Wijilan As Gudeg Center in Jogja

Gudeg is authentic food from the province of Yogyakarta. Food beginning to gudeg famous throughout Indonesia and even the whole world was first originated from the village Wijilan. Kampung Wijilan is the center where the food-based young jackfruit is famous everywhere.
Gudeg stalls that lined the south Plengkung Tarunasura (Plengkung Wijilan) has a long history. Mrs Slamet was the first to pioneer the business gudeg shop in 1942. A few years later gudeg shop in the area increased two, namely Public gudeg Mix Sari and Mrs Public Gudeg Djuwariah which became known as Yu Gudeg Djum so well known until now.
Three stalls are to be forerunners in Wijilan gudeg shop is able to survive up to 40 years old. Unfortunately, in Sari Mix Public 1980'an closed. Only 13 years later came another shop with a label Gudeg gudeg Lady Lies. And until now, gudeg stalls lining the streets of this Wijilan no less than ten pieces.
Gudeg Wijilan flavor is distinctive, different from the gudeg in general. Gudegnya dry with a sweet taste. How to cook it any different, the young jackfruit stewed fruit on the waiting approximately 100 degrees Celsius for 24 hours to evaporate the liquid.

As a complementary side dishes, chicken meat and duck eggs are then boiled dipindang. While taste is a blend of spicy vegetables and sambal tempe krecek.

This Wijilan gudeg resilience is suitable as a gift, because it is a dry gudeg, it is not perishable and can last up to 3 days. No wonder the gudeg of this Wijilan already "flying" to berpabagi corners of the country, even the world.

The price is also varied, ranging from Rp 20,000, - to Rp 100,000, -, depending on the selected side and type of packaging. Some even offer economical package USD 5000, with side dishes of tofu, tempeh, and eggs.

As packaging gudeg-gudeg elsewhere, by-the typical Jogja can be packaged interesting using 'besek' (place of woven bamboo) or use 'kendil' (urn of baked clay). Even more unique, some of this Wijilan gudeg seller will be happy to show the process of making gudegnya if visitors want.

In fact, on stall Gudeg Yu Djum offers tour packages for cooked dried gudeg who want to cook your own. You will receive direct referrals from Djum Yu. All day you will learn to make gudeg, from start chopping 'category', mix spices, making Pindang eggs, dried soup until gudeg on the fire.
Unfortunately if the visit to Yogyakarta, but have not tasted food this Gudeg.

MOUNT MERAPI

Mount Merapi, Gunung Merapi (literally Mountain of Fire in Indonesia), is a conical volcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It is very close to the city of Yogyakarta, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano, with villages as high as 1700 m above sea level.
Although smoke can be seen emerging from the mountain top at least 300 days a year, several eruptions have caused fatalities. Hot gas from a large explosion killed 64 people on November 22 in 1994, mostly in the town of Muntilan, west of the volcano. Another large eruption occurred in 2006, shortly before the Yogyakarta earthquake. In light of the hazards that Merapi poses to populated areas, it has been designated as one of the Decade Volcanoes.

Merapi is the youngest in a group of volcanoes in southern Java. It is situated at a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian Plate is sliding beneath the Eurasian Plate. It is one of at least 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire – a section of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and South East Asia. Stratigraphic analysis reveals that eruptions in the Merapi area began about 400,000 years ago, and from then until about 10,000 years ago, eruptions were typically effusive, and the outflowing lava emitted was basaltic. Since then, eruptions have become more explosive, with viscous andesitic lavas often generating lava domes. Dome collapse has often generated pyroclastic flows, and larger explosions, which have resulted in eruption columns, have also generated pyroclastic flows through column collapse.
There has been no late eruption. Typically, small eruptions occur every two to three years, and larger ones every 10-15 years or so. Notable eruptions, often causing many deaths, have occurred in 1006, 1786, 1822, 1872 (the most violent eruption in recent history), and 1930—when thirteen villages were destroyed and 1400 people killed by pyroclastic flows.
A very large eruption in 1006 is claimed to have covered all of central Java with ash. The volcanic devastation is claimed to have led to the collapse of the Hindu Kingdom of Mataram, however there is insufficient evidence from that era for this to be substantiated.
Merapi continues hold particular significance for the Javanese: it is one of four places where officials from the royal palaces of Yogyakarta and Solo make annual offerings to placate the ancient Javanese spirits.

