Ratu Boko
A Walled Hilltop Site Above The Prambanan Plain That Nobody Can Agree The Purpose Of Palace, Fortress Or Buddhist Monastery With The Best Sunset In Java From Its Gates · Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta
Ratu Boko sits on a plateau above the Prambanan plain and NOBODY AGREES WHAT IT WAS. There are monumental split gates, a walled enclosure, bathing pools, terraces, a platform read as a crematorium and what may be foundations of pavilions - WHICH IS A LIST THAT SUITS A PALACE, A FORTIFIED RETREAT AND A MONASTERY EQUALLY WELL. An inscription refers to an ABHAYAGIRI VIHARA, a Buddhist monastery, which points one way; the defensive siting and the residential layout point another. The name means the palace of King Heron and is folklore rather than evidence. WHAT IS NOT DISPUTED IS THE VIEW. From the gates at the end of the day you look west across the plain with PRAMBANAN BELOW AND MERAPI BEHIND IT, and the site stays open past sundown, unlike Prambanan and Borobudur, which is why this is the best sunset in Java and why the gates fill at the end of every clear day - arrive an hour before and you get the same light with nobody else in the frame.
Bokoharjo, Prambanan, Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia
OPEN IN DAYLIGHT AND LATE ENOUGH FOR SUNSET, which is the reason most people come - closing is after the sun goes down rather than before it, unlike Prambanan and Borobudur. THERE IS AN ENTRY FEE with DUAL PRICING, and COMBINED TICKETS WITH PRAMBANAN EXIST and are worth asking about since the two are minutes apart. SUNSET IS BUSY and the gates fill with people; arriving an hour early gets you the site nearly empty and the light building. THE SITE IS OPEN GROUND ON A PLATEAU with very little shade, so the middle of the day is unpleasant. A RESTAURANT ON THE RIDGE has the same view and is a reasonable alternative to standing. Prambanan is about three kilometres below.