GARGANTUAN steps

Monday, July 22, 2013

the reason for God


 In my current spur of a reading frenzy, I have finished yet another book, highly recommended to me by my good friend Andrew (though this was recommended to me many years back). Timothy Keller is a pastor in New York City as well as a Christian apologetic. (Apologetics is a discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of information.) This is perhaps a book more for those already dwelling deeper into understanding or trying to understand the faith, rather than those just starting out and just wanting to know more. (though I definitely wouldn't begrudge you having a read of this book!)

Meanwhile, just a few interesting points of note for those interested in its content - the chapter on 'How Can a Loving God Send People to Hell?' is actually a paradigm shift on how Hell should be viewed upon in the context of God. Hell is not a place where God condemns sinners to, but rather, it is the choice made by the sinner to eternally reject God, even in the face of the Truth, hence being in a state of Hell. As so nicely phrased by another great Christian apologetic, C. S. Lewis, in his book 'The Great Divorce' -  

 There are only two kinds of people - those who say to God, 'Thy will be done' to God or those to whom God in the end says, ' Thy will be done'. All that are in Hell choose it.

 Hell, as rightly explained, is a choice made by man, not through condemnation by God. 

 My favourite chapter in the book though goes to the one on 'The (True) Story of the Cross', where the author bravely explains the necessity of the Cross - on why Jesus had to die on the Cross, for us all. It'll be a tad too difficult to summarise its contents, though I'll take a paragraph out from it -

When Jesus suffered for us, he was honouring justice. But when Jesus suffered with us he was identifying with the oppressed of the world, not with their oppressors. All life-changing love entails an exchange, a reversal of places, but here is the Great Reversal. God, in the place of ultimate power, reverses places with the marginalised, the poor and the oppressed.

 Go read it - it is a beautiful book. 

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posted by Gabriel Yan at 2:54 PM 0 comments

Sunday, July 21, 2013

less haze, more sun

Bhinneka Tunggal Ika
Unity in Diversity

With the PSI (Pollutant Standard Index) in Singapore reaching an obscene level of 401, it might have seemed counter-intuitive to head towards the very country that was the cause of our nation's grief, but it was towards Java (southern Indonesia) and not Sumatra (western Indonesia where the haze was originating from) that we went for our family holiday. Southeast Asia, quite like Europe but with the added tropical heat and humidity, has its many gems for touring and exploring, and Yogyakarta contains not one but two of its sparkling jewels. 

Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogjakarta), more informally known as Yogya by the locals, is considered the soul of the country where the Javanese culture and heritage are preserved in its purest form (or so the book says). A little interesting fact is that it is the second most-visited tourist destination in Indonesia, the first undoubtedly being that of Bali. The population of Yogya is only a miserly 500,000, though one can be forgiven to think that half of them are at either of its major temple sites on any given day. Meanwhile, I had equipped myself with a new compact camera with interchangeable lenses (the Sony NEX-6 if you must know), and it was time to put it to the test.

Day 1 - Off on a Budget Airline and the Prambanan Temple Compound

The entire holiday was a relatively organised yet free-and-easy trip for the family, without the hassle of a large tour group, and everything centered upon our wishes. The flight to Yogyakarta was a fuss-free, one and a half hour flight via the budget airline, Air Asia, and we landed at its quaint little airport. One literally walks from the airplane straight to a small, one-story building where four immigration counters are lined up together, following which, you come to a uni-directional conveyor belt where your luggage bags are spewed out. Porters manhandle them into rows before you are allowed to collect them, creating an unnecessary cul-de-sac after passing through immigration.

Originally, a trip to the Candi Prambanan (temples of Prambanan) was not part of the itinerary, but with a simple request and a few extra dollars, this was most easily arranged courtesy of Chan Brothers Travel agency. After all, if it makes it on to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, then it definitely makes it on to my list of visiting sites, especially since I'm in the vicinity. The temples of Prambanan are Hindu in origin (compared with the Buddhist temples of Borobudur), and these were built between the 8th and 10th centuries A.D. (no slob in comparison with other great European monuments) to honour the Hindu god Shiva. Back in those days, Java was ruled by the Buddhist Sailendras (the Sailendras were a Buddhist dynasty in Indonesia) in the south and the Hindu Sanjayas of Old Mataram in the north, and they were united by the marriage of the Hindu prince, Rakai Pikatan, and the Buddhist princess, Pramodhavardhani, during that period of time. This probably explains the presence of Buddhist architectural elements within the Hindu temple complexes.

The area was subsequently deserted after two centuries as power shifted to East Java and the compound was left to wilt. A final death blow was dealt by a massive earthquake in the 16th century which toppled many of the temples. To add insult to injury, its remains were picked apart by locals and foreigners in the years to come - the former using the materials as foundations for construction, the latter using them as ornaments for beautification. Thankfully, formal restoration of the temple began early in the last century, though only the main temples were restored to their former glory. Another more recent earthquake in 2006 brought the temples to its knees, with hundreds of stone blocks collapsed or cracked (apparently there were 479 in the main temple, the Shiva temple, alone), but the temple complex has proved to be resilient and is now back on its own two feet (almost). Meanwhile, like most other attractions, its main threat now comes from the thousands of tourists that stomp on its grounds on a daily basis.


