Indonesian tourist circuit

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• What’s happening in Asian tourism?
• Tour de Djakarta
• The Mudras
• The Balinese Wayang Puppet Theater
• Wayang Madya
• Website Traffic Analysis
• How To Increasing Link Popularity
• Good Search Engine Keywords Selection
• How To Increase Search Engine Ranking
• The Future Of The Chandi Of Borobudur
• The Wayang Klithik
• The Life Of Buddha In Reliefs
• The Wayang Golek
• The Spheres
• The Wayang Gedhog
• Historia Bharabudhara
• The Wayang Purwa
• The Triad Of Wonders
• The Leather Wayang Puppetry
• Unforgettably Gorgeous Moment Of Bharabudhara

What’s happening in Asian tourism? Posted: 21 Nov 2009 07:32 PM PST Tour operators, hotels and airlines are bracing for a rocky 2009 as the global financial crisis hits long haul travel. Asia has been experiencing a travel boom with a massive range of geography from the snow-capped Himalayas to some of the best beaches in the world. But last year saw a drop in numbers. This [...]

Tour de Djakarta Posted: 31 Jul 2009 11:19 PM PDT Welcome to Ibukota. Literally Ibukota means "The Mother of The Cities" of country, province, state, regency, etcetera. So it means the capital city of Indonesia. Many visitors have though the Djkarta as not worth more than one nighttime stay is considered offering no attractivenesses than a lot, hot, and buzzing capital. At a glance, yes Djakarta looks just like the other capital anyplace in world. but once you have the chance to know it much better you'll find the attractiveness you might be surprised of. The museum and the artefacts they preserve, the old churces and the neighbouring masjids, the monuments parks, recreation and funfair are only a few to 6 days time of yours. Places of interest are evidently located in such a way that you'd be able to enjoy them in groups once you get there, such as the National Museum, the National Monument, the Sunda Kelapa harbour, the Mini Indonesian Park, and so forth. The National Museum the one of the finest museums in South East Asia. It was established in 1778 by J.M.C. Rademaker under the auspices of Batavia Association of Arts and Sciences. its ethnographic historical, pre historical, and archeological sections are of special interest. Its collection of Chinese and South East Asia ceramics is among the most complete in this region and Hindoo Javanese art collection is sail to rival that of Leiden (Holland). The treasure room with its priceless collection of exhibits is open only on Sunday mornings, a bronzy elephant a gift from King Chulalongkorn of Siam when he visited Batavia. The National Monument located at the Merdeka square, nowadays the centre of the capital of Indonesia. It's the Old Hindoo Javanese Lingga and Yony, the symbolization of richness, brought to life again in modern version, to symbolize national independence. The Lingga is an obelisk, 137 metres high and topped with a 'flame' coated kilos of pure gold. An elevator rides to the viewing platform from where the visitors can get a panoramic view of Djakarta. The basement house a museum of the nation's history. Near the monument is a statue of Prince Diponegoro (on horseback) who fight the Dutch colonial in the Java War. As you can see the National Monument is surrounded by many buildings of different functions standing along the streets on the four sides. The Sunda Kelapa harbour is among the oldest habours in the world. Its existence has witnessed the story of Dutch East Indies. It was formerly the harbour town of Sunda Kelapa under the Hindoo Kingdom of Padjajaran in early 16th century. On your visit to the port you'll find a exotic scence of the busy traffic, fishery boat, and cargo-sailing-boats are coming in and out, various commodities and agriculture products are loaded and unloaded at around-the-clock. The Beautiful Mini Indonesian Park portrays the beautiful Indonesia islands represented in life size models with typical regional architecture. Giving visitors an in sight of the real Indonesia islands. The idea of such park came from the first lady, Madam Tien Soeharto, who wanted that Indonesian and foreign visitors know more about the country, and to heighten pride and national sense of duty to take part in the development of the country.[email_link]

The Mudras Posted: 29 Jul 2009 11:13 PM PDT The graceful hand positions of the Buddha, mudras in Sanskritic language, all have specifically symbolic meanings. Six mudras are depicted, the symbolic meaning of each position being long-familiar. In iconography, the description and interpretation of the 504 Buddha statues of Borobudur chandi still are a subject of controversy. The explanation for this pantheon of Buddhas is sought in the resemblance between the arrangement of the Buddhas on Borobudur chandi and those on Thibet temples. The deviations, however, reflect the distinctive nature of the Javanese interpretation when depicting Buddhism. Although one can ascend Borobudur chandi from all 4 directions, the easterly gate is, according to the arrange of the reliefs, considered to be the primary essence. 100s of Buddhas belongings their hands in different positions are placed in niches along 5 balustraded galleries. The stately rhytm in which the various mudras follow along consecutively creates a unique harmoniousness. On the 1st four galleries circumvented by balustrades are 4 dissimilar types of mudras can be distinguished. The hands of the Buddhas of the east of Borobudur chandi, call upon the Earth as witnesser to his enlightenment, in Sanskrit Bhumisparca-mudra. Those on the south side symbolize Charity, the Wara-mudra. Further west, comes the gesture of Meditation or Dhyana-mudra, whereas those to the north express bravery, the Abhaya-mudra. The entire 5th balustrade symbolizes the Zenith. To all 4 winds of heaven the hands of the Buddha signify Reasoning or Witarka-mudra. The 6th mudra, reflecting the Turning of the Wheel of Law - Dharmacakara-mudra, is hidden in stupas. During his 1st sermon in the park of the Gazelles at Benares, the Buddha assumed this posture. Should a connectedness be sought between the 