Candi gedong songo semarang

what's in gedong songo temple ? 

Early in 2024 I visited the Bandungan area in Semarang, this city is located 1 hour from the center of Semarang. My destination in Bandungan is to one of the temples called Candi Songo in the upper mountain or hill area. It is quite interesting that this area has cool and cold air, is still quite natural but also quite densely populated , along the way to gedong songo temple oh yes I stayed at one of the 3 star hotels in the area . It turns out that there are quite a lot of accommodations from inns to starred hotels, but there are also many old hotels. I think the Bandungan area has many interesting tourist attractions, there are also local karaoke clubs in the main road area. well i don't focus on the surrounding environment because it is quite interesting, semarang itself is a beautiful city, the food is delicious and there are many high rise metropolitan hotels but not as big as the capital city . Incidentally, my trip to Semarang was just a stopover and I visited Candi Songo twice. My trip was interesting, wasn't it? Candi Songo is still my chosen destination for stopping over in the city of Semarang.

When you arrive at the entrance area to Gedong Songo temple, okay, I will give you an idea of ​​this area, like a housing complex in a village. You have to go through quite dense houses and along the entrance there are people selling things , quite unique, at the beginning of the entrance and there are several photo spots, there are photographers offering their services, the entrance ticket is very cheap, around 10 - 15 thousand rupiah, and you can also choose to ride a horse . If you want to choose to walk up the hill, it is also fun and is a choice sports spot because the climbing route is easy and safe.

My first visit I chose to use a horse, and yes it was a very worthwhile experience , The price for the horse varies from 150,000 rupiah to 250,000 rupiah depending on the horse and its weight. They only accept cash payments, make sure you have enough cash. along the horse riding you will pass through hills and pine forests and it is very natural and refreshing covered in thin mist and also for horse riding there is a horse guide companion . I don't want to include many images about the forest, you have to experience it yourself in my opinion. There are several spots where we can stop to enjoy or take pictures. The horse guides are very good at guiding our journey.

At the top of the hill we had to get off and the horses had to rest. We were invited to enjoy the view from above and they also explained about the temples from the east and west hills and they explained it very well. In fact, the one who explained it was the photographer we hired.

while at the top horse stop there is a large field surrounded by hill views you can feed the horses or you can go to the top of the temple this is where the Gedong Songo temple is located, for the horses are waiting below and you have to walk to the Gedong Songo temple. just a short walk . 

This is one of the pictures of Gedong Songo temple, because if I'm not mistaken there are several temples on the hill and there are also many broken stones. the view from the top of the hill is very peaceful i really want to meditate here because yes it is really very peaceful . 

I had time to think about why this temple was built, what made this temple built on a hill so that it was really calming to the point where I was reluctant to go back down, but because I was riding a horse, I had limited time here.

According to my guide, these are fragments of the temple due to an earthquake, so these stones were destroyed and the government repaired them so there are original stones and some are not. Also, some of the stones were taken to the museum. you can see the rock fragments there which are separated . 

Actually, there are many pieces of broken objects like this with explanations, so I suggest using a guide to explain what the various types of broken stones are. There is also a stone that depicts a woman's womb, and how her partner is not there but is said to have been taken to another island. Interesting, isn't it?

because I was not satisfied being there on horseback, yes that's because it turned out that the knowledge about the legend of the temple was very interesting, I visited the Gedong Songo temple twice, the first time on horseback, the second time by climbing , because I am not satisfied with the limited time when riding . Actually, in the surrounding hill area there are also temples which I did not visit in more detail.

Well it's time for us to head down the hill to the last tour, below the road there is also a temple, and apparently there is also a spring, it seems like people here do purification or pray in this spring this spring is very fresh, very very fresh, I washed my face at my feet and felt like immersing myself in this spring.

and it turns out that at the end of the journey behind the evidence there is sulfur, it is quite strong there but still safe to pass through, there are also hot springs, I didn't try it because I wasn't interested , 

So the conclusion from my experience here is that the interesting thing is during the journey to the hill and it is even more interesting after being at the top and it is very calming when we are at the top, yes, I feel like I want to live there peacefully, that's how I imagine being at the top.