Magical Candi Plaosan Lor temple, Java, Indonesia

photo credit: rifandy.p

Candi Plaosan, also known as the 'Plaosan Complex', is one of the Buddhist temples located in Bugisan village, Prambanan district, Klaten Regency, Central Java, Indonesia, about a kilometer to the northwest of the renowned Hindu Prambanan Temple.Candi Plaosan covers an area of 2,000 square meters with an elevation of 148 meters above sea level. The Dengok River is located nearby, about 200 meters away. Candi Plaosan is surrounded by paddy fields along with vegetation such as banana and corn.

photo credit: rifandy.p

photo credit: rifandy.p

Plaosan temple was built in the mid 9th century by Sri Kahulunnan or Pramodhawardhani, the daughter of Samaratungga, descendent of Sailendra Dynasty, and who was married to Rakai Pikatan in the Hindu tradition. The Plaosan complex is an ensemble of two Buddhist temples, Plaosan Lor and Plaosan Kidul. The temples are separated by a road; Plaosan Lor is located in the North and Plaosan Kidul in the South. Plaosan Lor consists of two main temples and an open area known as a mandapa. Both temples have an entrance, a gate, and the guardian statue known as Dwarapala. Plaosan Lor and Plaosan Kidul are considered to originally be one complex.

photo credit: bangandyfoto

The Plaosan temple complex is made up of 174 small buildings, 116 are stupas and 58 are shrines. Many of the buildings have inscriptions. Two of these inscriptions denote the temple as a gift of sanctuary by Rakai Pikatan. The dates of the inscriptions are between 825-850 AD. Although similar to the Prambanan 856 AD date, the complexes are not related. A new building technique distinguishes Prambanan from Plaosan temples.

photo credit: asrinindi

The main temples at Plaosan are made up of an upper and lower level, separated in three rooms. In the lower level, multiple statues resided. Today, only two statues of Bodhisattva seated on each sides of each rooms, flanked an empty pedestal. However, as the position of the false windows dictate, there was only one statue rested on the bottom basal level on central pedestal. This statue today is missing, it was probably some bronze statues depicting Buddha with two stone Bodhisattva statues flanked it. Historians suggests that a main temple once contains nine statues, six stone Bodhisattvas, and three bronze Buddhas (now missing). This means there was 18 statues resided in the twin main temples.

photo credit: desimartianaputri

photo credit: jejak.kecil

photo credit: fatikusuma

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photo credit: Gunkarta

On the upper walls in each rooms, there are the traces of stones indentions that once supported wooden beams and wooden floors, creating upper rooms. There is also traces of stones as the base of wooden stairs.

Rows of exquisite carvings of Bodhisattvas divinities are found adorning the outer walls, with the majority of them being male. Smaller and less occurring carvings by the windows represent female figures.

One exceptional example is carved on inner wall of the room depicting a representation of a Khmer prince which is identified by his crown.

photo credit: Gunawan Kartapranata

photo credit: Nomo

Ancient Site of Goa Garba, Bali, Indonesia

Goa Garba is located at Pejeng Village, Tampaksiring District, Gianyar.Goa Garba ancient relic is located beneath the Pengukur-Ukuran Temple estimated to have been built around the twelfth century AD during the reign of King Jayapangus.

It is believed to have once been a place to test one’s power if they wished to be a leader. Goa means “cave” and Garba means “in the belly of the earth”. It is located beneath the Pengukur-Ukuran Temple. The temple was formerly used as a school for the kings of Bali. There are two paths leading to Goa Garba. Visitors can choose whether to enter the site through the main path of the Pengukur-Ukuran Temple, or the one that leads directly to the entrance to this historic site.

It is situated on a steep cliff, right on the bank of the Pakerisan River. Based on information of local residents, Goa Garba is a hermitage niche carved on the wall of cliff edge of the Pakerisan River. On top of this hermitage lie a number of pools and showers where at pool side sits a hole leading to a cave.To achieve this cultural heritage, visitor must first visit a neat entrance gate with nicely arranged stairs made of river stone. Meanwhile, the entrance gate is made of sand stone. It is said that the cave was made by Kebo Iwa, a Balinese vice regent having supernatural power.

Upon entering the cave, visitors will find several large rocks. On one of these stones lies a footprint larger than that of an average adult. Locals believe it was the footprint of Kebo Iwa. There is a small area that where water, which comes from the nearby hot springs, can be seen dripping from the surface. When meditating here, people will sit facing east, toward the splashing water. The dripping water is symbolizes the God Vishnu.