6 and the cosmographic division-the sphere of Desire, the sphere of Form, and the sphere of Formlessness-then the placing of Buddhas on the 1st balustrade, forming part of the sphere of Desire, would be inappropriate. But as this balustrade also constitutes a smooth transition to the sphere of Form, being the appropriate sphere in which to place statues, the Javanese architects placed the Buddhas there, in niches differently arranged. The 5th balustrade separates the sphere of Form and the access to the sphere of Formlessness. Here too the depiction of Buddhas in the sphere of Formlessness would actually not be applicable. Nevertheless, an ingenious solution was found to demonstrate the presence and non-presence of the Buddhas in the highest sphere, by putting them under trellised stupas. The 6 positions of the hands;Bhumisparca-mudra, Wara-mudra, Dhyana-mudra, Abhaya-mudra, Witarka-mudra, and Dharmacakara-mudra, reveal the mystery which Buddha's serene face conceals. [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Balinese Wayang Puppet Theater Posted: 29 Jul 2009 07:44 PM PDT In Bali the wayang play retains its spiritual significance, being used in all the religious festivals, the 5 Yadnyas. The Dewa Yadnya ceremonials for the gods and deified ascendents, the Pitara Yadnya ceremonials for the souls, the Manusia Yadnya ceremonials for the rites-de-passage, Rshi Yadnya consecration ceremonials for the priest, and Bhuta Yadnya offerings to the magical powers of the spirits. 3 sets of wayang are known to have gained fame among the folks; the Wayang Parwa depicting the Mahabharatum stories; the Wayang Ramayana depicting the stories of Rama; and the Wayang Leyak or Wayang Calonarang depicting the legend of the magical widow of Girah who spread disease and disaster during the Airlangga period of Kediri kingdom. Still existing in Bali, but never performed nowadays, is the Wayang Gambuh depicting the Malat Pandji stories. The wayang figures retain their original features resembling the figures of the reliefs of the Panataran temple in East Java. The Wayang Parwa is companioned by only 4 gendhers, while the Wayang Ramayana or the Wayang Calonarang is companioned by a more luxuriant orchestra called the Bhathel ensemble consisting of: 4 gendhers, 2 ghupak, 1 cengceng, 1 klenang, and 1 kempur. While the dialog of the Wayang Parwa in Java is already using the modern Javan language, the Wayang Bali still uses the Kawi (old Javan) language and translate it to ordinary daily Balinese language through the Penasars. The technique of narration is also different in Bali. The narration is called the Penjacah Parwa (in Java the Janturan), and songs are called the Pengalang (in Java the Sulukan). The Penjacah Parwa is to be continued by the telling of the stories called the Senduk Semita. The Penasars, who translate Kawi dialogue into ordinary daily Balinese, are called Malen or twalen, Merdah, Sangut, and Melem or Dwelem. Malen and Merdah accompany the right side or heroic figure, such as the knights and Sangut-Melem accompany the left side or evil figures, such as the monsters. According to the rules of the ceremonials every wayang performance has to be given a complete set of offerings called Bebanten Wayang to ward off evil spirits and necromancy powers. During purification ceremonials or the Penglukatan a special story is performed, the Sudamala or Sapuleger story, which is as is as in Java. Also the Murwakala story for the Ngruwat (known as Nglukat, in the Balinese ceremonial). [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

Wayang Madya Posted: 26 Jul 2009 07:02 PM PDT Prince Mangkunegoro IV who reigned in the Mangkunegaran area of Surakarta at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries ordered his court artists to compose afresh wayang, which he called the Wayang Madya. It was intended to provide a link between the Wayang Purwa and the Wayang Gedhog, and utilised stories derived from a book of mythology named Hajipamasa. It deals with the coming of the Hindoos to Java before the Wayang Gedhog era (the period of Jenggala, Kediri). The stories are thence much older than those of the Wayang Gedhog, although their use in wayang performance is of course later. Performances of this kinda wayang are very rare, and there are only a few Dhalangs, who can narrate the stories, left in Solo. [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

Website Traffic Analysis Posted: 22 Jul 2009 08:04 PM PDT Analyzing your web traffic statistics can be an invaluable tool for a number of different reasons. But before you can make full use of this tool, you need to understand how to interpret the data. Most web hosting companies will provide you with basic web traffic information that you then have to interpret and make pertinent use of. However, the data you receive from your host company can be overwhelming if you don't understand how to apply it to your particular business and website. Let's start by examining the most basic data - the average visitors to your site on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. These figures are the most accurate measure of your website's activity. It would appear on the surface that the more traffic you see recorded, the better you can assume your website is doing, but this is an inaccurate perception. You must also look at the behavior of your visitors once they come to your website to accurately gauge the effectiveness of your site. There is often a great misconception about what is commonly known as "hits" and what is really effective, quality traffic to your site. Hits simply means the number of information requests received by the server. If you think about the fact that a hit can simply equate to the number of graphics per page, you will get an idea of how overblown the concept of hits can be. For example, if your homepage has 15 graphics on it, the server records this as 15 hits, when in reality we are talking about a single visitor checking out a single page on your site. As you can see, hits are not useful in analyzing your website traffic. The more visitors that come to your