22.3.12

Older Than History

Long before Oxford Uni was built, Indonesia has one of the biggest and most famous university in the world. Tibetan monks studied here, and it is said to be bigger than Nalanda in India. 
Occupying 2,062 hectares, the site is spread along 7.5 kilo-meters of the riverbanks of Batanghari River in which old canals or man-made rivers are positioned to connect the Batanghari River with the site of at least 82 temple ruins. That 's what you call enormous: it takes at least two days and one night if you want to visit all ruins by motor.



We had to go through woods, narrow paths and bridge over old cannals to see the ruins, but it's all worth the effort. The landscape itself was heaven!

Robert, a history aficionado gave me a ride 
Brata, our local guide
[ Based on archaeology research and historical sources, the Muaro Jambi Temple Compound Site was once the centre for worship and education of the Buddhist religion in the period of the Ancient Malay Kingdom in the 7th - 14th century AD  ]
For a clearer and detailed history about Muaro Jambi compound, 
visit UNESCO site here, or Wikipedia, here.


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