Central Java, Indonesia

Mandala Expedition ~ A Temple Journey Around Borobudur & Prambanan

New dates

~ Easter Break ~

11th ~ 15th April 2026

and

~ Mid Year Break ~

11th ~ 15th July 2026

Email ~ Stephanie to request an information pack ~ hello@theartofprocess.art

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A three-day, four night Mandala expedition in Yogyakarta, Central Java. Drawing classes will take place in Umah D’Kali Villa located in the cultural village of The Clay Crafts, Kasongan, just 10 minutes from the centre of Yogyakarta (less than 3 km).

The expedition will include cultural guided visits to two of the most remarkable 9th Century Buddhist and Hindu Temples in the world . Students will draw and discuss in depth ~ The Hidden Geometry of these two masterpieces using traditional tools ~ A compass and ruler. Patterns are analysed by Stephanie June Ellis ~ Your host, guide and teacher.

~ Insight ~

Prambanan

The temples at Prambanan is known locally as Roro Jonggrang, coming from the legend of the ‘slender virgin’The ground plan of Prambanan follows the Hindu system of Vastu Shastra, which literally translates as "science of architecture" and is laid out according to a mandala, or geometric pattern that represents a microcosm of the universe.

Borobudur

The largest Mandala & Buddhist Compound in the world ~A spectacular three-dimensional Mandala.(Budur) comes from Javanese term bhudhara ("mountain"). Mountains and high places are the abode of ancestral spirits or hyangs.

Borobudur represents a stupa as well as Mount Meru, the mythical mountain regarded in Hindu and Buddhist mythologies as the axis of the world.

The sacralised territory extended as far the five mountains—Sumbing, Telomoyo, Andong, Merbabu and Merapi—that encircle the temple. The JICA experts argued that the Saliendra dynasty built their capital based on the pattern of a specific type of mandala, the Pursha Mandala.

This mandala was formed when various parts of the crushed body of a primitive man called Pursha were inhabited by the gods to prevent him from causing a commotion on Earth.

(The Heritage Site of Borobudur as a Cultural Landscape ~ Adèle Esposito Andujar )