website, the more accurate your interpretation will become. The greater the traffic is to your website, the more precise your analysis will be of overall trends in visitor behavior. The smaller the number of visitors, the more a few anomalous visitors can distort the analysis. The aim is to use the web traffic statistics to figure out how well or how poorly your site is working for your visitors. One way to determine this is to find out how long on average your visitors spend on your site. If the time spent is relatively brief, it usually indicates an underlying problem. Then the challenge is to figure out what that problem is. It could be that your keywords are directing the wrong type of visitors to your website, or that your graphics are confusing or intimidating, causing the visitor to exit rapidly. Use the knowledge of how much time visitors are spending on your site to pinpoint specific problems, and after you fix those problems, continue to use time spent as a gauge of how effective your fix has been. Additionally, web traffic stats can help you determine effective and ineffective areas of your website. If you have a page that you believe is important, but visitors are exiting it rapidly, that page needs attention. You could, for example, consider improving the link to this page by making the link more noticeable and enticing, or you could improve the look of the page or the ease that your visitors can access the necessary information on that page. If, on the other hand, you notice that visitors are spending a lot of time on pages that you think are less important, you might consider moving some of your sales copy and marketing focus to that particular page. As you can see, these statistics will reveal vital information about the effectiveness of individual pages, and visitor habits and motivation. This is essential information to any successful Internet marketing campaign. Your website undoubtedly has exit pages, such as a final order or contact form. This is a page you can expect your visitor to exit rapidly. However, not every visitor to your site is going to find exactly what he or she is looking for, so statistics may show you a number of different exit pages. This is normal unless you notice a exit trend on a particular page that is not intended as an exit page. In the case that a significant percentage of visitors are exiting your website on a page not designed for that purpose, you must closely examine that particular page to discern what the problem is. Once you pinpoint potential weaknesses on that page, minor modifications in content or graphic may have a significant impact on the keeping visitors moving through your site instead of exiting at the wrong page. After you have analyzed your visitor statistics, it's time to turn to your keywords and phrases. Notice if particular keywords are directing a specific type of visitor to your site. The more targeted the visitor - meaning that they find what they are looking for on your site, and even better, fill out your contact form or make a purchase - themore valuable that keyword is. However, if you find a large number of visitors are being directed - or should I say misdirected - to your site by a particular keyword or phrase, that keyword demands adjustment. Keywords are vital to bringing quality visitors to your site who are ready to do business with you. Close analysis of the keywords your visitors are using to find your site will give you a vital understanding of your visitor's needs and motivations. Finally, if you notice that users are finding your website by typing in your company name, break open the champagne! It means you have achieved a significant level of brand recognition, and this is a sure sign of burgeoning success. [email_link]

How To Increasing Link Popularity Posted: 21 Jul 2009 08:19 AM PDT Link popularity refers to the ranking assigned to your website by the search engines, and it determines the ranking your page gets when keywords are entered into a search engine. Search engines are discretionary, giving status and ranking to sites that have links to their pages from related, quality sites. It's a simple formula, but a very important one. Google created the system, and now virtually all the most popular search engines employ it to rank your web pages in their indexes. The more commonly used your keyword is, the harder it will be to achieve link popularity, but without achieving this step, it is almost certain your site will never rank highly on any search engine. But don't be discouraged; there are tried and true ways of achieving link popularity using the most competitive keywords. Then you have to make sure that you have a beautiful, streamlined site or you will never persuade anyone to link up to you. Be prepared to keep plugging away at this process, as long as it takes, until you achieve link popularity stardom! There are a few things you should be aware of. The first is that just linking up with a large number of other websites will not achieve link popularity. In fact, it may have quite the opposite effect. This is particularly true when pertaining to websites that are nothing more than "link farms" - pages containing line after line of indiscriminate links. Search engines may aggressively discriminate against your website if you are associated with a link farm, so steer clear of them! Then the next thing to bear in mind is the quality of the site you are linking to. Never link to a page you have reservations about your visitors seeing. The last thing you want your website to appear as is indiscriminate and cheap. Linking to sites of poor quality will only lessen your link popularity, if not completely destroy it. The first step, and the fastest way to get your foot in the door, is to get a listing in a popular directory, such as Open Directory Project and Yahoo. If your site is business-related, you will want to be listed on Yahoo, and despite the fact that it will be money well spent. If your site is non-commercial, the listing will be free, but it will take time and follow-up to actually get it listed. Open Directory is gives you a free