Gunung Kawi in Tampaksiring, Indonesia

At the bottom of a lush green river valley lies one of Bali's oldest and largest ancient monuments. Gunung Kawi consists of 10 candi (shrines) – memorials cut out of the rock face in imitation of actual statues. They stand in awe-inspiring 8m-high sheltered niches cut into the sheer cliff face. On the northern outskirts of Tampaksiring, a sign points east off the main road to Gunung Kawi. The views as you walk through ancient terraced rice fields are as fine as any in Bali.

Each candi is believed to be a memorial to a member of the 11th-century Balinese royalty, but little is known for certain.

Legends relate that the whole group of memorials was carved out of the rock face in one hard-working night by the mighty fingernails of Kebo Iwa.

The five monuments on the eastern bank are probably dedicated to King Udayana, Queen Mahendradatta and their sons Airlangga, Anak Wungsu and Marakata. While Airlangga ruled eastern Java, Anak Wungsu ruled Bali. The four monuments on the western side are, by this theory, to Anak Wungsu's chief concubines. Another theory is that the whole complex is dedicated to Anak Wungsu, his wives, concubines and, in the case of the remote 10th candi, to a royal minister.

As you wander between monuments, temples, offerings, streams and fountains, you can't help but feel a certain ancient majesty here.

From the end of the access road, a steep, stone stairway leads down to the river, at one point cutting through an embankment of solid rock. Be prepared for long climbs – there are more than 270 steps. The sarong is necessary as parts of the site are considered holy.

Stunning Electric-Blue Flames Erupt From Volcanoes

Sulfur combusts on contact with air to create stunning blue lava-like rivers of light in the Kawah Ijen crater on the island of Java.

This blue glow—unusual for a volcano—isn't, of course, lava, as unfortunately can be read on many websites.The glow is actually the light from the combustion of sulfuric gases.Those gases emerge from cracks in the volcano at high pressure and temperature—up to 1,112°F (600°C). When they come in contact with the air, they ignite, sending flames up to 16 feet (5 meters) high.Some of the gases condense into liquid sulfur,which continues to burn as it flows down the slopes giving the feeling of lava flowing. Forest fires in Yellowstone National Park have caused similar "rivers," as heat from the blazes melted the sulfur around hydrothermal vents.Blue volcanic fire was described in antiquity in Italy on the south slope of Mount Vesuvius and on the island of Vulcano.There was no use of any filters to capture this images of the blue fire. The burning happens day and night, but it's visible only in darkness.

Kawah Ijen Crater Lake is green because of the hydrochloric acid in the water.

 

Kawah Ijen Crater Lake, at the top of the volcano, is the world's largest such body of water filled with hydrochloric acid. In fact, it's the acid that makes the water green.

The volcano emitted hydrogen chloride gas, which reacted with the water and formed a highly condensed hydrochloric acid with a pH of almost 0.

In the Kawah Ijen crater, sulfuric gases escaping from cracks ignite as they come in contact with the air.

A river of sulfur flows near Kawah Ijen's acid lake.

When Grunewald photographs Kawah Ijen, he wears a gas mask as protection against toxic gases, including sulfur dioxide. "It is impossible to stay a long time close to a dense acid gas without a mask," he said.

Pallister described the miners' daily routine as "tough duty." He has seen many of them using only wet cloths as gas masks.

Some of the miners do have gas masks that visitors have given them, said Grunewald, but they "have no money and no opportunity to change the filters."

"I feel bad for these miners," Werner said. When she and her colleagues work in Indonesia, "we usually bring gas masks and leave them there with the people we work with, because sometimes they don't know that what they are breathing is harmful."

In Ethiopia's Danakil Depression, the sulfur dust in the soil of a hydrothermal vent ignites to form blue flames.

Grunewald has also documented the blue glow on the Dallol volcano in the Danakil Depression, in the Afar region of Ethiopia near the borders of Eritrea and Djibouti.

The heat of magma sometimes ignites the sulfur dust in the soil, forming flames of electric blue.

"It is very rare to see that," said Grunewald. "The powder of sulfur could burn for a few days."

The depression is geologically active, with hydrothermal vents and sulfur springs, some of which are tourist attractions.

The Afar region is famous for having the world's highest average temperature of 93°F (34°C), thanks in part to the volcanic activity.

Source:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/