So, after talking about the beautiful, useful, and real historical places around the city of Yogyakarta, now we want to take you to this city again to find the gems of Java. Yes, the temples. The land of Yogyakarta and Central Java, in general, are filled with a lot of them. That’s matching history because there was a great Kingdom there.
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The existence of that Kingdom influenced the nearby kingdoms, then attracted them to enter the province of Central Java, taking the throne for themselves. Even though they’re not here anymore, we can see their remains through the temples that save a lot of memories about their era. So, without further do, this is the historical temple in Yogyakarta.
1 – Ratu Boko Temple
The first in the historical temple in Yogyakarta is a temple called Ratu Boko. This temple actually located close to Prambanan temple. In fact, it’s also included inside its temple complex. The Ratu Boko temple is slightly different from the others thanks to its unique form that looks so unique.
From the picture, it almost looks like a gate rather than the actual building. There are four buildings with a square one located right in the middle.
Location: Sleman, Yogyakarta
Average Cost: Rp25.000,-
Opening Hours: 6 am to 5 pm
2 – Prambanan Temple
Prambanan, the most beautiful Hindu temple in the world. This temple located in the area of Sleman, Yogyakarta standing graciously even though parts of it was falling down due to many reasons, including natural disasters. Prambanan has about 47 meters of height with the three main temples named Wisnu, Siwa, and Brahma.
Those three mains are surrounded by the other 224 smaller temples, including the known Garuda Temple.
Location: Sleman, Yogyakarta
Average Cost: Rp50.000,-
Opening Hours: 6 am to 5 pm
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3 – Kalasan Temple
The third one in the historical temple in Yogyakarta is Kalasan. The Kalasan temple’s structure is still very good. You can see each part of the building starting from the bottom or leg, middle or body, and the roof clearly. The temple also has different doorways, each facing the North and Southside.
Interesting thing is, the doorways have this kind of ornaments right above them. It’s called Kala. The roof also has decorations about the Mountain, clouds, and also the residents of heaven.
Location: Danurejan, Yogyakarta
Average Cost: Rp10.000,-
Opening Hours: 6 am to 5 pm
4 – Plaosan Temple
Many people would recommend the name of Plaosan Temple as the best temple around Yogyakarta. A bit different from another temple, Plaosan has more buffed form. The form of it is also a bit complex than the nearby temples, especially the roof part where you can see the detailed small towers up high.
However, Plaosan Temple has two main complexes called Plaosan Lor and Plaosan Kidul, or basically the North and South Plaosan.
Location: Klaten
Average Cost: Rp5.000,-
Opening Hours: 8 am to 5 pm
5 – Sewu Temple
The other standing historical heritage from the kingdom era in Indonesia is a temple called Sewu. Sewu basically means a thousand. So, in the location you can expect to see them all, but sadly not in a very great condition. Some of them were destroyed, yet the other still standing.
But, the actual number of them is 257 temples, with only one main temple. But the view of that main temple and the rest of Pangapit and Pewarta temples is still amazing.
Location: Klaten
Average Cost: Rp10.000,-
Opening Hours: 6 am to 5 pm
6 – Ijo Temple
About 18km to the East Side of Yogyakarta, you can find another historical temple in Yogyakarta called Ijo Temple. The Ijo means Green color. So, is the temple were really colored in green or something like that? Turns out, it doesn’t have anything related to green things on it.
But, the location of this temple standing is called as Ijo Hill, thus the temple was named after that. The green panorama around is also supporting that name.
Location: Sleman, Yogyakarta
Average Cost: Rp20.000,-
Opening Hours: 6 am to 5 pm
7 – Sambisari Temple
In the previous article, we called this Sambisari Temple as a colossal temple that looks like a structure you can find in Rome, which like a place to hold a performance or something. But, the Sambisari was buried down the ground many years ago. And it took a long time to finally uncover it.
About the complex, Sambisari temple has about the four main buildings that consist of one main temple and the three smaller temples.
