Mendut buddhist monastery is situated in Mendut village, Central Java approximately 3 kilometres east of Borobudur temple and is within 2 minutes walking distance of Candi Mendut (a Mahayana Buddhist temple founded in the 9th Century AD during the reign of King Indra of the Syailendra dynasty).

Unlike Candi Mendut visitor entry is free and my first impression upon entering through the gates of the monastery was an almost immediate sense of peacefulness and tranquillity. Normally I would have put such an experience down to there being only a very small handful of visitors present during the time I visited the monastery. The presence of few visitors along with a peaceful village environment certainly helps to generate such an atmosphere but there was something calming about the location that felt deeper than such obvious causal factors.

It’s difficult to describe, and it really is something you would have to be there to experience for yourself, but the impression was one of an inherent peacefulness. Having meditated for the past year and a half (albeit still struggling though to silence that ‘monkey mind’ and its incessant chatter) I can well believe that combined, intensely focused meditation of the monks who live there can affect the immediate surrounding environment resulting in such a calming atmosphere.

To the cynical and those who have never meditated this might sound like magical thinking/‘wishy-washy’ nonsense but one only has to look at the work of Masaru Emoto to appreciate that such possibilities can, and do, exist.

Interestingly I can’t recall seeing any buddhist monks as I walked around the spacious and well-maintained grounds of the monastery. For all I know they may have been meditating in the two meditation halls that were situated there but I cannot remember seeing a single resident of the monastery during the hour that I visited there.

I was impressed by the spaciousness of the location and how well laid out the grounds of the monastery were, particularly just how aesthetically pleasing and beautiful the overall location and the varied architecture and sculptural features located there actually were. Not too far from the entrance gates were 2 rectangular ponds, lined with large stone stupas, separated by steps and a path with halls on the outside of each of the ponds.

A variety of buddhist sculptures are located throughout the grounds of the monastery depicted in various poses along with a reclining buddha statue, situated within a small temple, to the far left of the entrance gates.

Towards the rear of the monastery ground is a fabulous tower structure adorned with carvings of the head of the buddha on each face of the tower. The architecture of this particular feature is quite impressive and very beautiful to behold as is the interior with its metal buddhist statues situated directly within the centre.

A short distance away is the Sakyamuni buddhist statue donated from a Japanese buddhist temple as a gift to celebrate the ongoing relationship between the Japanese and Indonesian buddhist communities.

There are so many beautiful sculptures, architectural features and sights within the grounds of the monastery that it impossible for this non-buddhist to describe the location in a way that could do real justice to its impressive beauty and calming atmosphere.

The most I can do is suggest that any visitor to nearby Borobudur temple take an hour out of their schedule to visit this delightful location (as well as the nearby Candi Mendut temple).

I promise you won’t regret doing so.

Getting there

The ideal way to visit Mendut buddhist monastery (as well as many of the other locations outside of Yogyakarta city centre) is to book a taxi service (GoCar or Grab would be your best options here for fixed fares and reliability), hire your own private driver for the day, which is my preferred option (as you can more easily visit further historical and interesting sights within the region) or take an organised tour (if one is available that includes this location on its itinerary).

Hiring a private driver should cost somewhere around 500,000 Indonesian rupiah (roughly £27.67 or $35.64 USD - depending on the daily exchange rate) for about 10 hours of their time. This will cover collection from your hotel/home stay (and your subsequent safe return!) as well as driving to and visiting many of the sights located throughout the Yogyakarta region (where you decide to visit is entirely up to you of course).

As private drivers are likely very familiar with the area they should be able to provide solid recommendations on where to visit as well as supplying background information on the history of the region - a definite plus for any visitor looking to get the most out of their day in that part of Indonesia.

If you are interested in hiring a private driver for the day I can highly recommend a gentleman by the name of Subardi (reachable on +62 8564 3866 759) whose driving services, English language skills (as my Bahasa Indonesia is still at a very, very basic level) and friendly nature made for a fantastic day out.