental space in question is looking rather neglected and somewhat the worse for wear these days.  Also, it's on the small size and therefore could not be considered worth checking out in and of itself.  And yet, when I look at the photos I took of and in it, I get to thinking that this garden still does have its charms.        

At the very least, whoever conceived and designed it certainly is not lacking in imagination.  And while the fish in its pond and also the colorful structure that surely was inspired by the more plainly colored Marble Boat that's found in the Summer Palace in Beijing may be more eye-catching, the section of the garden which actually impressed me the most was a miniature landscape which, at least in the photo I took of it, looks very much to scale and really like a little bit of China can be found in what actually is Malaysia! :) 

Hiking after the rain in Tai Lam Country Park

A waterfall that's more spectacular than usual

due to the recent onslaught of rain

Further views possible than usual, thanks also to the recent rains!

And while some sections of the ground were muddier than

usual, the likes of this butterfly didn't seem to mind one bit! ;b

Earlier today, a friend and I went hiking for the first time since the first typhoon of the year visited Hong Kong two Mondays ago.  And while Typhoon Merbok actually didn't cause too much damage, it brought in its wake an unseasonably large amount of rain; making it so that by this past Wednesday, there already had been more rain in Hong Kong this month than the 30 year average for the whole month of June.

Consequently, when deciding on today's hike route, I opted for one that took my friend and I on paved paths for a good part of the way.  At the same time, since the days of wet weather have been succeeded by ones with hot sunshine, I also figured that it'd be good to spend much of today's outing in areas where there were many shady trees -- which is why we ended up hiking in Tai Lam Country Park, home to many kilometers worth of paved paths along with extensive forested sections. 

What with it being such a beautiful day, I expected the bus that took us very close to one of the country park's main entrances from Tsuen Wan to be packed with passengers.  But not only was that far from the case but the country park itself -- or, at least, the trails we followed from Tsuen Kam Au down to Sham Tseng -- also wasn't full of hikers at all this afternoon. 

About the only part of today's hike where we came across anything like a bottleneck came at Tsing Fai Tong, one of a handful of rural enclaves located within Tai Lam Country Park -- and it wasn't caused by humans!  Rather, while venturing along a narrow path which bordered a small stream flowing through the area, we came across a herd of feral cattle meandering about while looking to graze on the grass that grew there.  

Understandably, I think, our first instinct was to stop and wait for the horned creatures to move away from the paved path.  But after it looked like they were in no hurry to do so and also seemed to be pretty even tempered and comfortable in the presence of humans, we opted to thread our way through the crowd of bovine creatures with what turned out to be surprising ease -- and some four hours after we began our trek, had reached hike's end somewhat wet with perspiration but otherwise in good shape and spirit! :)            

Specialty dishes worth travelling all the way to Ipoh for! ;b

A generous bowl of Ipoh style yong tau foo :)

 

The well nigh unbeatable combination of Ipoh bean sprouts,

poached chicken, clear soup and spicy sauce :b

 

Just because my Indonesian sojourn was over didn't mean that I wouldn't be travelling any more for a time.  For after my German friend and I got back to Penang from Yogyakarta and rested a bit,  we -- together with my mother and another person -- headed out for a daytrip to Ipoh, which a CNN travel piece that had come out just a couple of days earlier had touted as "Malaysia's rising tourism star".

 

The capital of Perak state is not all that far away from Penang but it can feel like a foreign place for Penangites on account of the main Chinese dialect spoken there being Cantonese (rather than Penang Hokkien) and the food it's famous for accordingly differing quite a bit (even while being pretty delicious!).  A case in point: after we got into town, the first order of business was to go have lunch; and at the coffee shop that was our first -- but far from last -- eating stop of the day, I had to make a mental adjustment and get to ordering my food in Cantonese (which I had last used while in Hong Kong) rather than any of the languages I had been using recently in Penang as well as Indonesia!

While my mother introduced my German friend to her favorite Ipoh dish (known as Ipoh hor fun), I opted for a bowl of Ipoh yong tao foo.  This Hakka dish's name literally translates into English as "stuffed bean curd" but it -- at least, the variants I've eaten in Malaysia -- is so much more than that.  Resembling the delicious Hong Kong street snack whose name translates into English as "three stuffed treasures", fried foods comprising such as eggplant (aubergine), green peppers and sausages stuffed with fish paste, the way to go is to order an assortment and eat them doused in sweet hoisin sauce, chilli sauce, or both!  

