Haritage Of Yoyakarta (Part 1)

Hindu and Buddhist Relics

Hinduism and Buddhism have lived side by side in Java since a long ago. The conflict between the two religions noted in India has not been played out in Java. In the area of the Buddhist monument Borobudur, (42 km north-west of Jogja), are many Hindu temples. There are also many Buddhist temples around the Hindu Prambanan complex (17 km east Jogja). The inter-religious relationship become close when the two great dynasties, Bud¬dhist Syailendra and Hindu Sanjaya were united by the marriage of Rakai Pikatan of Hindu Mataram and the Buddhist Syailendra princess Pramodha-vardhani in the second half of the 9th century.

Borobudur and The Surrounding Area

Built between 750 AD and 850 AD by the Bud¬dhist Syailendra dynasty. Borobudur is one of the greatest Buddhist relics in South East Asia. The two other great relics are Cambodia's Angkor Wat and Myanmar’s Bagan. Borobudur lay forgotten for centuries, beneath volcanic ash, until it was found in 1815 when Raffles governed Java. Res¬toration projects from the early of 20th century until 1983 have brought Borobudur back to its former glory.

To the east of Borobudur, there are two other temples that were part of the original complex, Pawon and Mendut. Pawon Temple was dedicated to Kuvera, the Buddhist god of fortune. While in Mendut temple, the Buddha sits in a western-style with both feet on the ground, instead of in the usual lotus position. Next to Mendut temple is a Bud¬dhist Monastery. It is less than 10 minutes walk to these temples from Borobudur.

Laying 42 km north-west of Jogja. Borobudur, Pawon and Mendut can be reached in about 1-2 hours by bus from Giwangan. Jogja's main bus terminal the cost is about Rp. 10.000 and also from the smaller bus terminal, Jombor, in Magelang Street. The temple is less than 15 minute's walk from the Borobudur bus terminal. Another option is to visit a travel agent in Prawirotaman or Sosro¬wijayan who can arrange guided tours of Borobudur. The temple site is open daily from 06:00 to 17:00

At the eastern edge of Borobudur, there are many temple ruins that have not been restored. Hindu temples in the area are Gunung Sari, Gunung Wukir and the Sengi complex. Other Buddhist are Ngawen, Asu, Pendem and Lumbung. A very good guidebook about these temples was published by Enrique Indonesia. Written by Rizky Sasono, Jean Pascal Elbaz and Agung Kurniawan. Site Out if Sight (Situs — situs Marjinal), (Sanctuaires Retrouves) is for sale at bookstores and the Centre Cultural Francais de Jogja at Sagan street.

History of Jogja

When talking-about the history of Jogja, most people often refer to the founding of the Kraton Yogyakarta in 1750 as the beginning. Others say the earliest historical records of Jogja can be traced to the early 8th century, with the emergence the Hindu Kingdom "Sanjaya", and the Buddhist dynasty "Syailendra". There are hundreds of ar¬chaeological sites, most of them temples, the most famous being Borobudur (see: heritage).

By the 10th century, the centre of these kingdoms had shifted to the East Java, and Jogja seems to disappear from historical records until the 16th cen¬tury when the Islam Kingdom of Mataram emerged. Some historians guess that a big eruption from Mount Merapi in 1006 was the cause of this his¬torical vacancy. Many temples were buried under layers of volcanic ash and have only been redis¬covered in the last 150 years.

Panembahan Senopati founded the Islamic King¬dom of Mataram in 1530. The first capital of the kingdom was Kotagede, which is now a suburb of Jogja. (See: Kotagede) Kotagede was the capital until the 3rd king of Mataram, Sultan Agung. In 1640 the capital of the kingdom moved to Desa Kerto Plered Bantul, about 10 km west from Kotagede. In 1680, as the Dutch began to assume the role of colonial rulers, the centre of the kingdom moved again to Kartasura and finally in 1745 under Pakubuwono II, to Surakarta (Solo). Solo is 70 kilometres East of Jogja.

Conflict among the princes and political, intervention of the colonial government caused the Mataram Kingdom, to permanently split into Kasunanan Surakarta and Kasultanan Ngayogya¬karta. The "Gianti Agreement" was signed in 1755, which gave territory to Prince Mangkubumi and the authority to rule. He return to the former seat
of Mataram and built the Kraton of Yogyakarta. The name "Ngayogyakarta" was chosen by the Prince due to its meaning "peacefulness" He wished the new kingdom to be free from conflict.

During the construction of the palace buildings, Prince Mangkubumi lived in Ambarketawang at Desa Tlogo Gamping Sleman, five kilometres west from Jogja (see: Ambarketawang). In 1756 the Prince moved to the Kraton of Yogyakarta and adopted the title of nobility Sultan Harmengku Buwana I. Hamengku Buwana means "take the universe on the lap of the King".

In September 1811, after the defeat of the Dutch, Thomas Stamford Raffles was appointed governor of Java. When the British restructured the colonial rule of the Kasultanan authority, Hamengku Buwana II opposed the policy. However his brother, Prince Notokusumo supported the policy and was rewarded with the small principality of Pakualaman and in 1813 was promoted to Paku Alam I. (see: Pura Pakualaman).

For the Javanese, Jogja is the symbol of resistance to colonial rule. The spirit of resistance actually started in the early Mataram period. Mangkubumi resisted the Dutch while his brother Paku Buwana II assisted the Dutch. From 1825 to 1830 Prince Diponegoro was the leader of a bloody uprising against the Dutch.

After the independence of the Republic of Indone¬sia the first President was Soekarno, Jogja was the centre of the revolutionary forces and became the capital of the Republic in 1946 until 1949. In 1948 when the Dutch tried to occupy Jogja, Sul¬tan Hamengku Buwana IX let rebels the use the palace as their headquarters. As a result of the Sultan's support, Jogja was granted the status of a special territory by the government.

Jogja is a self-governing provi¬nce and has great autonomy, especially concerning the elec¬tion of a governor for the prov¬ince. According to spe¬cial rules the Sultan and Paku Alam auto¬matically become Governor and deputy Governor.

Geographical Condition of Jogja

Jogja lies at the fertile crescent of rice lands in the middle of Java Island. It is bordered to the north by the still active volcano, Mount Merapi, and to the south by the Indian Ocean. In the south part of the land, stands Sewu (thousand) mountain range. This mountain range extends along Java Island and becomes important sites of the findings of Java pre-historic life.

Lying in the middle of the island, Jogja becomes equidistant from Indonesia’s two major gateways – Jakarta and Bali. Covering 3.186 square kilometers, Jogja is not very large in size. The population (according to the cencus done in the year 2000) is more than 3.1 million, while the population of the Jogja city is 397.398, and the density is almost 15.197 people per square kilometers.

On the entire region, almost 50% of the land is used for agricultural purposes, leaving approximately 25% for residential area, and the remaining 17% for forest.

Jogja has a warm tropical climate with wet and dry season. Wet seasons lasts from October to March and the heaviest rains occur in December and January. The temperature throughout the year averages from 220 to 290C (780 to 850F) and the humidity averages of about 75%. Fortunately, because of its geographic location in the south part of Java, Jogja receives the South East breeze that makes it cooler in the dry season.