listing whether you are business-related or non-commercial, but be prepared to make a lot of follow-up inquiries before you see your site listed. The next step after you have attained directory listings is to locate other quality sites that will increase your link popularity. Try to find sites that are in some way related to yours, so not only will your link popularity increase, but your customer base may also be expanded. You want to avoid your competitors and look for sites that are useful to your site's visitors. By linking to a related site that will be relevant to your website's traffic, you are increasing both of your site's business prospects - and both of your sites' link popularity. Not all sites want to link to other sites, so you will have to do some research when you are looking for possible linking partners. Google is an excellent starting place for your search. Make sure you enter keywords that you think quality customers will also enter to find your own site. Remember, your criteria are quality, highly ranked, non-competing websites that have a links or resources page. Go to these sites and objectively assess them. Look at the quality of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use. Then check out the other sites they are linked to, and determine if your own site would fit in with the crowd. When you decide you have found a good prospect, you must set out to woo them. The first thing to do is to add a link on your own links page to their site. This is an essential first step; it shows good faith, and ups your chances significantly of their reciprocity. After you have added their link, you must contact the webmaster of their site. Since this is almost always done by email, you want to make sure it is immediately clear that your message is not junk mail. This requires that you tell them right off the bat that you have added a link to their page on your site. A hook like this almost always insures the reader will read on. Next, be sure to be flattering and let them know how much you appreciate their website. Make sure you emphasize that you have actually visited their site, and that their site is not just a random pick. Give them the address of your links page, and ask them to check out the link for themselves. It's a good idea to mention that they will not only benefit from the increased traffic your website will direct their way, but you will also increase their link popularity. Briefly, explain why link popularity is so essential, but do this in a sentence or two so you don't sound like a professor! Finally, tell them you would greatly appreciate if they would reciprocally add a link on their own links page to your website. Go through this process with as many appropriate sites as you can find, bearing in mind the criteria of quality and non-competitiveness. After you have emailed all relevant sites, be sure to check these website frequently to see if they have added a link to your page. Give it about a month, and if no link appears, try another charming email. Then give it another month, and if your site is still absent from their links page, it's time to remove their link from your own links page. The only time you want to pursue a link further than this is if you believe a site is crucial to your link popularity and your business needs. Just remember to keep all your communications complimentary and cordial. Then set up a schedule to check your ranking in search engines frequently to see if your link popularity has improved. This is not achievable in the blink of an eye. It will take some time and a good deal of work. There is no way around the labor-intensive quality of improving your link popularity, which is why search engines regard it with such importance. [email_link]

Good Search Engine Keywords Selection Posted: 09 Jul 2009 08:57 AM PDT Your keywords serve as the foundation of your marketing strategy. If they are not chosen with great precision, no matter how aggressive your marketing campaign may be, the right people may never get the chance to find out about it. This is an essential concept: numbers alone do not make a good keyword; profits per visitor do. You need to find keywords that direct consumers to your site who actually buy your product, fill out your forms, or download your product. This is the most important factor in evaluating the efficacy of a keyword or phrase, and should be the sword you wield when discarding and replacing ineffective or inefficient keywords with keywords that bring in better profits. Ongoing analysis of tested keywords is the formula for search engine success. This may sound like a lot of work - and it is! But the amount of informed effort you put into your keyword campaign is what will ultimately generate your business' rewards. So your first step in plotting your strategy is to gather and evaluate keywords and phrases. You probably think you already know EXACTLY the right words for your search phrases. Unfortunately, if you haven't followed certain specific steps, you are probably WRONG. It's hard to be objective when you are right in the center of your business network, which is the reason that you may not be able to choose the most efficient keywords from the inside. You need to be able to think like your customers. And since you are a business owner and not the consumer, your best bet is to go directly to the source. Instead of plunging in and scribbling down a list of potential search words and phrases yourself, ask for words from as many potential customers as you can. You will most likely find out that your understanding of your business and your customers' understanding is significantly different. The consumer is an invaluable resource. You will find the words you accumulate from them are words and phrases you probably never would have considered from deep inside the trenches of your business. Only after you have gathered as many words and phrases from outside resources should you add your own keyword to the list. Once you have this list in hand, you are ready for the next step: evaluation. The aim of evaluation is to narrow down your list to a small