Richard Gere and the Borobudur Temple in the Celebration of 1000 years Atisha. The Exotic Spiritual Tour!

Who's Atisha? Atisha is the priest who brought a wave of renewal of Buddhism to Tibet. In 1011 he studied Buddhist in Srivijaya Kingdom. Year 1012, Atisha visited Borobudur Temple. The roots of Buddhism in Tibet until now obtained from the Buddhist temple of Borobudur, explained Hardi Chung of the Indonesian Buddhist Community.

The arrival of Atisha 1000 years ago inspired Richard Gere to present at the celebration event at Borobudur Temple. Richard Gere is a warm person known as the famous Hollywood star and embraced the teachings of the Buddha in his life.

Perhaps talking about Borobudur Temple will never be finished because there are many mysteries yet to be revealed, because of both history and mystery contained in the sides of the temple to save any interpretation of its own. Ancient reliefs in every part of the building contains a series of meanings and stories that are not disclosed to the public. Not all sides of the temple buildings accessible to visitors and tourists.

Mystery that will never be revealed forever. But the arrival of Richard Gere gives color to another, re-directing public attention to this temple. Richard Gere was there!

Richard Gere - born in Philadelphia August 31, 1949 arrived in Jakarta on Friday, June 25, 2011 with Carey Lowell, his wife and son, Homer James Jigme. For two days starting on Sunday, June 26 attend a private visit at the invitation of Minister of Culture and Tourism of Indonesia. Spiritual Tour.

The lucky inn where they spent the night are at the foot of the mountains of Menoreh, Amanjiwo Resort, a luxury resort about 1.5 km from Borobudur. When the famous soccer player David Beckham was in Indonesia he also as well stay there.

An outdoor stage on the east side of the temple, Stage Aksobya prepared at night for the staging of a colossal dance featuring 150 dancers, The Masterpiece of Borobudur Ballet, tells the story of King Smaratungga from the Syailendra Dynasty and story about Gunadharma who's built the Borobudur Temple witnessed by Richard Gere, of course.

Full agenda of events for him on Monday morning, June 27 he's watching sunrise and the boddhi tree planted in the garden area of ​​Borobudur, prepare for a ritual of "Morning Peace Walk", walking around the Borobudur Temple three times with hundreds of monks from several monasteries while read parita-parita (Buddhist prayers) and studied the reliefs to absorb the history and teachings of the Buddha there.

Richard Gere will not miss the opportunity to visit other temples in the area of Tourist Park of ​​Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko, including Mendut, Pawon. Visiting the tourist village with an elephant ride to see the culture and typical food in rural residential areas near Magelang. At night he attended the dinner with the Sultan Hamengku Buwono X in the Palace of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta.

When all events have passed, what next? Make time for the next exotic places! Bali! Richard Gere goes to Bali on Tuesday, June 28, 2011.
Om Swastiastu Om!

Enjoy your tour, Mr. Gere!

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Related Site:
1. The Official Page of Richard Gere
2. His website: Richard Gere

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How to get the Temple
(Source wikitravel.org)

By plane

The nearest larger airports are in Yogyakarta's Adisucipto International Airport (JOG) and Solo's Adisumarmo International Airport (SOC). Both are well connected domestically and also offer some limited international connections to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It is possible, if one rushes oneself a bit, to visit Borobudur on a day trip from Bali or Jakarta. You can also fly direct to Semarang from Singapore with Batavia Air (4 times per week), and make your way to Borobudur from there (1.5hrs away).

By bus

Public buses to Borobudur from Yogyakarta are aimed mostly at Indonesian visitors and only a few tourists venture aboard. If you are adventurous though, the Trans-Jogya service runs from central Yogyakarta to Jombor bus terminal in northern Yogyakarta (Rp3,000) where you can change to another bus to get to Borobudur. It takes about 60 to 90 minutes and should cost around Rp10-15,000 one way, but bargain with the bus staff to get a good price.

Buses run regularly from Magelang to Borobudur via Muntilan and are widely advertised there. Journey time of about 1 hour.

To get to and from Prambanan, take a Yogyakarta bus and get down at Jombor Terminal (90 min, Rp 15,000 for visitors). From Jombor take TransJogya route 2B to Prambanan (45-60 min, Rp 3,000). It will require 3 bus changes- 2B from Jombor to Terminal Condong, 3B from Condong to Maguuro (Jl. Solo) and 1A/B from Maguuro to Prambanan.

By minibus

Travel agents in Yogyakarta sell door-to-door minibus tour packages for around Rp 75,000, which is a good deal and a straightforward way to reach the monument, although some operators may stop off at Batik and Silver factories along the route.

By car

Yogyakarta is about 40 minutes south of Borobudur by car. Most of the route is on a well-maintained (for Indonesia) four-lane (in many places) highway and there are frequent bus services (see above). A taxi from Yogyakarta to Borobudur costs around Rp 200,000 or Rp. 225,000 from the airport.

Entry into Borobudur costs:

* US$ 15 / Rp 135,000
* US$ 8 / Rp 72,000 for students

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(Various sources /Image CC)