Thirteen kilometers from Yogyakarta is the huge Prambanan temple complex built in honor of the Hindu gods Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu. Built in the 10th century, Loro Jonggrang Temple is considered the most beautiful Hindu temple in Indonesia. On a hill west of Yogyakarta is Borobodur, probably the largest Buddhist sanctuary in the world, with stone reliefs of more than 5 km in length.

The Royal Mangkunegaran Palace in Surakarta is now a museum displaying 19th-century dance ornaments, jewels and royal carriages. Mount Bromo, in eastern Java, is still an active volcano. From Surabaya you can go on horseback to the crater wheel. In August and September Madura is the scene of ox racing. The highlight of the Ox Race is the carnival of Pamekasan, lasting two days and nights.

Today we left early in the morning to visit the Prambanan Temple. It is 17 km from Yogya. We had a nice day without rain, so the visibility was very good. An infinite line of people is already rolling in the direction of the temple complex.

The Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple complex in Java, which was supposedly built in the 9th to 10th centuries, as the find of an urn with grave supplements is to prove. On a huge terrace is a group of eight temples with the main temple Lara Jonggrang. To the south and north is a temple dedicated to the god Brahma and the god Vishnu.

The large terrace is surrounded by a lower one, on which 224 small temples stand in three concentrated rows. The whole complex was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake in the 16th century. Already since the year 1918 the reconstruction was carried out with the extensive restoration work. After the Prambanan temple we visit the next day Borobodur.

The Hindus have no appeal (for example through sermons) for religious and moral behavior. There are also no community celebrations. The Borobodur plant has no interiors at all, it covers a whole hill in terraced form. Three levels correspond to the idea of ​​Buddhism:

• the lowest for everyday existence,

• about it the spiritualized form

• and at the top the complete abstraction and detachment from this world.

The terraces have reliefs from the Buddha legend and are about 5 km long. Above are countless stupas (bell-shaped stone cages) in which Buddhas sit in the typical meditation position. The temples of Borobodur were buried by an eruption of the Merapi volcano until the last century, it was restored by UNESCO for US $ 21 million.