But whereas the Hong Kong "treasures" tend to be eaten as a snack on the fly, at stands with no seats in sight, Ipoh (and, for that matter, Ampang) yong tau foo are eaten sitting down and substantial enough to make for a solid meal.  In addition, there are boiled rather than just deep fried items in the selection which -- and this is where Ipoh yong tau foo differs from Ampang yong tau foo as well as Hong Kong's "three stuffed treasures" -- are served in a clear soup.  

 

Much as I enjoyed my Ipoh lunch however, the meal I really was looking forward to was dinner: which, at my request, was at an eatery specializing in bean sprout chicken.  It may not sound like much but trust me when I tell you that its poached chicken component tastes absolutely fantastically juicy and the dish's star ingredient are the biggest bean sprouts you'll ever see and is far juicier as well as crunchier than any beansprout you'll have ever tasted -- unless you have the famous Ipoh bean sprouts in Ipoh!

 

And yes, I realize it may sound crazy to wax so lyrical about bean sprouts.  But, in all honesty, the peppery bean sprout component of Ipoh's signature dish is soooo good that I often think that I'd be thoroughly happy to just make a meal out of a plate of rice topped with a generous pile of Ipoh bean sprouts and bathed in the eatery's complimentary clear soup -- that is, until I eat a piece of that poached chicken and find myself automatically reaching out to eat a second, third, fourth, etc. piece of it! ;b

Reflections on nighttime in Yogyakarta, and my general Indonesian experiences

Yogyakarta's Jalan Malioboro on a quiet week night ;)

Night-time road traffic in the vicinity of Tugu Jogja

"Where are all the people?", I remember asking my German friend when I visited several towns and cities in her home country (including Hirschhorn and Speyer) and found their streets unexpectedly bereft of people.  In contrast, on the first couple of nights that she and I spent in Yogyakarta, we both were shocked by the large crowds we encountered on the sidewalks as well as the heavy traffic on the road.  Indeed, I'd go so far as to admit that the sheer amount of people on the pavements and streets was actually intimidating even to someone who's become very used to dealing with teeming crowds after having lived more than ten years now in super high-density Hong Kong! 

In retrospect, I think my fearfulness stemmed in part to my being in an unfamiliar city rather than just the teeming crowds themselves.  Things also weren't helped by the outdoor lighting in Indonesia being nowhere near as bright as what I've become used to here in Hong Kong, where the light pollution has been found to be the worst on the planet.  In addition, huge swathes of the sidewalks in Yogyakarta were uneven and sometimes potholed to the point that I did fear at times that I'd trip and fall, and injure myself, over the course of my weaving around people and navigating our way around town.      

In any event, I felt more comfortable walking about in the city the second night that I was there than the previous night.  And on our final night in Yogyakarta, walking about at night turned out to be really enjoyable -- what with there being a nice breeze about that hadn't been there before, and also there being way fewer people out and about.

So vast was the size difference in the crowds that my German friend and I were as taken aback by it as we had been by the size of the crowd that we had encountered on our first night in the city -- at least until we got to realizing that our first two nights in Yogyakarta had been weekend nights while our third and final night there was a Monday night!  At the same time, it's all relative, as the proverbial "they" say.  For here's pointing out that the photos at the top of this blog post were taken on the "quiet" night! 

For the record: I really did feel so intimidated those first couple of nights that I didn't feel comfortable taking out my camera and taking photos -- and amidst a whole bunch -- of perfect strangers.  But just as my pre-trip apprehensions about Indonesia (including those stemming from news reports that got me worrying that the whole country was a hotbed of conservative Islam and that racism would rear its ugly, sometimes very violent, head once more there) were dispelled by the interactions I had with various Indonesian people (include whole hordes of students at Borobudur!), so too did my night-time apprehensions end up melting away and I ended up having a pretty good time in an incredibly cultural heritage-rich country I now will definitely consider revisiting before too long. :)

Prambanan's apparently often overlooked Candi Sewu

Not a movie set but a bonafide ancient temple!

 

I could easily imagine this central Javanese site 

figuring in an Indiana Jones type movie though...

 

This also is the kind of setting which called for 

Puppet Ponyo to be captured by the camera in! ;b

 

More seriously though, Candi Sewu's main building is one of those 

structures that are impressive from whichever angle you viewed it :)

Pretty much whenever one reads or hears about Prambanan, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed site is described as being a Hindu monument.  But within this ancient temple compound -- and, actually, counted as part of the temple complex -- lie Buddhist temples (as is the case with the nearby Candi Plaosan, only on an even grander scale); with the largest and northernmost of these being that known as Candi Sewu.  

