Flock to Chicken Church for a bird’s eye view of the island

When I want to hang out with my friends while viewing beautiful mountainous scenery, I go to Chicken Church. Not for a spiritual reason, but to have a chat over a cup of coffee. Bukit Rhema, which is also known as Chicken Church, has a very interesting story because apparently it is not a church or a chicken. 

The construction of Chicken Church began in 1992, after a man named Daniel Alamsjah had gotten a vision to build a church on top of a hill while he was praying in 1988. Later, he found a piece of land exactly like what he had envisioned in Gombong Kembanglimus village near Borobudur Temple. Due to his vision, he moved from Jakarta to Bukit Rhema in order to build the church, but it was never completed as a result of financial problems. 

In 2016, the place was used as a location of an Indonesian movie titled ‘Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? 2’ (What’s the Deal with Love?). Since the movie became a major hit in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, tourists began to flock there, including myself.

 

What he envisioned was a building that was dove-shaped, but somehow people perceived it as a chicken. The surrounding villagers call it “Gereja Ayam” (Chicken Church). However, Mr Alamsjah received constraints from the local government to build a church because most of the population in that area are Muslims. 

 

Therefore, he later changed the seven-storey building to a house of prayer for all the five official religions in Indonesia. Each floor has a different theme with murals and photos, like the Spiritual Journey of Man, the Meaning of Prayer, God’s Goodness, Miracle and Local Wisdom.

 

When you walk to the rooftop where the crown of the dove is, you can see the magical Borobudur Temple from afar, which is best at sunrise. Then go to the back of the dove to Kedai Rakyat Café. When you order a cup of coffee, it comes up with a plate of delicious fried cassava – the perfect combination to enjoy the spectacular view with!