number of words and phrases that will direct the highest number of quality visitors to your website. By "quality visitors" I mean those consumers who are most likely to make a purchase rather than just cruise around your site and take off for greener pastures. In evaluating the effectiveness of keywords, bear in mind three elements: popularity, specificity, and motivation. Popularity is the easiest to evaluate because it is an objective quality. The more popular your keyword is, the more likely the chances are that it will be typed into a search engine which will then bring up your URL. You can now purchase software that will rate the popularity of keywords and phrases by giving words a number rating based on real search engine activity. Software such as WordTracker will even suggest variations of your words and phrases. The higher the number this software assigns to a given keyword, the more traffic you can logically expect to be directed to your site. The only fallacy with this concept is the more popular the keyword is, the greater the search engine position you will need to obtain. If you are down at the bottom of the search results, the consumer will probably never scroll down to find you. Popularity isn't enough to declare a keyword a good choice. You must move on to the next criteria, which is specificity. The more specific your keyword is, the greater the likelihood that the consumer who is ready to purchase your goods or services will find you. Let's look at a hypothetical example. Imagine that you have obtained popularity rankings for the keyword "automobile companies." However, you company specializes in bodywork only. The keyword "automobile body shops" would rank lower on the popularity scale than "automobile companies," but it would nevertheless serve you much better. Instead of getting a slew of people interested in everything from buying a car to changing their oil filters, you will get only those consumers with trashed front ends or crumpled fenders being directed to your site. In other words, consumers ready to buy your services are the ones who will immediately find you. Not only that, but the greater the specificity of your keyword is, the less competition you will face. The third factor is consumer motivation. Once again, this requires putting yourself inside the mind of the customer rather than the seller to figure out what motivation prompts a person looking for a service or product to type in a particular word or phrase. Let's look at another example, such as a consumer who is searching for a job as an IT manager in a new city. If you have to choose between "Seattle job listings" and "Seattle IT recruiters" which do you think will benefit the consumer more? If you were looking for this type of specific job, which keyword would you type in? The second one, of course! Using the second keyword targets people who have decided on their career, have the necessary experience, and are ready to enlist you as their recruiter, rather than someone just out of school who is casually trying to figure out what to do with his or her life in between beer parties. You want to find people who are ready to act or make a purchase, and this requires subtle tinkering of your keywords until your find the most specific and directly targeted phrases to bring the most motivated traffic to you site. Once you have chosen your keywords, your work is not done. You must continually evaluate performance across a variety of search engines, bearing in mind that times and trends change, as does popular lingo. You cannot rely on your log traffic analysis alone because it will not tell you how many of your visitors actually made a purchase. Luckily, some new tools have been invented to help you judge the effectiveness of your keywords in individual search engines. There is now software available that analyzes consumer behavior in relation to consumer traffic. This allows you to discern which keywords are bringing you the most valuable customers. [email_link]

How To Increase Search Engine Ranking Posted: 06 Jul 2009 08:55 PM PDT Search engine rankings are extremely important for a successful Internet marketing campaign. Before you go out and hire a search engine optimization company, try taking some of the simple steps listed below, and see if you can't boost your rankings yourself. Don't ever ignore this all-important factor in Internet marketing. Remember, the higher your search engine ranking, the more quality customers will be directed your way. At least 85% of people looking for goods and services on the Internet find websites through search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN. The idea of optimizing your pages for high search engine rankings is to attract targeted customers to your site who will be more than likely to make a purchase. The higher your page comes up in search engine results, the greater the traffic that is directed to your website. That's what search engine optimization is about. You can immerse yourself in all the technical information available online to figure out how to optimize your web pages to achieve higher rankings. Or you can look at a few simple items on your pages, make some small adjustments, and most likely see improved rankings quite rapidly. The first item you should examine is the title bar on your homepage. The title bar is the colored bar at the top of the page. Look at the words that appear there when you access your home page. To increase search engine rankings, the words on your homepage's title bar should include the most important keywords or phrases, one of which would include your company name. Then click on all your links and examine the title bars on the pages you access. Each title bar on every single page of your site should contain the most important keywords and phrases taken from the page itself. However, avoid very long strings of keywords, keeping them to six words or less. Avoid repeating keywords more than once in the title bars, and make sure that identical words are not next to each other. The next item to put under your microscope is your website content. Search