Temples, Performing Arts and Markets

There is nothing quite like circumambulating Borobudur or Prambanan temples. I’ll start with Borobudur because it was built first and we visited it first. Borobudur was built sometime between the 8th and 9th centuries. That fact alone makes this an exciting adventure.

This temple was imagined as a Buddhist vision of the entire cosmos in stone. The idea is that you circle it slowly (going clockwise only) moving up one level at a time. It has nine levels and each represents the phases of life starting from everyday life and spiraling up to enlightenment. The reliefs carved into the stone depict these concepts for you as you slowly walk past them. At the bottom we saw ships, elephants, trees, dancing women, musicians and warriors. As we circled to the top we saw more and more images of the Buddha and stupas with the Buddha inside of them, not to mention Indonesians hoping for photos with Bules in them. Yes, that was us, the Bules (“foreigners”). I think the number of photos in which we appeared during this trip may have been equal to the number of minutes on bus and plane rides combined. [As a side note we figured out that we flew on 15 different planes at the completion of this journey]. It is difficult to accurately describe the size of this temple -- it was built from 2 million enormous block stones in the form of a massive symmetrical stupa. The individual stupas were significantly higher than Mr. Fricke is tall (his height was a frequent source of amazement for the Indonesians, who are much shorter than Americans, on average). These stupas (of which there are 72) represent the life and then death of Buddha and the ascent into the highest state of mind. This entire temple was built on a hillside, giving it spectacular height, and apparently from above it resembles a three-dimensional tantric mandala. It was also built in the form of a lotus flower sitting on a pond. The view and the breeze from the top was invigorating and provided an excellent photo opportunity for Indonesians and Bules alike.


Prambanan was built in the middle of the 9th century. This cluster of temples was built to represent three very important Hindu gods. For those of you that have studied Hinduism the preferred named of this religious tradition is actually Sanatana Dharma. “Hindu” is a Persian term from the 19th century and was used by Persians and meant “Indians”. It was not intended to designate a religion and was applied to all people in India in the 19th century under British rule for census taking purposes. The term that approximates what Westerners call Hinduism is Sanatana Dharma which is translated into ‘eternal religion’. Though scholars have debated its accuracy and usefulness, the term “Hinduism” can function as a useful term commonly known to all of us, but we might use with caution, remember its meaning and tell this story. Anyway, back to Prambanan. The largest temple is Shiva, the Destroyer. For SD followers in Indonesia, he is the most commonly worshipped God -- those that worship him are called Saivites. There are vibrant scenes decorating its base: a collection of half-bird and half-human creatures and scenes from the Ramayana-the eternal play of good and evil.


The Ramayana depicts the responsibilities of relationships by using “ideal” characters who show how people are supposed to act. Vishnu incarnates as the virtuous prince Rama in order to kill Ravana, the ten-headed demon king. Rama is the heir to his father’s throne, but the mother of his stepbrother compels the king to banish Rama. He is accompanied by Sita. Sita is eventually kidnapped by Ravana (more of this story to come with the performing arts section of this entry). Back to Shiva—he sits on a huge lotus pedestal. Ganesha is also seen on this temple. Ganesha is the spectacular elephant headed icon that you may have seen before. He is the son of Shiva and Parvati (the eternal parents). The temple to the south of Shiva is Brahma. The final scenes of the Ramayana are carved on Brahma, the God of Creation. Devotion to Brahma is called bhakti.

To the north is the temple dedicated to Vishu-the preserver. Reliefs on this temple tell the story of lord Krishna (one of Vishnu’s incarnates) from the epic Maharabharata- a Sanskrit poem of more that 100,000 verses. In contrast to the idealized characters in Ramayana, the Mahabharata shows all sides of human nature. Worshippers of Vishnu are commonly known as Vaishnavites. Behind each of the temples we saw the vehicles that each of the Gods are most known to travel on. Again the size of these spectacular monuments was awe inspiring. The level of disrepair was notable -- it wasn’t until 1937 that reconstruction was attempted. It had been damaged by a number of earthquakes.

We were blessed with the opportunity to attend the Ramayana Ballet. This was the entire epic condensed into 2 hours. The orchestra was spectacular Javanese Gamelan and the theatre was full of school aged children which gave the theatre a warm, energetic feel. The other notable characters in the indoor/outdoor theatre were dozens of live flying bats…this was only one of many things that reminded us we weren’t in the U.S. The costumes were lavish and the dancing concise and at times humorous. Hanuman and his monkey army (played by many very young dancers) were colorful and bouncy. Rama and Sita danced carefully and slowly while Rama’s brother Leswana helped him battle the evil demon Ravana. This play was only one example of spectacular performing arts that we witnessed. As we were climbing Borobudur a few days earlier we were lucky enough to meet the entire troop of lion boys who were performing the Barong (lion dance) in enormous lion shaped puppets. One of our participants (Michael Kozuch from the Newton Schools) just happened to have a huge stack of valentines to hand these smiling boys. The Barong was performed outside of Borobudur and featured dozens of boys from about the age of 8 up to about the age of 20 years old. Again, this performing dance art was colorful, energetic and exciting to witness. Kristen Iverson and I watched it with a group of Indonesian families that were casually eating their lunches.