In its heyday, the Sewu temple complex was said to have been home to 249 buildings.  But that was 13 centuries ago -- and since that time, Candi Sewu has been witness to the fall of the kingdom whose rulers built it and also has been buried by ash from one major volcanic eruption and severely damaged from at least one major earthquake.  Furthermore, it's suffered from looting over the years by both Dutch colonists and local villagers, with a not a single head left on the Buddha statues found within the compound.

However, when compared to the two other Buddhist temples (Lumbung and Bubrah) located between Candi Sewu and Prambanan's main courtyard (where such as the Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu are located), there's much to see -- and be impressed by -- still at Candi Sewu.  For example, whichever side of the temple complex that one approaches from, one will be met with the sight of a large pair of striking-looking Dwarapala (armed door or gate guardians), each carved from a single block of stone.  

Also, even while Candi Sewu's main temple would be dwarfed by the 47-meter-high Candi Shiva over at the main Prambanan compound, it's still no slouch at 30 meters in height -- especially when one considers that its considerable age.  In addition, a walk around this ancient structure (as well as along the walled outer corridor of its high platform) truly helps to emphasize how incredible is this cross-shaped 20-sided polygon architectural plus archaeological gem.

All in all, Candi Sewu's probably my favorite of the temples I visited on the Prambanan Plain.  To be sure, Candi Sambisari was a good place to start, Candi Sari provided balance (as the only non-temple I visited that day), and my initial sightings of atmospheric Candi Plaosan and the majestically tall temples in Prambanan's main courtyard will stay in my memory for a long time.  

But my visit to Candi Sewu truly felt special and magical -- in no small part due to my having been able to enjoy being at this expansive complex in what felt like amazing solitude since so very few people looked to have decided that it'd be worth the bother to walk some 800 extra meters to it from the main Prambanan compound!  Probably not since I visited Great Zimbabwe some two decades ago now did I feel like an intrepid explorer (not just traveller), and so very blessed to be able to have the space as well as time to take in wondrous sights in an atmosphere of such blessed peace and quiet! :)  

Soaring spires and spirits at Prambanan! (Photo-essay)

On the same day that I visited Candi Sambisari, (Vihara) Sari and Candi Plaosan, I also spent time at Prambanan.  Although part of me worried that I'd suffer from "temple fatigue" the way I had on a visit to temple- and shrine-rich Kyoto a few years back.  But any doubts that I'd feel underwhelmed by this Yogyakarta-area UNESCO World Heritage-listed site that's often overshadowed in reputation by the considerably better known Borobudur quickly got dispelled when I set my eyes on what the official government brochure describes as "the tallest and most beautiful Hindu temple in the world".  
 
Between the 8th century and 10th century AD, some 240 temples were built within the grounds of Prambanan.  Over the years, some of them have fallen into ruin -- and as recently as 2006, these temple compounds suffered extensive damage as a result of a magnitude 6.4 earthquake.  But enough remains to leave this visitor feeling awe-struck, and also feeling so very fortunate to have been able to visit the place: whose soaring spires tower over the rest of the landscape and leave one feeling very small indeed; and whose stonework gets one marvelling at how amazingly skilled and able its architects and builders -- who lived so very long ago -- were...

Dedicated to Shiva, the tallest of Prambanan's temples 

soars up to 47 meters (around 144 feet) in height

The existence of just a single towering temple is amazing enough 

but there's more than one of them to be found at Prambanan!

 

  Puppet Ponyo also wants it to be known how

elaborately decorated these soaring structures are!

Like at Borobudur, the detailed sculptural reliefs 

on the temple walls inspire awe along with the 

monumental size and nature of the buildings themselves

In Prambanan's Candi Shiva Mahadeva is a statue of the god's 

consort, Durga, which is thought to have been modelled after 

the real life queen whose husband began the Prambanan complex

 In the inner chamber of Prambanan's Candi Brahma can 

be found a statue of the four-faced Hindu god of creation

Puppet Ponyo looking sufficiently awestruck by it all!

 

  Truly, these are the kind of buildings that make you feel that 

you're in the realm of gods when walking amongst them :)

Ruins and restorations at Candi Plaosan

It's going to take a lot of work before the reconstruction of 

Candi Plaosan approaches anything close to completion...

 

Still, there's enough on site as it is to give 

a sense of what was and could be again...

...and even if nothing else, the sheer size of it (and do please click 

on the photo to view an enlarged version) can take the breath away!