engines generally list sites that contain quality content rather than scintillating graphics. The text on your site must contain the most important keywords - the words that potential customers will be typing into search engines to find your site. Aim to have around 250 words on each page, but if this is not desirable due to your design, aim for at least 100 carefully chosen words. If you want to achieve a high ranking on search engines, this text is essential. However, the search engines must be able to read the text, meaning that the text must be in HTML and not graphic format. To find out if your text is in HTML format, take your cursor and try to highlight a word or two. If you are able to do this, the text is HTML. If the text will not highlight, it is probably in graphic form. In this case, ask your webmaster to change the text into HTML format in order to increase your search engine rankings. Next we come to what is called meta tags. Many people believe that meta tags are the key to high search engine rankings, but in reality, they only have a limited effect. Still, it's worth adding them in the event that a search engine will use meta tags in their ranking formula. To find out if your page is set up with meta tags, you must access the code. To do this, click the "view" button on the browser menu bar, and select "source." This will pull up a window revealing the underlying code that created the page. If there are meta tags, they usually appear near the top of the window. For example, a meta tag would read: meta name="keywords". If you do not find code that reads like this, ask your webmaster to put them in. This may not do much for your search engine rankings, but any little boost helps. Lastly, we come to the issue of link popularity. This is a factor that is extremely important in terms of search engine rankings. Almost all search engines use link popularity to rank your website. Link popularity is based on the quality of the sites you have linked to from your links page. If you type in "free link popularity check" in a popular search engine, the search engine will then show you what sites are linked to your site. In the case that there aren't many sites linked up to yours, or that the sites that are linked up have low search engine rankings, consider launching a link popularity campaign. Essentially, this entails contacting quality sites and requesting that they exchange links with your site. Of course, this requires checking out the rankings of the websites you want to link up with. Linking to popular, quality sites not only boosts your search engine ranking, but it also directs more quality traffic to your website. [email_link]

The Future Of The Chandi Of Borobudur Posted: 25 Jun 2009 05:26 AM PDT Many problems still remain to be solved. The origin of the names of several Buddha statues aren't unquestionably known yet. How the monument was worked up by Gunadharma about 800 A.D. is myth rather than history. The mystery of the hidden base and the unfinished Buddha from the central stupa still call for full attention. But the future of the chandi of Borobudur is very hopeful. Sir Thomas Raffles was the 1st of a long line of men who were to exert influence on its fate and who tried to save it from decay. Ir.Th.Van Erp, who pioneered later work, restored its archetype architectural characteristics. Renewed dilapidation again required people with dedication. The aid promised by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization and by foundations who aim at the preservation of the chandi of Borobudur, will constitute an important contribution towards a successful accomplishment of this task. In mystical circles it's prophesied that Indonesia shall again attain great prosperity provided the chandi of Borobudur shall be restored to its original state. May modern science and techniques realise this recovery and may the whispered prediction of this mystical world come true. [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Wayang Klithik Posted: 21 Jun 2009 06:47 PM PDT The Wayang Klithik is a kinda wayang, which is never performed nowadays. But the stories associated with it are still very popular and provide the themes for the dance dramas known as Kethoprak. They're taken from the book called Dhamarwulan, which consists of stories from the Majapahit and Blambangan kingdoms, in the most eastern region of Java. The Dhamarwulan stories have some historical element, but are mostly legends, which can't be used as historical records. The puppets are made of wood, with flat leather arms. The features are similiar to those of the Wayang Gedhog, and the figures have as is clothing and ornaments. According to the evidence of the Serat Pakem Sastramiruda, this wayang was developed during the reign of Pakubawana II. As has already been said, it's rarely, if ever, performed now, but excellent examples of the puppets my be seen and studied in the Radyapustaka Museum of Solo, the cultural museum in Yogyakarta and in the Djakarta Museum. [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Life Of Buddha In Reliefs Posted: 20 May 2009 07:13 PM PDT KARMAWIBHANGGA. The Karmawibhangga is a manuscript describing the doctrine of cause and effect of good and evil. This series of reliefs isn't visible as it's surrounded by the broad base. Only part of the south side of Bharabudhara chandi is dismantled for visitors. LALITAVISTARA. The life of Buddha Gautama from his birth until his 1st Sermon at Benares, is depicted here. Only one round along the terrasses has been dedicated to this manuscript. JATAKAMALA-JATAKA. The Jatakamala of Garland of Jatakas, is a collection of poems consisting of 34 Jatakas. Written by Aryacara in the fourth century, these Jatakas contain stories about great deeds performed by the Buddha in his former lives. These episodes of reincarnations serve as examples of selflessness. AWADANA. The Awadana are actually Jatakas, in which Buddha isn't performing the principal lead. They describe deeds accomplished by the Bodhisattvas in their former lives, steeling onself for Buddhaship. GANDAWYUHA. In the Buddhist world, the