Flower power

The indigenous Mentawai are called 'flower people' as flowers usually adorn their hair.

Phot from Atabai, Siberut Island, West-Sumatra, February 2009

More kalas

The kala figures (remember how to eat yourself) of Candi Jago are also different from the Central Javanese ones. The eyes are even more bulging, the nose more protuberant, and the teeth and fangs bigger.

Photos from Candi Jago (close to Malang), East-Java, March 2009.

Dragon on wheels

Photo from Malang, East-Java, March 2009.

Avoid loudspeaker investments

There is so much noise pollution on Java already. The immediate need for getting another musholla or mosque—which never comes without big loudspeakers—is not convincing given that there is a mosque just behind the parking truck on the right of the picture. Better save your money and walk a few hundred meters if you can’t pray at home.

Photo somewhere close to Banten, West-Java of August 2008.

red burqa jump

Photo from Jakarta, March 2009.

Guarding since the 13th century

Two about 3.70 meter tall dvarapala (guards) can be found close to the remains of Candi Singosari (12 km north of Malang, East Java).

The ornament of the giant dvarapalas is made of snakes and skulls, reinforcing their frightening character and probably referring to King Kertanegara being a follower of Tantric Buddhism, a blending of Shivite Hinduism and Buddhism known for its brutal rites steeped in the black arts.

Fou d'amour

Photo from fou d'amour restaurant, Malang, East-Java, March 2009.

Censored ethnography

Breasts in these days seem to be haram in Indonesia's Museum Nasional.

Photos of photos from Museum Nasional's recently reopened (and somehow cleaned) wing devoted to indigenous people of Indonesia, Jakarta, March 2009.

Sumberwan stupa: Incense is still burning

The Sumberawan stupa is located close to Candi Singosari, amidst rice paddies and pine forest. It is one of the only two Buddhist stupas of East Java. The stupa was built around the 14th century.

As the picture shows it is still a place of worship. The other beauty is that the stupa can only be reached by walking along a path through rice paddies.

Photo from March 2009.

Returning from the fields

An old female peasant returning home from the rice paddies.

Somewhere close to Singosari, East-Java, March 2009.

Candi Singosari: the temple of unfinished Kalas

Candi Singosari (or Candi Singhasari), located 12 km north of Malang (East Java) was built in the memory of the last king of the Singhasari kingdom (1222-1292), King Kertanegara, who was assassinated in 1292. The temple complex of Singosari was probably made of seven or nine temples, only one of which remains today, and was never finished due to the death of the king. A stone inscription from 1351 is dedicated to the priests who died with the king. It is thought to be one of the places where the ashes of the king are deposited.

Candi Singosari is dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva, and was most probably consecrated as a state temple by the following Majapahit dynasty, where the last king and glorious ancestor would have been revered as a reincarnation of Lord Shiva.

Most of the rooms usually containing deities are empty, with the exception of one on the first level, adorned with a representation of Agastya, the supreme teacher who taught Shiva. As a sage, Agastya is represented with a beard and a big belly symbolizing knowledge. Legend has it that Agastya, who was an Indian Brahmin, was not allowed to cross water due to his caste duties, and had to swallow the ocean to bring Hinduism to Indonesia.

The lotus flower on the left side of Agastya is a distinctive stylistic element of the Singosari and later Majapahit kingdoms.

Unfinished kala heads on Candi Singosari. The completion level suggests that work was carried out from top to bottom.

Photos from March 2009.

Neighbor burns plastic

Squatter's right: Burn everything, especially plastics.

Photo from Jakarta, November 2008.

Colonial remnants: Baker boy on bike

Photo from Malang, March 2009.

Flying masks in a restaurant

Masks, masks, masks in Malang's Inggil restaurant, March 2009.

Kala or how to eat yourself

Kala was the faithful servant of Shiva. Legend goes that Shiva was meditating and Kala disturbed him to bring him a message. Extremely unpleased, Shiva shouted at him to go and eat himself. What Kala did. As Shiva found him, nothing was left of Kala but his upper jaw. Ashamed that he had been asking such a thing from his faithful servant, Shiva decided that Kala from now on would reside at the entrance of his temples to remind worshippers what devotion (to god) truly is.

Photo from Jakarta, Museum Nasional, February 2009.

Cage shopping

The Javanese version of 'window shopping'.

Photo from Malang's bird market (pasar burung), East-Java, March 2009.

Becak in the rain

A becak or tricycle covered in plastic invites for a pleasant ride. It seems her feet got wet...

Photo from Malang, East-Java, March 2009.

Fishes in plastic

'Life art' from a shop selling fishes...

One day we find such art in museums. Big protests—not bad for the artist!

Photo from Malang, East-Java, March 2009.

Bicycle from behind

Photo from somewhere close to Malang, East-Java, March 2009.

On and below the edge

Volcano impressions from the Tangkuban Perahu (meaning the overturned boat), Bandung, West-Java, March 2009.

Mardi Gras in Java?

Photo of two street beggars, Bandung, West-Java, March 2009.

Security is king

Most of the bigger houses in Jakarta are being guarded by security personnel.

Why?

Photo from Jakarta, March 2009.

Try to dance with her

...since she is asking for a dance.

Photo of a monster billboard from Manila, January 2009.

Rice farming

Photo from somewhere close to Bandung, West-Java, Mrach 2009.

Save our souls

Photo from Pacific Place, Jakarta, March 2009.

Grey and happy

Photo from Mt. Tangkuban Perahu, close to Bandung, West-Java, March 2009.

Ding Dong's choice: sexiest man

Photo of a monster billboard from Manila, January 2009.

Afterlife army: the real model army

The sole survivor of an army battle.

The other survivors. Only sounds remain...

Photo and video of an installation called 'Java's Machine: Phantasmagoria' by Kuswidananto a.k.a. Jompet, from Jakarta's Biennale XIII, February 2009.

Horny kisses

Photo from Lembeh Strait, North-Sulawesi, December 2008.

Flying fish underwater

Photo of a flying gunard, Lembeh Straits, North-Sulawesi, December 2008.

Best of both worlds

Photo from Manila, November 2006.