Now to the markets. One of my favorite things about visiting Indonesia. These traditional marketplaces are nothing like the shopping malls that we have in the states. Much of what is sold in these markets is produced by the people selling the goods. Families do not hire laborers to sell their goods. The night markets in Indonesia are ones that many foreigners don’t have access to and aren’t aware of, this makes these markets more valuable for the local people. The night markets are important because locals won’t have to compete with foreigners in the bargaining process. Bargaining is a key feature of traditional marketplaces. The longer you spend speaking to a person about their goods and the more tea you drink with them the lower your purchase price becomes. In many cases the purchase price has no real meaning and it is the relationship between the buyer and seller that matters. Vendors and shoppers develop personal ties that then keep the market system functioning. For example a vendor relies on a specific buyers to come each day in order to keep production moving. Their commerce is not about making a profit necessarily but rather about keeping the fruit trees well maintained or the rice production moving. These sellers also rely on other folks in the marketplace to provide them with goods that they can’t or don’t produce themselves. In many cases this is done through exchange of goods and rather than exchange of cash. Now this does not normally hold true for tourists traveling through the market. The less you know about bargaining and the less Indonesian you speak the more you will pay for your goods. Interestingly enough, if you sit and keep a woman company while she is sifting through her peanuts (without speaking her language) you will indeed begin to develop a relationship with her and she might consider trading with you. No matter who you are in the marketplace you are frequently met with big smiles and great offers. This is one of the best places to learn about the culinary choices in Indonesia. We saw hundreds of fruits and vegetables that were not identifiable in our country or language…the only way to learn about them was to try them…this was the exciting part.

Planes, vans and bicycle taxis

So I did a little math this morning.  Between Makassar, Balikpapn and Yogyakarta, we've spent a least forty hours in vans.  At least.  It's like a full time job.  And don't imagine us zipping down four lane interstates.  these are the old two-lane roads that go through town instead of going around them.  Mr Kelly told me that it used take nine hours to drive from Amherst to New York City - I'm talking about those roads.  Past every shop front, every warung, every school child in a uniform waiting for a bus and every man smoking a clove cigarette and waiting for whatever it is that they wait for.

To state the obvious, an exchange like this isn't always about destinations; it's about the journeys. The time that we have spent in cars with Indonesian teachers has been some of the best spent time of our whole trip.  We've gotten to know each other over long, long talks as the rice fields and hills slid by.  Talks about schools and religions, about good books and why we chose to teach, about how we met our spouses and how to swear in several languages.  

There's much to share from those talks, but I'm just going to get a quick paragraph in about politics because I think I'm getting the hang of it after a few weeks.  Legislative and presidential elections are coming up this spring.  The campaign season is in its early stages.  The streets and intersections are bedecked with a bewildering array of multicolored party flags and photo-shopped posters.  It's difficult for me to imagine what Indonesia would look like without political posters because it's such a part of the landscape now.  The exact number of parties varies from province to province, but everyone agrees that there are at least 28 parties in this election and maybe 38 or 40.  And every party runs multiple candidates.  Naturally, it's difficult for voters to identify any particularly good people or even good platforms from the field.

Still, in our conversations a few themes have consistently emerged.  People are worried about security, corruption and the global economic crisis - though not necessarily in that order.  The incumbent president, vice president and the former president represent the three biggest parties.  They are all well-known and don't offer much specific variety on the security and economic agendas.  Unfortunately, the Indonesian voters that I've talked to also associate teh big parties with corruption; to have been successful is almost by definition to have had some ties to the corporate and private money that generate the corruption.  Another important perception is that the party which could best reduce corruption in Indonesian political culture is the PKS - a party that derives its core values from Islamic values.  It's not clear how much the PKS stands for ethical government in general and how much it stands for specifically Muslim government.  The PKS claims are very inclusive, but people in several cities have told me that the PKS has a "hidden agenda" of establishing sharia law for all of Indonesia.  It can't be that hidden if everyone suspects.  At any rate, the voters and students (voting age is 17) are left with some unpalatable choices: give up some religious pluralism in return for "clean government" or accept that a certain amount of corruption will go with secular party politics.  Democracy is messy and these choices aren't immutable, but it's a good snapshot of what Indonesian voters are concerned about today.  

We'll keep driving and I'll ask a few more questions while we're at it. 