Gandawyuha writing is considered most important. It describes Sudhana, son of a rich merchant, who in his aim to attain the highest Wisdom, meets several Bodhisattvas. The Maitreya-the Future Buddha and Samantabhadra belong to these spiritual teachers. BHADRACHARI. Concluding the Gandawyuha-the Bhadrachari has been added to it-containing the pledge of Sudhana to follow the example of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra. [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Wayang Golek Posted: 17 May 2009 06:22 PM PDT According to the Serat Pakem Sastramiruda, the Wayang Golek was devised by Sunan Koudous. In the Kudus-Jepara region of Central Java from earliest time as yet there's been a custom of wood-carving. It's perhaps for this reason, that the Wayang Golek, which is carven from wood, was developed therein area. The Wayang Golek is a solid third-dimensional puppet similiar to the classical puppets from China. At the performance no screen is used, so the term wayang is perhaps a misnomer, since there's of course no element of shadow show involved. Nowadays the Wayang Golek is especially popular and highly developed in the Sunda region of West Java. It's also long-familiar in Cirebon, a town lying on the border between West and Central Java, where both Javanese and Sundanese are spoken. There are, then, 3 different kinds of Wayang Golek: The Wayang Golek Purwa, using the epic stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and resembling the Wayang Purwa in features and ornamentations. The Wayang Golek Gedhog, which uses the Pandji stories. The Wayang Golek Menak, which depicts legends of the Emeer Ambyah, which are of Persian and Arab origin and are thought to be about the uncle of the Prophet Mohammed. In Java the Emeer Ambyah is known as Wong Agung Menak Jayengrana, but as a matter of fact isn't a historical figure. [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Spheres Posted: 16 Apr 2009 12:33 AM PDT The Buddha is said to have determined the shape and structure of a stupa by folding his beggar cloth, placing his beggary bowl thereon and completing it to perfection by crowning the top with his stick. In doing so, Buddha gave an indicant of the 3 all-important aspects of a stupa, which consists of a square base, a hemisphere and a pinnacle. At the break of dawn Bharabudhara chandi is sharply silhouetted, revealing the fascinating contours of a stupa in huge dimensions. Buddhism divides the world into 3 spheres, named the Dhatus is Sanskrit. This cosmographic arrangement comprises the sphere of Desire or Kamadhatu, the sphere of Form or Rupadhatu, and the sphere of Formlessness or Arupadhatu. Since the Javanese builders of Bharabudhara chandi were adverse to making rigid demarcations, these 3 spheres merged into each other as a harmonious entity. Architecturally they're portrayed in a trully integrated and splendid manner. [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Wayang Gedhog Posted: 12 Apr 2009 09:10 PM PDT Many stories have been advanced by scholars to explain the etymology of the word 'gedhog' and an agreed definition has still not been reached. The exact meaning must therefore remain in question. The features of the Wayang Gedhog puppets are as is as those of the Wayang Purwa, but they've different headgears, clothes, and ornaments, resembling the Balinese Wayang Gambuh. The stories are derived from the Malat stories, or the Serat Pandji, telling the legendary history of the kingdoms of Kediri, Singosari, and Gegelang. All of the stories about these East Java kingdoms mingle myth with historical fact, and were written during the thirteenth century. Resembling this Wayang Gedhog is the Wayang Gambuh, still existing in Bali, but not as pop as the Wayang Parwa and the Wayang Ramayana. [email_link]

Historia Bharabudhara Posted: 12 Mar 2009 01:15 AM PDT After a 9th century document was deciphered, Prof.Dr. J.G.Casparis determined the genealogical tree of 3 successive ruling Cailendra families. King Indra, his son Samaratungga and the latter's daughter Pramodawardhani. During the reign of king Samaratungga it's said, a temple was begun, bearing the name of Bhumisam-Bharabudhara, which may be interpreted to mean "the Mountain of the Accumulation of Virtue" in the 10 Stages of the Bodhisattva. Through adaptation to the Javanese speech the name of BOROBUDUR was probably derived from Bharabudhara, which might be the likeliest explanation of the origin of the name Borobudur. [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Wayang Purwa Posted: 08 Mar 2009 08:49 PM PDT The Wayang Purwa, the oldest form of wayang in Indonesia. The name Wayang Purwa may be interpreted as "the ancient wayang", telling stories from the mythology of the gods as described in the Serat Pustaka Raja Parwa, an old book which still exists in museums. The etymology of its name indicates that the Wayang Purwa is indeed the oldest wayang form. According to some scholarly persons, the Wayang Purwa is the wayang which depicts on the screen stories from the Parwa(s) or the chapter(s) from the Hindhu epic of the Mahabharata. In Bali may still be seen with the name Wayang Prawa. In Bali all the stories are derived from the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Arjuna Wiwaha, Bhaumakawya, and other old books in Kawi (the old Javanese language). Even so the Wayang Purwa in Java, especially in Central Java has reached a very upper-level of development, so that now the technique of the wayang and of the gamelan musical accompaniment, both instrumental and voice, can be regarded as a complex and highly developed art form, involving both music and drama. There now exist a whole repertory which can be enjoyed in many parts of Indonesia on different occasions. The wide fame of the wayang play extends through all levels of the society from remote villages on mountainslopes to the verendahs of houses in great metropolises, and even to the Presidential Palace in Djakarta. Young and old, educated and illiterate, leaders and folk are all devoted to the Wayang Purwa play, often sitting up all night to see a