On a budget

Lunch by a stream at Kali Opak Resto

The Prambanan Temples

The complex consists of an outer compound which contains the ruins of 244 temples, whilst eight minor and eight main temples stand atop a higher central courtyard, with the Candi Shiva Mahadeva (Shiva temple) standing proudest and tallest at 47 metres high. When the temple complex and its surrounding region was deserted and left in disrepair, its remains inspired the local legend of Rara Jonggrang (Javanese for 'Slender Virgin'). To summarise, Prince Bandung Bondowoso was in love with the daughter, Princess Rara Jonggrang, of someone he had killed. She evidently refused to marry him, but was forced to, but only on one condition - that he built her a thousand temples in one night. He then enlisted supernatural forces from the underworld to aid him in his tasks. However, just as he was about to complete the last temple, she fooled him (and the not so smart demons) by getting the villagers and her palace maids to pound rice and set a fire on the eastern side of the premise (which then got the roosters crowing), thus mimicking dawn, and with that, the demons fled, leaving 999 temples standing. When the prince found out that he had been fooled, he cursed the princess to be turned into stone, and it was believed that the statue of the goddess Durga, found within the Shiva temple, was actually her. Evidently, the legend didn't explain why the statue of the princess had five pairs of arms.

Three ratnas and two temples 



 Reliefs depicting the Hindu epic, the Ramanaya and Bhagavata Purana, carved on the sides of the temple walls

A fallen, broken ratna peak - left in memorial of the earthquake in 2006
The peak of the ratna can be seen buried into the ground at the right upper corner of the picture

One family at the Shiva Temple
They made non-locals visiting local attractions wear these silly sarongs around their waists - I presume that this makes us stand out even more for the local sellers to rip us off when selling their goods and wares

The Candi Prambanan

The Shiva Temple in the distance

After being astounded and amazed by this architectural feat, it was time to head off to Borobodur, which was meant to be the main highlight of the trip. After a gruelling, meandering three hour coach journey, we finally reached our accommodation for the night, the Manohara hotel. This hotel was actually more like a chalet with blocks of rooms all located on the ground floor, something similar to the one we stayed at in Jordan as well as the Mabula Game Lodge in South Africa. This hotel though has something special in store for its guests, but I'll elaborate more on that later.

Javanese play/dance performed during dinner

Day 2 - Sunrise at Borobudur Temple, the Pawon and Mendut Temple, and jeeping around Mount Merapi

The Buddhist temple of Borobudur is Yogya's answer to Siem Reap's Angkor Wat and though I have yet been to the latter, many say that the former does not in any way pale in comparison as a spectacle. And a spectacle, it definitely is. Being a guest at Manohara allows one to enter the hallowed grounds of Borobudur temple a good half an hour before its actual opening time at 6 a.m., which means that we were all up by 430 a.m. that day and climbing up the monument by 530 a.m., all to beat the crowds and to catch sunrise at the top. According to our tour guide, the sun was suppose to have risen by 615 a.m. that day, but somehow or rather, it only peeked out of the distant mountain ranges an hour after that. Still, it was a beautiful sight to behold and well worth the early morning effort, and to end it off, a nice buffet breakfast. 

Borobudur was built somewhere between 750-850 A.D. and its name is possibly derived from the Sanskrit words 'Vihara Buddha Uhr' which means 'Buddhist Monastery on the Hill'. This temple was built as a shrine for Lord Buddha (who I must stress is not a god), as well as a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. Like its counterpart at Prambanan, it was deserted a few centuries later as power shifted east, and it became buried under layers of volcanic ash. And like its unlikely distant 'cousin' Singapore, it was re-discovered again by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, when he governed Java in the early 19th century. Borobudur's other claim to fame was that it was the target of a terrorist attack in 1985 by the then-President's (Suharto) opponents. The explosions occurred on the upper layers of the temple, though the only casualties were that of stupas.


On the way up Borobudur temple 



 Waiting for dawn


The multitude of stupas, each containing a statue of Buddha, and the surrounding paddies and palms

The Borobudur temple consists of six square terraces topped by three circular ones, with a massive stupa situated right at the top. The entire structure is meant to take the form of a giant tantric Buddhist mandala, presenting the Buddhist vision of the cosmos in stone. Standing 118 m by 118 m at the base, there are three main 'levels' representing the three realms in Buddhist cosmology - Kamadhatu (the world of desires - represented by the base of the structure); Rupadhatu (the world of forms - represented by the next five square platforms); and Arupadhatu (the formless world - represented by the three circular platforms). A pilgrim is meant to traverse from the bottom and shed away his or her desires and form as he or she reaches the top, which is meant to represent nirvana.



