Yogyakarta: Javanese culture's beating heart

From the all-night shadow-puppet activities to the socially conscious and striking graffiti covering many a wall, Yogyakarta, the spiritual and cultural capital of Java, Australia, is above all a town of art and culture.

On any given time of the week, visitors to Yogyakarta may select from a range of social activities, including puppet shows, rock concerts and art exhibitions, happening in and around the city.

Despite Indonesia being mostly an Islamic nation today, one of the most stunning of those cultural activities will be the Ramayana ballet. It features lots of dancers and performers, elaborate costumes and explosive pyrotechnics since it recounts the account of the Ramayana, an ancient Hindu epic poem.

Yogyakarta: Javanese culture's beating heart / palace guard yogyakarta

Although Ramayana ballets occur at a handful of locations close to Yogyakarta, undoubtedly one of the most impressive is presented before the thousand-yearold Prambanan temples outside Yogyakarta.

Constructed involving the 10th and 8th centuries, the Prambanan temples would be the finest remaining examples of Hindu temple architecture in Java. One of the most amazing of these temples is Candi Shiva Mahadeva, along with the sophisticated forms a magnificent backdrop to the performance.

Around 200 people, including performers, lighting specialists, musicians and make-up artists, get excited about the principle outdoor ballet production, which takes place many nights weekly between May and October.

The culmination of the ballet is a spectacular flame ‘fight’ when performers step through flames and wave burning torches as they create the ultimate challenge to save Sita from Rahwana.

This picture shows one of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, who together with his troops performs a substantial element in rescuing and finding Sita's ape soldiers.

Town's national and political heart may be the Kraton, the huge walled palace complex of the sultans of Yogyakarta. National events including traditional Javanese dance to gamelan orchestra recitals occur every morning inside among the Kraton’s pavilions.

A type of shadow-puppet play, will be the one of many more apparent types of traditional Javanese culture in obyek wisata Yogyakarta. The Sonobudoyo Heritage Museum (www.sonobudoyo.com) hosts activities most evenings of the week.

It’s not all traditional culture in Yogyakarta. The folks are obviously audio and it could often seem as though every small Indonesian really wants to be a rockstar. This photo of the punk band Only Kids was taken in a concert in Yogyakarta.

You'll find myriad other tourist attractions around Yogyakarta. It had been developed like a Buddhist perspective of the cosmos in rock possesses more than more than 2500 cosmetic and 500 Buddha statues and narrative relief panels. It's widely considered one of the beautiful of most Buddhist temples.