performance through to the end. While in Bali the wayang is still existensively used in all the Panca-Yadnya, the offering ceremonies in house and temple. So what is the secret of this universal appealingness? Why does the Wayang Purwa exercise this remarkable spell on its audience? Probably it's due to a combination of technique and of the material of the wayang. [email_link] [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Triad Of Wonders Posted: 04 Feb 2009 11:27 PM PST The triad of wonders (Mendut chandi, Pawon chandi, and Bharabudhara chandi) standing in a straight row, forms a symbolic unity. In the most older of the three, the Mendut chandi, a 3 meter high statue of Buddha carved from one piece of stone, represents an imposing expression of homage to the preacher of the faith of deliverance. Less than 2 kilometers away, separated by the rivers of Elo and Progo, lies smaller Pawon, a jewel of Javanese temple architecture. In all probability this temple served as a stop to purify the mind, before ascending Bharabudhara chandi. A mere fifteen hundred meters from Pawon chandi, a stone hill of terrasses arises, the Bharabudhara with its 100s of Buddhas. When making the tour of the galleries with their high-set balusterses under the heavenly canopy, one may imagine being in a temple. Saying one's prayers, passing along the two and a half kilometers of reliefs to the crown of the sanctuary, resembles a passage along an altar up to the hope for fulfilment. The Pilgrim Father or he who hopes to attain Boddhisatva, enters Mendut chandi in honour of the Buddha. Bharabudhara chandi, nevertheless, is like a prayer attended by the prayer beads of reliefs and graces. It rises to nirvana towards the acquisition of Buddhaship, the absolute deliverance from the cycle of perpetual reincarnation. [email_link] [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

The Leather Wayang Puppetry Posted: 01 Feb 2009 06:55 PM PST To acknowledge the wayang is to acknowledge the thinking, the feeling and the way of liveliness of the Javanese. This assumption can also be applied to the Balinese. Because the wayang play not only reflects artistry in Indonesia but also contains philosophical system, moral, thought, and education. The function of wayang isn't merely for entertainment, but is also used for exorcism, invocation of ancestral spirits, and is also part of the religious rituals in Bali. Until the present time the wayang still has a lot of fame among all levels of Indonesian society. The wayang is performed in the front hall of the Presidential palace, as well as in the houses of people dwelling in remote villages high up in the mountains. Young and old, male and female, educated as well as the illiterate are spell bound by the stories narrated by the Dhalang. The wayang has 2 main functions, the 1st being spiritual, and the 2nd being secular, or for entertainment only. In its spiritual function the wayang plays an important part in the liturgy of the 5 Yadnyas, i.e., the 5 categories of offerings and religious ceremonies in the temples. The wayang used for entertainment is of course different and is known as the nighttime wayang, as most performances are held at night. These performances are commonly found in the temples, but are purely for the entertainment of the people praying there and are not used as part of a liturgy. The wayang has existed since the 11th century and end-to-end the ensuing 900 yrs has been a popular art form. At the time of the Hindhu kingdoms of Java the wayang was already made from punched leather and made use of the kelir or white screen, and full gamelan musical accompaniment, this also still exists in Bali. All the Islamic kings and princes who succeeded the Hindhu-Javanese rulers, enjoyed the wayang, and the Hindhu-Javanese custom was completely assimilated by Islam, especially in Java, and survive vigorously until present time. According to the classical text Serat Pakem Sastramiruda, and socio-cultural artefacts, Islamic leaders were very active in contributing to the evolution of the wayang as in the completion of the figures, the elaboration of the musical accompaniment of the gamelan and the editing of the repertory. Many types and sets of wayang puppets survive, among them the following: Wayang Beber, Wayang Purwa, Wayang Madya, Wayang Gedog, Wayang Klithik, Wayang Golek, Wayang Dupara, Wayang Jawa, Wayang Kancil, Wayang Perjuangan, Wayang Suluh, and Wayang Pancasila. In West Java the Wayang Golek enjoys the greatest fame, while in Bali only 4 kinds of leather wayang puppetry exist: Wayang Parwa, Wayang Ramayana, Wayang Calonarang, and Wayang Gambuh. The wayang stories are derived from the following main sources: Ramayana, Arjuna Wiwaha, Mahabharata, Pustaka Raja Parwa, Babad Tanah Jawa, Damarwulan, Menak, Malat, Kancil Kridha Martana, and in modern times, the history of the indonesian revolution. In Bali the stories are derived from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Calonarang, and Malat. The wayang has retained its position as a popular art from the least bit levels of indonesian society and embracings esthetical, educational, mystical, and philosophical elements.[email_link] [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

Unforgettably Gorgeous Moment Of Bharabudhara Posted: 31 Dec 2008 10:13 PM PST A moment in lifetime make one feel as if there were no longer any distance between heaven and earth, and in the creative blending into the whole, the sense of lifetime is being revealed. Such an emotion is experienced when one ascends the stairs of Bharabudhara Chandi, the Buddhistic wonder of stone, in a fully tropical moon-night. Standing in Magelang garden van Java, surrounded by mighty five volcanoes, Bharabudhara Chandi emerges altogether its splendour. More than 11 centuries ago anonymous artists started to build the wonder that they'd fully realizing never witness it completed, but convinced that the next generations would complete and honour their creation. [email_link] Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.

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