Location: Sleman, Yogyakarta
Average Cost: Rp5.000,-
Opening Hours: 6 am to 5 pm
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8 – Banyunibo Temple
Aside from the Ijo temple, there’s another one located around a natural area called Banyunibo temple. Banyunino is the Buddha temple that was built during the 9th century by the Old Mataram Kingdom. The location of this temple is surrounded by forest and hills. It shows a good picture in the morning.
Around the Banyunibo, you can also witness the view of rice terraces around you. Certainly, this little temple is worth a visit.
Location: Prambanan, Yogyakarta
Average Cost: Rp10.000,-
Opening Hours: 7 am to 5 pm
9 – Barong Temple
Another temple with a unique structure is Barong Temple. This temple is one of many Hindu temples in the country, it was built and developed between the 9th and 10th century. Barong temple also has another nickname, Suragedug. But the Barong ornaments on the temple made the locals call it as Barong Temple.
The purpose of using Barong ornaments to the temple is in order to protect it from evil. In Hindu mythology, Barong believed to be a creature that can cleanse the life from any evil.
Location: Sleman, Yogyakarta
Average Cost: Rp5.000,-
Opening Hours: 7 am to 5 pm
10 – Sari Temple
The next one is the Sari Temple. Just like some temples above, this temple also located in Sleman area of Yogyakarta as well. Sari was built by an artist, Rakai Panangkaran, who was responsible for the design of many temples around the country back then. All of his designs known to be philosophical and rich in history.
The reliefs that can be found here are most similar to the ones in Kalasan Temple. On top of the temple, there are nine stupas.
Location: Kalasan, Sleman, Yogyakarta
Average Cost: Rp10.000,-
Opening Hours: 7 am to 5 pm
11 – Kedulan Temple
About 2,5 km from the city of Yogyakarta, there’s a location of excavation that became a location of Kedulan Temple. Like you can see in the picture, the Kedulan Temple complex is still under excavation process, so all of it is not fully uncovered yet. But from the process, you can see some forms resembling the temple.
Not far from there, the two tablets, Pananggaran and Sumundul tables were found.
Location: Kalasan, Sleman, Yogyakarta
Average Cost: Rp3.000,-
Opening Hours: 9 am to 5 pm
12 – Gebang Temple
The next temple in the historical temple in Yogyakarta is called Gebang Temple. It was found around the area of Ngemplak, Sleman, Yogyakarta which is about 11 km from the city of Yogyakarta. Not so many people know about this beautiful temple yet, maybe because it’s a location that is far from the other temples.
The size of this temple is also considered small compared to the ecosystem around it.
Location: Ngemplak, Sleman, Yogyakarta
Average Cost: Rp5.000,-
Opening Hours: 7 am to 4 pm
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13 – Borobudur Temple
Who doesn’t know this Borobudur Temple? A wonderful structure that was included as Seven Wonders of the World by UNESCO is the biggest Budha temple and the biggest, fanciest, stupa complex in the world. The temple always looks so magical and always so mesmerizing, even today.
Around the temple, the tourists can witness all the reliefes that can be seen clearly on the walls.
Location: Magelang
Average Cost: Rp5.000,-
Opening Hours: 7 am to 4 pm
14 – Pawon Temple
Still around Borobudur location, you can also visit another temple called Pawon Temple. The location of this temple is about 2km North East of Borobudur Temple. Based on the structure, the Pawon Temple is basically a combination between the Hindu religion and the old Javanese culture.
Location: Borobudur, Magelang
Average Cost: Rp5.000,-
Opening Hours: 7 am to 4 pm
15 – Mendut Temple
The Mendut temple is one of many Budha temples that believed to has a close relation to the Pawon Temple. No one knows when the temple was built because there’s no single tablet or manuscript to confirm it. But, this temple is a beautiful one, especially because you can see the three Budha statues inside.
Location: Mungkid, Magelang
Average Cost: Rp5.000,-
Opening Hours: 7 am to 4 pm
