Gereja Ayam
The popularly so-called Gereja Ayam is an interreligious house of prayer or church building near the Indonesian town of Magelang in the province of Central Java ( Indonesian Jawa Tengah ) on the island of Java . The shape of the unusual building is based on a dove. But many visitors think the church more like a squatting on the ground hen , so she wears her name to German means "chicken Church." Images of the Church are also circulating on the Internet under this name.
Accurate location
 
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Location of the house of prayer on the island of Java |
The building stands on the Bukit Rhema ( German Rhema Hill ) near the hamlet Gombong ( Desa Kembang Limus , district Borobudur , Region of Magelang ).
history
Construction began in the 1990s. The builder was the Jakarta businessman Daniel Alamsjah , who claimed that the inspiration for building the church came from God. When he visited Magelang, where his wife is from, God gave him the assignment in 1989 in a dream. The hills on which Gereja Ayam stands correspond to those that Alamsjah thought he saw in a dream. He prayed in the place all night and received a revelation to build the house of prayer here. In 1990 Alamsjah bought 3000 square meters of land for two million rupees (about 300 euros ). He had to distribute the payment in installments within four years.
Alamsjah himself is of Christian faith, but imagined the house of prayer as a meeting place for believers of all religions, where they could pray and meditate.
Due to financial difficulties and local resistance, the building was never completed. Construction work was finally stopped in 2000 and the prayer house was largely left to decay. Buddhists, Muslims and Christians used it to pray. In addition to its religious purpose, the building was also used as a rehabilitation center for handicapped children and drug addicts and as accommodation for the mentally ill.
In recent years, the place has been visited by tourists more and more often. After the Gereja Ayam also served as a backdrop in several films, the prayer house became more famous, so that today it is an important tourist attraction in the region. Newly married couples also come to the house of prayer to have their wedding photos taken.
Due to its increasing popularity and exponentially growing tourist flows, Alamsjah returned and the house of prayer experienced a rebirth. Meanwhile some areas have been completed or renovated. In the catacombs there are 12 prayer rooms for all faiths, the crown of the dove serves as a viewing platform and at the back of the prayer house there is a café where merchandise is also sold.
architecture
The building is decorated with ornaments. There are unusually shaped stairs that lead to a large upstairs room that resembles a nave . In the basement there are twelve 2 × 1 meter rooms without windows or doors. It is still not clear what purpose these chambers should serve. When used as a rehabilitation center, they are said to have served as living spaces. The church tower is formed by the dove's head, which has several points that act like a crown. Stylized tail feathers adorn the other end of the nave. In the middle of the roof there is a cross-shaped opening.
As the building was never completed, it is in poor condition today. The walls are unpainted, and weather and vandalism cause major damage.
Trivia
Werner Herzog's documentary In the Depths of Inferno from 2016 dedicates a section to Ayam Gereja. In the film it is assumed that Alamsjah planned to create a connection between the house of prayer and a neighboring volcano, in the direction of which the “dove” is looking.
See also
- Herrenberg Collegiate Church , also known as the "mother hen"
Web links
- A Towering Prayer House in the Hills. In: jakartaglobe.id . May 7, 2014, accessed November 18, 2018 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e pegipegi.com: 5 Fakta Gereja Ayam, Tempat Cinta dan Rangga Melepas Rindu di AADC 2 , May 6, 2016 , accessed on November 9, 2016.
- ↑ a b c d e f Jay Akbar: Incredible images of the mysterious abandoned 'Chicken Church' built in the Indonesian jungle by man who had 'a vision from God'. In: Daily Mail Online. July 13, 2015, accessed November 17, 2018 .
- ↑ Wartakota: Gereja Ayam Tersembunyi di Balik Hutan Memiliki Misteri dan Hebohkan Dunia , accessed on November 9, 2016.
- ^ David Bramwell: Wing and a prayer: the bizarre Chicken Church of Java . In: The Guardian . May 30, 2020, ISSN 0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed May 31, 2020]).
- ↑ from the movie In the Depths of Inferno
Coordinates: 7 ° 36 ′ 20.5 ″ S , 110 ° 10 ′ 49.8 ″ E