Outing to Borobudur Temple and Boro

Sunday, 21 January 2018

It is a rainy day today in Salatiga. The cold weather makes people too lazy to wake up early. But the Participants of the Apostolic Congress are not affected. Defying the rain, we got ready with our umbrellas soon after breakfast at 06:30. There are 5 cars waiting to take us to Borobudur Temple, one of the interesting tourist centres. The second place of interest is our own brothers' community in Boro, where the brothers are running a weaving industry.

In about one and a half hours we were at the entrance of Borobudur. Even though the weather was not so friendly, we still took an exciting tour round this wonderful ancient monument that is said to be built in the year 800 AD. With the help of a guide, the history of the Borobudur temple and the carvings on the temple stones were explained to us. It was however not very easy to hear the detailed story of this mysterious monument  because almost everybody carried an umbrella which made movement very difficult. However we all saw and heard enough about the great work of the ancestors of Indonesia during the 8th century by the Syailendra dynasty.

After we saw enough of the place we continued our tour to Boro, a journey of about 30 minutes. When we arrived at the FIC apostolate complex in Boro village, we were greeted with dances by the children of the Orphanage. Furthermore we were treated with local food and dances by the children of the orphanage featuring Angklung and Kulintang music concerts. We were amazed at the cohesiveness and joy of the children in playing the music.

After the performance we were taken around St. Maria Weaving factory founded by the FIC Brothers to improve the economic situation of the people around Boro. In this factory, they make bed sheets, napkins, towels, school children's clothes, floor mops, and so on. Until now in this era of modern technology the weaving is still done manually. The reason is to provide jobs for Boro residents.

The result is that the quality of the products are subordinate to the fabric made with the machine. However, Boro fabrics are stronger and more durable than products from other places. Many hospitals in Indonesia order cloth from St. Maria factory. Many schools also order cloth for school uniform.

During this visit, we also had the opportunity to visit the grave of Pastor JB Prennthaler SJ, which has been transformed into a prayer garden. Father Prennthaler  was an Austrian missionary who started the Church at Boro. With Pastor Prennthaler, the missionary brothers from the Netherlands built the Church and thus the lives of the residents of Boro changed for the better in terms of spiritual and physical life.

Now the people and Church of Boro are quite advanced and prosperous. The younger generation are able to continue their education to a higher level in the city. Unfortunately after graduation from high school, they prefer going abroad to earn a living. Many of them do not return to their village anymore.

Nevertheless Boro community still continues the good culture that exists. Among others, they still preserve the cultural art of the folk dance "Jathilan" which was performed in front of us.

Although the performance was still going on, we left the place at around 3 pm feeling very grateful for the exposure. By 18:30 we had arrived at Roncalli feeling quite refreshed.

Reporter:

Br. Anton Karyadi, FIC