Funerals and Schools

From Jakarta to Makassar to Toraja and back to Makassar. Jakarta seems like a distant memory. The days are long and full; it seems like we’ve been gone for weeks. It’s a different world out here on Sulawesi. No megacities , but plenty of people, rice patties and knife edge ridges. We’ve had little Internet access and even less time to use it because our host, Ratna, has done a tremendous job of arranging school visits, meetings with local leaders and visits to cultural and religious sites.

The school visits have been especially eye-opening. We’ve been to four types of schools: a university, public high schools, a Muslim boarding school and a Christian boarding school. The boarding schools are private but hardly luxurious institutions. The public high school in Makassar was one of our first stops. Every student in Indonesia studies English from the 7th Grade on, so most of the students are eager to put it to some use – listening or asking questions. There’s been a pattern with every visit. We meet an assembly of students and faculty, where we’ve been treated to some delightful opening ceremonies including regional songs and dances. Then it’s question and answer time with the microphone. Students at all the schools are interested in more contact with American schools, the recent elections and American politics, what classes are like in the United States. They’re particularly interested in the status of Muslims in the US and in American schools. When we’re lucky, we move from the group meeting to the actual classrooms where we get a chance to see how classes are actually run and to talk with students in smaller groups. It’s intriguing, but not surprising, to watch boys check their facebook pages on a laptop while the teacher leads a discussion on tolerance in Islam. Both the teachers and the students want to know more about why their peers in the US don’t have to wear uniforms. Mr Fricke thinks that the teacher uniforms are pretty styling, but doesn’t want to give Mr Jackson any unpopular ideas. Our overwhelming, consistent impression is that tolerance is, in fact, a deeply held value in all these schools and in the students daily lives.

It hasn’t all been classrooms and uniforms; we spent much of yesterday touring the countryside of Toraja and visiting a traditional funeral ceremony. In addition to Christianity and Islam, Aluk To Dolo is an a widely practiced indigenous religion in Toraja. In fact, multiple religions are sometimes practiced within one family. Aluk To Dolo is the “Way of the Anscestors” which is an animistic religious tradition. Torajan appreciate attendance at the funerals because large numbers of guests are sign of a successful ceremony. Hundreds of guests, and sometimes thousands, visit the home of the deceased over the course of seven days. We were part of a crowd. We watched as groups of Torajan guests took turns making offerings to the family of the deceased. When there are many guests, as there were yesterday, the presentations can go on for hours. The offerings range from fruit to several water buffalo depending on the wealth and status of the deceased and of the people presenting the offering. Kristen couldn’t watch the slaughter of the pigs while Ms Camera bounded around compulsively video taping every moment. It’s going to be a compelling trimester for the Anthropology students.

Jakarta

Watch the first step, it’s a big one. Twenty-five hours with our tray tables and seats in upright position. Safe to say that we caught up on all the reading about Indonesia that we’d been putting off. We had a chance to rest overnight in Singapore and then arrived in Jakarta in the afternoon.

Our Jakarta partner, Fathur, whisked us away on a city tour. The city makes a strong first impression. It’s built around open canals and mopeds – and it’s big. Really big. At 17 million people, it’s a megacity bigger than New York. But much warmer.

First stop on the actual tour Museum Sejarah Jakarta. The plaza was full of school children and families taking in the Sunday afternoon. At the door of the old Dutch government house, an exhuberant, spectacular self-appointed tour guide attached himself to our party. He corralled us into a group in front of each object of significance and reeled off a series of canned jokes and quick histories. We tried to wonder off to watch the monkey riding a motorcycle on the plaza or the children playing in the rainwater cistern, but he was relentless an insisted on attention. We got a little extra attention for the Obama connection. One group of teenagers was very excited to take their picture with the people who voted in Obama’s election.

We got a first chance to get out of the historic district after lunch. We walked through a working district where men ran industrial sewing machines to make giant tarps, parents and children shared single vespas and a goat joined our parade. We eventually made our way to the heart of Jakarta. Hundreds of young men were playing sepak bola in pick up games around the Monumen Nasional. Then we made our way across to the Istiqual Mosque and were greeted by a guard who kindly offered to give us a tour of the mosque. The enormity was staggering. The compound and courtyards can hold 200,000 worshippers (although it was practically empty and quiet when we were there). The state was intimately involved in the creation and design of this mosque as a symbol of independence and Muslim identity. Directly across the street is a cathedral representing the religious pluralism in Indonesia.

The following day we were privileged to meet with diplomats, bureaucrats and officials who were optimistic about the project and were eager to hear about the remainder of our trip. We were treated to a classic Javanese meal of gado-gado and curried cow brains…only Mr. Fricke was willing to partake…he claimed the taste was preferable to the lungs.