In April 2006, increased seismicity at more regular intervals and a detected bulge in the volcano's cone indicated that fresh eruptions were imminent. Authorities put the volcano's neighboring villages on high alert and local residents prepared for a likely evacuation. On April 19 smoke from the crater reached a height of 400 meters, compared to 75 metres the previous day. On April 23, after nine surface tremors and some 156 multifaced quakes signalled movements of magma, some 600 elderly and infant residents of the slopes were evacuated.
By early May, active lava flows had begun. On May 11, with lava flow beginning to be constant, some 17,000 people were ordered to be evacuated from the area and on May 13, Indonesian authorities raised the alert status to the highest level, ordering the immediate evacuation of all residents on the mountain. Many villagers defied the dangers posed by the volcano and returned to their villages, fearing that their livestock and crops would be vulnerable to theft. Activity calmed by the middle of May.
On May 27, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck roughly 30 miles southwest of Merapi, killing at least 5,000 and leaving at least 200,000 people homeless in the Yogyakarta region, heightening fears that Merapi will "blow". The quake did not appear to be a long-period oscillation, a seismic disturbance class that is increasingly associated with major volcanic eruptions. A further 11,000 villagers were evacuated on June 6 as lava and superheated clouds of gas poured repeatedly down its upper slopes. The pyroclastic flows are known locally as "wedhus gembel" (Javanese for "shaggy goat").

(From : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Merapi)

TEMPLE SITE FOUNDED AT INDONESIAN ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY (UII)

Yogyakarta Prehistoric Legacy Conservation Center (BP3) office has started preparing excavation plans for a recently found archeological structure, believed to be part of an ancient temple, in the compound of the Indonesian Islamic University (UII), Yogyakarta.

The chairman of the center’s protection working group, Indung Panca Putra, said his office was working with the university’s management while waiting for detailed instructions from the Culture and Tourism Ministry culture directorate in Jakarta.

“We will need between two weeks and a month to come up with an excavation plan,” Indung told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Construction workers using a backhoe had come across a stone structure that appeared to be part of an ancient temple, at a depth of about 3 meters, while digging foundations for a new library building at the university on in Sleman regency on Friday.

Subsequent digging around the structure showed a wall-like structure around 50 centimeters in width, with a specific architectural style and relief ornaments on its sides resembling those found at other significant historic Hindu and Buddhist temples.

Indung said, based on his experience and observations of the unearthed parts of the structure, which is about 2.7 meters long and around 40 centimeters deep, the structure is unique because it appears to be comparatively intact, has extremely fine ornaments and is made from a high quality, non-porous andesit stone.

“Only a temple of high importance for its time used this kind of material. This is why the reliefs have remained intact despite their age,” said Indung, pointing at pictures of the structure.

Based on the architectural style and motifs of its ornaments, there is a high possibility the structure was built in the Central Java period, between the 9th and 10th centuries, during the rule of the Ancient Mataram Kingdom, he said.

In particular, motifs of a blossoming lotus, chains of pearls and of creeping plants indicated it was probably from this period, he said.

The exact age and form of the building of which the structure was part could be studied and revealed through excavation, Indung said.

“We are looking at the possibility of conducting a carbon dating to find out the exact age of the structure,” he said.

If the structure is part of an ancient temple of which at least 70 percent of the original structure is intact, then a restoration will be necessary, he said.

Indung revealed that around 2 or 3 kilometers to the south of the site in Palgading hamlet, Ngaglik district, another ancient temple had previously been found and was ready to be excavated.

