Chicken Church

Gereja Ayam, the chicken church, is a large concrete structure on Rhema hill near Borobudur built from 1992 by Daniel Alamsjah, who by his account received a vision instructing him to build a prayer house on the site; he designed it as a dove, and it was never a church - the intention was a place of prayer open to people of any religion, with rooms for different faiths - but the crested head and beak read to everyone as a chicken, and that is the name it has. Money ran out in 2000 and it stood abandoned and decaying, which is how photographers found it. Since the mid-2010s it has been repaired and opened as an attraction with a viewing platform in the head looking over the Kedu plain towards Borobudur and the volcanoes.

History

Daniel Alamsjah, a Christian, said a dream in 1989 inspired him to build a prayer house here, meant to welcome people of any religion for prayer or meditation, and he built it during the 1990s in the shape of a dove, though to most people it looks like a hen. Financial difficulties and local resistance halted the work in 2000, and the unfinished building was left to deteriorate before films set there drew visitors (Wikipedia, Gereja Ayam).

What's there

• A dove taken for a chicken - the intended bird and the name everyone uses.
• A prayer house, not a church - built for several faiths, never a congregation's building.
• A viewing platform in the head - the outlook over the Kedu plain and the volcanoes.
• A rescued ruin - abandoned in 2000, repaired and reopened in the 2010s.

When to go

May to September; sunrise is the popular slot. Half a day.

What to expect

Sunrise brings crowds and a queue for the head platform. The walk up is steep or costs a shuttle fare. It is a curiosity rather than a substantial site.

Nearby

Borobudur is four kilometres away; Punthuk Setumbu is on the same ridge.

Key facts