Central Java – in 5 photos

Temples, volcanoes and cobbled streets in Java's cultural heartland

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Central Java – in 5 photos

Temples, volcanoes and cobbled streets in Java's cultural heartland

Dear NE One

Running across the slim waist of the world’s most populated island* is the Indonesian province of Central Java. In name it is quite ordinary – dull in fact – but to spend time among the verdant, volcanic hills and historic city streets of Central Java is to delve deep into the history and traditions of a people whose intricate cultural roots reach back into the Bronze Age.

*Java – which is just slightly larger than Greece, is home to 153 million people. Greece, by comparison, has a population of just 10.4 million.

Down south, where Central Java touches the Indian Ocean, the province wraps itself around the Special Region of Yogyakarta, a city (often conveniently called simply ‘Jogja’) and surrounds that have, for centuries, been ruled by a sultan. Revered as a cultural powerhouse where classical arts and batik traditions still thrive, Jogja is also the gateway to Borobudur and Prambanan, two of Southeast Asia’s most extraordinary temples.

From the coastline on the Indian Ocean (realm of the legendary Queen of the South Sea), Central Java stretches 130km up to the historic port city of Semarang, where the waters of the Java Sea were once plied by spice traders, pirates and merchants. The landscape in-between is strikingly diverse. From the dramatic karstic hills of Yogyakarta’s Gunungkidul regency in the south, where underground rivers tumble through yawning cave systems, to the towering volcanic mountains dominated by Gunung Merapi, to the hillsides of manicured tea plantations and the patiently-tended paddies of rice, this land is made for wandering.

Through the month that I’ve just spent travelling across Central Java and Yogyakarta I snapped well more than a thousand photographs – for research, mostly, but also as a visual record of this diverse and dynamic area. Here are five of those photos:

Just outside the city of Yogyakarta is the 1200-year-old Prambanan temple complex. It receives thousands of visitors each day (1.3-million last year, apparently), many of whom seem to use it simply as an Insta location and elbow and jostle among themselves to get the right angles for their selfies. Twenty minutes away by foot, and still within the Prambanan complex, is Sewu, the temple pictured above. The walk thins the crowds and when I arrived, it seemed I was the only person here. It was magical, and meaningful, to wander here alone.

When I reached the eastern side of the main Sewu temple – the tall one you see in the centre – I met three women (one an archaeologist, the other two her student assistants) who are restoring the Sewu complex. They say it’s like searching for jigsaw puzzle pieces, as they need to find the stones that, in the 8th century, were cut to fit together. Once the team has sourced the stones (they use cameras and computer programs to help identify what goes where), the temples are rebuilt – a process that takes around six months per temple. (Each ‘pinnacle’ you see here is a temple.) They have some way to go… sewu means ‘thousand’ in Javanese, but there aren’t that many temples here – there are, to be specific, 249.

Yogyakarta and neighbouring city Surakarta (often referred to by its original name, Solo) are revered for their rich batik traditions, a process of creating intricate patterns on cloth using wax-resistant dyeing techniques. The patterns are deeply symbolic and different ones are worn to mark different occasions and life stages. While tradition still runs deep, the art-form has evolved and some artists incorporate old patterns in new designs – like in the photo above. Batik, it seems, is used everywhere around the two cities: in company logos, office uniforms, murals, the exterior of houses (like the pic I’ve shared here) even, in both Jogja and Solo, on manhole covers.

Gunung Lawu rises 3,265m on the border between Central Java and East Java, about an hour’s drive from the city of Solo. This dormant stratovolcano is deeply significant in Javanese culture. It’s believed to be a sacred mountain and a spiritual gateway; it’s a popular pilgrimage site and on its slopes ancient stone structures (including Candi Cetho and Candi Sukuh, which we visited) reflect Hindu influences from the Majapahit era (which spanned from the late 1200s to the early 1500s).

Mark and I didn’t summit the volcano, but we did hike up Bukit Mongkrang, the peak directly south of Lawu. It’s a popular walk – steep though; it takes around 2.5 hours to hike 3km to the summit – and it was heartening to see, when we climbed, that more than half of those on the trail were young women.

The city of Semarang is the capital of Central Java. It lies on the island’s north coast and, around the cobbled streets of a district called Kota Lama (‘old town’), echoes of Dutch colonialism still linger in its architecture. In the 17th century the Dutch East India Company established a trading post here and, over time, Semarang evolved into a vital colonial port. Around enchanting Kota Lama rows of European-style buildings, canals, and churches recall a bygone era of spice trade and maritime power.

Locals sometimes call Semarang ‘Lumpia City’, an affectionate nod to the snack Semarang is renowned for. Essentially a spring roll that reflects the city’s blend of Chinese and Javanese cuisine, the lumpia Semarang is most famous for comprises bamboo shoots and egg (sometimes also chicken or prawn) seasoned with pepper and garlic, and served with a sticky-sweet brown sauce and pickled cucumber. The (delicious!) lumpia I snapped here was made at an unassuming canal-side eatery in a Chinese quarter. Called simply Gang Lombok no 11 (‘11 Lombok Lane’), the family here has been making these snacks for decades and are well-known around the city.

Until next time
Narina x