Also, about 2 kilometers west of the site is a village named Candi, literally meaning temple, which may refer to the temple.
(From : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/12/15/conservation-center-prepares-excavate-%E2%80%98temple%E2%80%99-site.html)

HISTORY OF PRAMBANAN

Prambanan is the ninth century Hindu temple compound in Central Java, Indonesia, dedicated to Trimurti, the highest three gods in Hinduism. The temple compound located approximately 18 km east of Yogyakarta city on the boundary between Yogyakarta and Central Java province.
The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, currently is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia, and is one of the largest Hindu temples in south-east Asia. It is characterised by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the towering 47m high central building inside a large complex of individual temples.
Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple of ancient Java, and the construction of this royal temple was probably started by Rakai Pikatan as the Hindu Sanjayas answer to the Buddhist Sailendra's Borobudur and Sewu temples nearby. The construction of Prambanan probably was meant to marked the return of Sanjaya dynasty to power after almost a century fell under Sailendra domination on Central Java.
A temple was first built at the site around 850 CE by either Rakai Pikatan or Balitung Maha Sambu the Sanjaya king of the Mataram Kingdom. Indeed, some archaeologists propose that the idol of Shiva in the garbhagriha (central chamber) of the main temple is modelled after King Balitung, serving as a depiction of his deified self after death.
The temple compound was expanded by successive Mataram kings such as Daksa and Tulodong with the addition hundreds of perwara temples around the chief temple. Prambanan served as the royal temple of the Hindu Kingdom of Mataram, with most of the state's religious ceremonies and sacrifices being conducted there. At the height of the Mataram kingdom, scholars estimate that hundreds of Brahmins with their disciples lived within the outer wall of the temple compound. The urban center and the court of Mataram were located nearby, somewhere in the Prambanan valley.
In the 930s, the court was shifted to East Java by Mpu Sindok, who established the Isyana Dynasty. While the reason for the shift remains uncertain, it was probably caused by an eruption of the volcano of Merapi located north of Prambanan, or a power struggle.
That marked the beginning of the temple's decline. It was soon abandoned and began to deteriorate. The temples themselves collapsed during a major earthquake in the 16th century.
In 1811 during Britain’s short-lived rule of the Dutch East Indies, Collin Mackenzie, a surveyor in the service of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, came upon the temples by chance. Although Sir Thomas subsequently commissioned a full survey of the ruins, they remained neglected for decades, with Dutch residents carting off sculptures as garden ornaments and native villagers using the foundation stones for construction material.
Half-hearted excavations by archaeologists in the 1880s merely facilitated looting. Reconstruction of the compound began in 1918, and proper restoration only in 1930. Efforts at restoration continue to this day. The main building was completed around 1953. Since much of the original stonework has been stolen and reused at remote construction sites, hampering restoration and since a temple can be rebuilt only if at least 75% of the original masonry is available, only the foundations of most of the smaller shrines are now visible with no plans for their reconstruction.
In the early 1990s the government removed the market that had sprung up near the temple and transformed the surrounding villages and rice paddies into an archaeological park. The park covers a large area, from Yogyakarta-Solo main road in the south, encompassing the whole Prambanan complex, the ruins of Lumbung and Bubrah temples, and as far as the Sewu temple compound in the north. In 1992 the Indonesian government created a State-owned Limited Liability Enterprise (PERSERO) of PT Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur Prambanan Ratu Boko. This enterprise is the authority for the park management of Borobudur Prambanan Ratu Boko and the surrounding region.
The open-air and indoor stages on the west side of the temple right across the Opak river, were built to stage the Ramayana ballet. This traditional Javanese dance is the centuries old dance of the Javanese court, performed every full moon night in the Prambanan temple since the 1960s. Since then, Prambanan has become one of the major archaeological and cultural tourism attractions in Indonesia.
The temple was damaged during the May 2006 Java earthquake. Large pieces of debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground. The temple has been closed to visitors until the damage can be fully assessed. The head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency stated that it would take months to identify the precise extent of the damage. However, some weeks later in 2006 the site had been re-opened for visitors. As of 2009, the interior of most of the temples remains off-limits for safety reasons.
(From : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prambanan)