5 Places That You Should Visit In Yogyakarta

                                                                         5 Places That
                You Should Visit In Yogyakarta

Did you know that Yogyakarta was once the capital city of Indonesia? Back in the 1946 to 1949, Jakarta was occupied by the Dutch colonies and Yogyakarta was served as the center of the revolution movement that changed Indonesia forever. Nowadays Yogyakarta, has been called Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (Special Region of Yogyakarta), which means that the country acknowledge has given the ability to build its own rules by their own. Yogyakarta also has one of the most active volcano in the world and one of the deadliest as well, which are Merapi Volcano. Like the other city in Indonesia, Yogyakarta has many historical and cultural sites in its region, including temples, historical sites and even beaches and mountains. Here are the place that you should visit while you are in Yogyakarta.

1 1.    Borobudur Temple

Located in a town called Magelang near Yogyakarta, Java. Borobudur is the largest Buddhist monument in the world, with 113 foot high pyramid, 2,372 relief panels and 504 statues of Buddha. Build between 8^th and 9^th centuries by the era of Syailendra Dynasty, the construction of the temple has been estimated to have taken 75 years, and completed during the era of Samaratungga. The monument has a structure of 9 stacked platforms, six squares and three circular topped by a central dome. The lowest part of the construction is called Kamadhatu, the second one are Rupadhatu and the top are called Aruphadatu.

To get to the site from Yogyakarta, the visitor must take a Jogja bus to Jombor bus station and then from the Jombor bus station, you must take a local bus to Borobudur, However you can always use private vehicle which has a route from Jalan Magelang – Sleman – Tempel – Salam – Muntilan – Palpabang – Mendut then you will arrive on Borobudur parking lot and the range is about 45 kilometers from Yogyakarta to Borobudur. The entrance ticket in Borobudur are $25 or Rp 380,607 for the visitors above 10 years old and $15 or Rp 228,364 for the visitor between 3 to 10 years old.

22.  Prambanan Temple

Built on 850 CE by Rakai Pikatan and expanded by King Lokapala and Balitung Maha Sambu the Sanjaya King of Mataram Kingdom, Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia which consists of 240 temples but throughout the years many of this temples were destroyed and left. The base of the temple are called Bhurloka, which is a large space marked by a rectangular wall, that is 390 meters wide and has stone walls surrounding it. Bhuvarloka are the central body of the temples and the middle square of the complex, this area has 4 rows of 224 small individual identical shrines, The Bhuvarloka is 222 square and used to have stone walls. The top of the temples are called Svarloka is the innermost square that represents the realm of the gods. There are 16 temples that located in the Svarloka which consists of 3 main templed dedicated to, Brahma the god of creation, Shiva the destroyer of the universe, and Vishnu the keeper. Shiva are the largest temple are the and the tallest  standing on 47.6m while Brahma and Vishnu are 33m. Prambanan also held the famous Ramayan Ballet which are the must watch show when you go to prambanan temple.

The transport to Prambanan are very straightforwards, first of all prambanna located 17km south west of Yogyakarta and 40 km north east from Solo, which are major city in the area. The main road connecting the two large cities passes right by Prambanan. And the entrance fee are $25 or Rp 380,607 for person above 10 years old and $15 or Rp 228,364 for the visitor between 3 to 10 years old.

13.   Taman Sari

Located in Jalan Taman, Patehan, Kraton, Yogyakarta, Tamansari is a palace that was built by the Portuguese Colony as a gift for the wives of Sultan Hameng Kubuwono I. The building was a garden chateau with an elaborate series of swimming pools, artificial lakes and a collection of 59 buildings with a ground that spread over 12,600 acres. The sites also contains mosque, fort, meditation space, and an underground tunnel system that connects in between the structures. Now the garden complex was abandoned by the royal family of Yogyakarta and now are being lived by local residents.

The price of the tickets are :

-       Local tourist : Rp 5.000 per person

-       Foreign Tourist : Rp 12.000 per person

-       And extra Rp 2.000 if the visitor bring a camera.

24.   Keraton

Looking more like walled miniature city than a site or palace, Keraton is the name of the palace complex and is the residence of the Sultan Yogyakarta and his family. The massive compound is resided by 25.000 people, has its own industries, schools and shops. Although the palace is open for the visitors in the morning, Keraton still serve as a part of political sphere in Yogyakarta, as well as a place for political meetings. The Keraton was designed to reflect the Javanese cosmos, the complex faced towards Mt. Merapi volcano in one direction and towards the Indian ocean, which the Javanese believe as home of the sea spirits in Indonesia.

The price of the entrance ticket are Rp. 7.500

35.   Alun Alun Keraton

Alun Alun Keraton is the one of the city square in Yogyakarta located in Jalan Alun Alun Kidul. It is the large field with tons of food stalls and many attractions. The most popular are the two banyan tree located in the middle of the city square. Many people called this a Masangin Ritual, locals said that whoever succeed to walk through between the two banyan tree with their eyes closed means that the person has a pure heart and also can grant what they wishes. Although there are so many people that don’t believe this myth, many of the visitors still tried to do it because of their curiosity.