Sis and bro

Dad and Mom with one of two uncovered Buddha statues - this one facing the setting sun

Me amidst the stupas

Sunrise at Borobudur

Bas-reliefs (low reliefs) along the walls of the terraces depicting the life of Prince Siddhartha who eventually became Buddha 



 Bin (our tour-guide) revealing the finer points of the reliefs
He was a funny man - he told us on the first day of our tour to just call him Bin, not Mr Bean, nor bin Laden


A monk (in pretty trendy shoes) leading prayers along the terraces

More bas-reliefs



Borobudur Temple



 The other half of the population of Yogya streaming in
With both the temperatures as well as the crowds starting the heat up, it was time to head back to our hotel for breakfast and for the continuation of our journey. The next stops were the Pawon and Mendut temples, satellite temples situated near Borobudur, in between stopping by to see the traditional living quarters of the locals. 


Family at the Candi Pawon


Bin showing us how water is drawn from a well



 The Candi Mendut


Bas-relief at the Candi Mendut depicting a local fable

There once lived a turtle who saved two birds from impending doom by biting on the foot of their human assailant, causing his arrow to go astray. In return, the birds gave him the opportunity to see the world from above by asking him to bite on a stick and lifted him high above the lands. The villagers who witnessed this sight from below were astounded and asked whose marvelous idea it was, and the turtle immediately answered ' Me!' and promptly plunged to its death. The moral of the story? Not to claim credit when its not yours, and a more general one - to always keep your mouth shut.



The massive Boddhisatva statues housed within the temple

Next up, it was a trip up Mount Merapi (Merapi meaning 'fire'), which is still an active volcano. It last erupted in October 2010, with a total of nearly 350 deaths. We endured a cranky jeep ride at the top, visiting quarries, houses abandoned and left in ruins by the volcanic eruption, and the Merapi museum, which was nothing more than a collection of fossils - both animal and mechanical. There were no signs of any lava, which was both a bad and a good thing.



Jeep ride


Climbing to the top of a pile of volcanic rocks

Dad and Mom in cool jeep geers

Fossils of motorcycles found following the volcanic eruption of 2010 



 Sis and bro by the rock with the alien face - a rock spewed out from the volcanic depths during the eruption
Rain soon descended upon us and we headed for lunch before visiting the customary shops necessitated by these large tour groups - this time round, we toured a batik factory as well as a silver factory. My conclusion of batik is that it is really tedious and time consuming to make a piece of batik cloth. The design is sketched out on a white cloth and the cloth is then painstakingly dyed bit by bit, the dye applied drop by drop. A really painful process if I must say.


Batik workers at a batik factory straining their eyes out

An absolutely odd looking hen - it looks like it had a perm


California Fried Chicken
We couldn't find the original so this would have to do

Day 3 and 4- Taman Sari Water Castle, the Kraton, Parangtritis Beach and home

 Our final day was spent touring the city of Yogya and our first stop was the Taman Sari Water Castle. This place once served as a place of pleasure and leisure for the sultan and his crew - and was known by the Dutch as the waterkasteel (water castle), hence its current name. Nothing too opulent or fanciful, besides having an excessive number of swimming pools (two public ones for the sultan's many wives and children), and a private one for himself. More interestingly was the mosque situated a few hundred metres away from the complex, which was a two-story, circular mosque (the upper story for women; the lower for men) served by a staircase situated right within the middle of the mosque. And interesting design, though the mosque doesn't serve any religious purpose anymore.



Outside the Taman Sari Water Castle



 The two public swimming pools


Family



Circular mosque

The Kraton is the palace of the sultans of Yogya, housing a complex of buildings, courtyards, pavilions and halls. The current sultan  of Yogya is respected for having only one wife (most normally have a harem), but in a cruel twist of fate, he only has daughters. The stewardship of the sultan is typically handed down via the blood-line, typically to the first male born child, hence the predicament that the sultan is currently in now. I don't believe there has ever been a sultana (is that the right term for a female sultan?). Meanwhile, the Kraton was about as spectacular as the water castle and we didn't stay too long.



Entrance to the Kraton

A carriage



 The Bangsal Kencana (Golden Pavilion) 

The rest of the day's activity included a walk through a bazaar (which we were all not too keen on considering the crowd and the sweltering heat) and we then deposited my brother at the airport to catch an earlier flight back. We then proceeded on a hunt for kueh lapis, which seemed surprisingly hard to find (either that or our tour guide just didn't have a clue where fresh ones were made, and the ones we eventually got were a pale comparison to the ones we have in Singapore) before we made our way to the beach. It was a two hour journey to the Parangtritis beach, which to me was just like any other beach, just that it had a substantial amount of sand. We didn't stay too long there either, though toileting facilities were down to a bare minimum - there were none. There were just bathing areas which consists of a row of cubicles, each with water for you to splash yourself with, and a small tiny hole in the corner for the water (and any other fluids) to drain out. It was a (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime experience.


Roadside hawker - definitely not the faint of stomach

An interesting sculpture whose underlying meaning I have yet to fathom

Dad and Mom at the beach

Parting shot - Parangtritis beach

With that, our short trip to Yogya ended and we flew back home the following morning. Southeast Asia sure does have its gems and I would highly recommend a trip to Yogyakarta - at least to visit the twin monuments of the Prambanan and Borobudur temples. Lots of good fun - I look forward to my next trip!

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posted by Gabriel Yan at 11:58 PM 0 comments