 

Within walking distance of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Prambanan temple compounds -- and viewable from some sections of it -- lies an ancient temple complex whose construction preceded that 10th century monument by a century or so.  There are hopes that in time, the large temple group collectively known as Candi Plaosan will join Prambanan, Borobudur and six other Indonesian sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list.       

 

Before that can happen however, a huge amount of work is required from archaeologists, conservators and associated others, since the vast majority of the stone structures on this approximately 2,000 square meter site currently lie in a majorly ruined state.  To give a sense of the size and scale of the task at hand: while Plaosan's towering twin temples have been restored, almost all of the ancient complex's 174 ancillary temples, 116 stupas and 58 shrines have not.

 

Consequently, when walking around the site, one feels more like one is at a working archaeological site, with large piles of stones waiting to be examined and be used to re-assemble a particular structure, than an actual monument whose glory and beauty -- like in the case of Borobudur -- can be easily appreciated.  Adding to that sense is there appearing to be more archaeology teams in the area than tourists (even though entry to the site is free) -- and I also wouldn't be surprised if my German friend and I were the only non-Indonesian visitors to the Plaosan complex that day (and maybe even week).

 

Almost needless to say, this is the kind of place where it helps to be able to imagine what the temple complex used to look like (and could look like again some time in the future), and also to know interesting details about it: such as that Plaosan was built during the reign of a Hindu ruler (Rakai Pikatan) whose queen (Sri Kahulunnan, AKA Pramodhawardhani) was of the Buddhist faith; and that Hindu-Buddhist union is reflected in this particular temple complex containing and combining Hindu and Buddhist religious iconography, statuary and architecture.

 

Remarkably, Pramodhawardhani also has been credited with the inauguration of Borobudur along with Plaosan and some other temples located on the Prambanan Plain that I didn't have time to visit on this maiden Indonesian visit!  Meanwhile, to her husband Rakai Pikatan goes the credit for having initiated work on what would turn out to be the even more magnificent Prambanan temple complex (whose statue of the Hindu goddess Durga is said to have been modelled on Rakai Pikatan's (Buddhist) consort)!     

The monument-rich Prambanan Plain's Sari: A vihara rather than candi?

One more ancient central Javanese sacred structure --

this one dating back to the 8th century and Buddhist :b

A view from within that gives a good idea

how thick the structures walls are!

 

Does the building's base look secure and sturdy to you?

 

Pretty much every ancient religious structure that my German friend and I checked out in Indonesia had the word candi as part of its name.  Think about it: thus far, I've devoted blog posts to Candi Pawon, Candi Mendut and Candi Sambisari.  And for the record: the Indonesians actually do refer to their country's -- and, in fact, the world's -- largest Buddhist monument as Candi Borobudur.

 

For some reason, until this recent Indonesian trip, I thought the word "candi" referred only to Hindu temples but in the week or so that I was in the country, I learnt that it's applied to ancient Buddhist as well Hindu stone buildings.  Actually, candi refers specifically those stone buildings used for worship, or where the ashes of cremated Hindu kings and Buddhist grandees are stored.  However, I know of -- and did visit -- at least one Javanese candi that's so called but may actually be a vihara instead.

Located not too far away from Candi Sambisari and stylistically part of the same group of ancient monuments as it (and Prambanan), that which is known as Candi Sari actually predates those structures and differs from them in being Buddhist rather than Hindu.  Situated around 200 meters from Candi Kalasan (which I saw from the road but didn't visit, because it's considered to be in poorer condition than the other ancient structures located on the volcanic and archeaologically as well as biologically rich Prambanan Plain, and less well maintained too), this 8th century structure is postulated to have been to house sleeping quarters for the monks who served at Candi Kalasan or went there on a pilgrimage.

Soaring some 17 meters high, Candi Sari was a two-storey structure but is currently missing the wooden beams that divided up the interior space and served as the base for the upper floor.  One therefore has to use one's imagination to imagine how it was in ancient times.  Still, one thing was clear when we visited: that the inside of this stone building is not only considerably darker than the outside (during the day) but also is noticeably cooler too.  

Most overwhelmingly, however, as was the case also at Candi Mendut, one had the fearful sense that this ancient structure wasn't the most stable out there -- and absolutely was not one which people would want to be in during an earthquake.  And what with central Java having had its share of tremors and major geological movements, the truth of the matter is that neither my German friend nor I were inclined to linger for long inside this more than 1,200-year-old monument that we preferred to be awed by from outside and maybe even a distance! ;)