Buddhist and Hindu temples in Indonesia

Borobudur in the early morning

Although Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, there are plenty of Buddhist and Hindu influences in the country.

View from Borobudur

The Borobudur temple is a beautiful Buddhist temple that has been forgotten for hundreds of years and then rediscovered and restored. I visited in the early morning, thus avoiding the worst tourist crowds and enjoying magnificent views through the morning mist.

Stupas on Borobudur

The Prambanan temple is one of the largest Hindu temple sites in southeast Asia. It was severely damaged by an earthquake in 2006 and is still undergoing reconstruction.

Prambanan

Detail on Prambanan

Parts of the temple are open to visitors. Due to the reconstruction works still in progress, tourists are issued helmets for safety. In both temples, Borobudur and Prambanan, all visitors must wear sarongs. This applies to both men and women as well as to foreign tourists and local people. The reason for this is to honor the ancient tradition of wearing sarongs in the temples.

Sarong and helmet for visitors

My visit to the temples was somewhat spoiled by souvenir vendors who are allowed into the temple complexes despite a high entrance fee that tourists must pay. So instead of focusing on admiring the sights, I had to direct my attention to brushing off annoying touts who wanted to sell me postcards and tee shirts and souvenirs.