The
heart of Amanjiwo is a sweeping circular monolith crafted of paras
yogya (a limestone found in the Yogyakarta area), and all but
entirely open to the Javanese country air. You see it, Amanjiwo's
remarkable relation with the region that surrounds it, even as
your car descends to the resorts porte cochere.
The
view runs like an arrow through Amanjiwo's entrance and the stone
corridor that neatly cleaves the resort, up the steps to the soaring,
bell-shaped rotunda, down to the Dining Room, outside to the Terrace,
past fields of rice and market vegetables and on, in a direct
and unwavering line to Borobudur itself.
Amanjiwo's
major architectural motif, of circles and squares and crescents,
pays homage to Borobudur and to the centuries of grand temple
architecture that fills Central Java.
Amanjiwo's
main building is framed by 36 suites arrayed in two deep crescents.
These are rimmed by high, limestone walls colored by spider lifies
and mauve and cream morning glories. The walls give shape to stone
walkways that link the suites to the main building and the Pool
Club. The suites feature terrazzo flooring, high ceilings, domed
roofs and sliding glass doors that open to a garden terrace with
a view to Borobudur. Fifteen suites come with private swimming
pools. All suites include a thatched-roof kubuk (pavilion) with
a daybed for outdoor lounging and dining.
Interiors
include a central, four-pillar bed on a raised terrazzo platform,
sungkai wood screens, coconut wood and rattan furniture, old batik
pillows in classic Yogyakarta style, traditional glass paintings
and a sunken outdoor bathtub centered by a brass gamelan gong.
The Dalem Jiwo suite is a discrete compound, Complete with a private
entrance, a classically styled rotunda and surrounding terrace
and two separately walled bedrooms, each with stone steps descending
to the suite's private swimming pool. The 15-meter pool, finished
in a green Javanese stone known as hujau danau, is set into the
rice fields. The Dalem Jiwo butler, always on call, has separate
quarters in the compound
Amanjiwo
(peaceful soul in Sanskrit) rests in the rural heartland of Central
Java. The resort is located within a natural amphitheater, with
the limestone Menoreh Hills rising directly behind, the Kedu Plain
to the front and four volcanoes – Sumbing and Sundoro to the
west, Merbabu and Merapi in the east – on the horizon. Amanjiwo
looks out onto Borobudur, the largest Buddhist sanctuary in the
world.
The
Dalem Jiwo suite is a discrete compound, Complete with a private
entrance, a classically styled rotunda and surrounding terrace
and two separately walled bedrooms, each with stone steps descending
to the suite's private swimming pool. The 15-meter pool, finished
in a green Javanese stone known as hujau danau, is set into the
rice fields. The Dalem Jiwo butler, always on call, has separate
quarters in the compound.