Categorized | Travel & Tourism

Majapahit, Anyone?

By the time you reach Trowulan the streets are narrow, the traffic sparse and the air clean. But sprinkled about this charming rural district, on well-manicured grounds, are the ruins of temples that suggest the city that once thrived here; imagine the spaces between them filled and you get an idea how extensive this capital of the Hindu-Buddhist-hybrid Majapahit Empire was. The empire itself, at its height in the late 1300s, reached across modern Indonesia and onto the Malay peninsula.

A photo display at the entrance of the Trowulan archeological museum can help you decide which sites to visit. The museum itself houses findings from the nearby ruins and elsewhere around eastern Java. Among the spears, coins, toys, hanging lamps and shadow puppets, I was surprised to find hollow figures of pigs with slots on the top—centuries-old piggy banks. Who knew? Foreign porcelains record the empire’s wide-ranging trade, including with Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and China.

As for the ruins themselves, many are quite impressive—not Borobudur or Angkor Wat impressive, but not overrun with touts and hawkers, either. Admission is free. Lost to history for centuries before the British explorer Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles “discovered” them in the early 1800s, the temples are mostly of red-clay brick, with reliefs that provide clues about Majapahit society. Some of the architecture is reminiscent of the temples of Bali, to which the elites of the empire fled when it fell to conquest in the late 1400s.

My favorite is the elegant Gapura Bajangratu (“gapura” means gate). The steps on its base rise to a high, narrow entryway that probably led to a structure honoring a ruler’s death; it opens to nowhere now. The winged layers of its top section likely symbolize “the releasing soul or the death,” the accompanying sign proclaims in awkward English.

Echoes of the beautiful Wringinlawang Gate, looking like a giant ornate vise, can be seen today before the driveways and walkways of local buildings. Candi Brahu is a bigger, more solid structure that you’re free to climb on.

For the locals these green sites are more park than piece of history; at Candi Brahu, a group of nonchalantly smoking teens perched on its shady side. At one point I heard gamelan music off in the distance, and later the call to prayer from a faraway mosque.

A capital city once, today the middle of nowhere—an excellent retreat when the region’s current big city becomes too frenzied and mind-numbing.

—Steve Mollman is a writer based in Asia.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Popularity: 6% [?]

Share this Good News!
  • Print
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • Reddit
  • Technorati
  • Twitter
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Tumblr
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

This post was posted by:

Akhyari - who has posted 854 posts on Good News From Indonesia.


Contact the author


7 Responses to “Majapahit, Anyone?”

  1. saifulmuhajir says:

    I love temples. I can spent my whole day and forget about everything to look at the details. I’ve never been there yet, though.

    VA:F [1.9.11_1134]
    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
    VA:F [1.9.11_1134]
    Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
    • Bambang says:

      I have, and it’s a really interesting place to visit, Saiful. So you must! :-)

      VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
      Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
      VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
      Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
      • faisal says:

        Those are the places I used to spend my holidays with friends when I was a kid. Historical sites among beautiful paddy field view. Blowing-wind freshened our faces under the shining-sun. My favorite is Candi Brahu. I miss them badly…

        VA:F [1.9.11_1134]
        Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
        VA:F [1.9.11_1134]
        Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
  2. rizky says:

    i have a special interest on ancient establishment, and these Majapahit ruins would definitely be my favorite objects to visit. the question is, how can i get there from Surabaya? does anyone know? thanks

    VA:F [1.9.11_1134]
    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
    VA:F [1.9.11_1134]
    Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
    • Bambang says:

      Rizky,
      You can hire a taxi or charter a car to Mojokerto (where Trowulan is situated), which is about an hour’s drive from Surabaya. Would be more interesting if you studied the background of Majapahit before you come here, as unlike most ancient establishment, they do not provide guides who could brief you on the history. Hope this helps!

      VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
      Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
      VN:F [1.9.11_1134]
      Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
  3. aaron says:

    it’s from history books that we, the kapampangan people of central luzon (philippines) came from the descendants of majapahit empire

    VA:F [1.9.11_1134]
    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
    VA:F [1.9.11_1134]
    Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Tweets that mention Majapahit, anyone? | Good News From Indonesia -- Topsy.com says:

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Peep Indonesia, Eviendo Hariyanto. Eviendo Hariyanto said: Majapahit, anyone? http://bit.ly/cdCc53 #GNFI [...]


Leave a Reply

Design your own t-shirt at ooShirts.com!

GNFI’s Charity Project

GNFI Channels


ShoutMix chat widget

counter
Share

Good News by Month

Meta