Today's schedule included a visit to the world's second largest Hindu temple, Prambedan Temple, swimming at the hotel, dinner, and a show.
This was the first time that I had ever gone to such a huge temple. People still go there to worship to this day, and a little section of it was marked off for Hindu worshipers only. Enormous statues five times larger than humans filled the temple. Each position of the "god" meant something different. I had never realized that Hindus believed in so many gods or that it had so many stories about them. I remember learning about Greek mythology in school, and I wonder why they didn't teach us more about them in school. Some of the stories seem very far fetched and ridiculous, but then again some of the stories in the Bible are equally interesting and "unbelievable". It as crazy to in that these people spent so much of their time constructing this temple. I would love to learn more about the motivation behind their desire to build it? Did they love their gods so much they wanted to build a temple, we're they afraid of them, did they need their help? Just some things to think about.
Our whole group
After the temple we grabbed some lunch and then headed back to the hotel for some much deserved free time! We were overjoyed to be able to just hang out in the pool for a while and cool off after walking around in the blazing sun and humidity.
We ate a delicious Indonesian meal for dinner at a restaurant next to the amphitheater where we saw a traditional Indonesian ballet. A band to the side of the stage played the music and sang some of the narration of the story and some dialogue between characters. Everything was in Bahasa, but I did my best to follow along with the plot summary they passed out before the show. It was a story about Hindu gods, a princess getting kidnapped, and how she was rescued. The style of dancing cannot be compared to any sort of western dance. The dancers moved slowly across the stage with flexed feet, bent knees, and open hands for most of the performance. I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner and dance and feel like it was a good way to experience and learn about more the culture and religion of this beautiful country.
Part of our group with the monkeys
-Erin
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