Prambanan & Ramayana Ballet

Stats:
Destination: Prambanan Temple - Java, Indonesia

Number of Days there: 1
Favorite Restaurant: The buffet restaurant at the ballet was surprisingly very good. At 70,000 (roughly $7) it was rather pricey but there were few options around the temple and time was short so we gave it a try. Tasty food and yummy fruit with ginger tea!

Times we took the: Bus: 0 Train/Subway: 0 Taxi/Car: 0; Motorcycle: 1
Estimated KM walked: 3

After spending a day in Yogya we decided to get the heck out of dodge so we jumped on our motorbike (those things are pretty handy but not fun to ride in the sun or traffic for that matter) and rode up to Gunung Merapi and then over to Prambanan. Prambanan was erected in the middle of the 9th century and is the largest Hindu temple in Java. The main temple, Candi Shiva Mahadeva, is dedicated to the goddess Shiva and contains carvings depicting the story of Ramayana. There are several outlying temples that flank Prambanan as well and are considered part of the same complex.

After viewing a beautiful sunset we headed over just west of the complex and bought tickets (50,000 RP -$5) for the Ramayana Ballet. The story of Ramayana is considered one of the most famous Hindu stories (at least in Indonesia). It tells how Lord Rama's wife, Sita, was abducted and how Hanuman the monkey god and Sugriwa the white monkey fight with Rama for the release of Sita. The ballet was really beautiful (the men playing on their cellphones next to me must have though so too)! It featured 50 dancers, a full gamelan and the final couple acts even had fire!

To see more pictures from Prambanan please click here!