news
07-13-2015, 06:07 PM
It's not a church, and it's not supposed to look like a chicken, but locals call it the "chicken church" anyway.
Residents of Magelang, Indonesia, know well the towering, red-beaked visage of gereja ayam (literally, chicken church), which stands on a hilltop overlooking the city.
The building looks like something out of Gary Larson's "Far Side" comic strip, but it's totally for real.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183276/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-1-570.jpg?6
Daniel Alamsjah, 67, is the man behind the structure. He told the Jakarta Globe that he built it after having a vision of a dove-shaped "prayer house" on a hill (http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/features/towering-prayer-house-hills/) in 1989.
He and about 30 locals began construction in the 1990s. Although it was never finished and has been abandoned since 2000, the building remains a hit with tourists.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183282/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-2-570.jpg?6
Alamsjah said that although he's a Christian, the "chicken church" -- as it came to be known -- doesn't cater to a specific religion, and that both Christians and Muslims have prayed there. The crumbling building has about a dozen private prayer chambers and a large central meeting hall.
“Perhaps because of my Christian faith, people thought I was building a church. But it’s not a church. I was building a prayer house, not a church, but a place for people who believe in God,” Alamsjah told the Globe.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183288/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-3-570.jpg?7
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183314/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-6-570.jpg?6
You don't have to go all the way to Indonesia to visit a church that looks like a chicken. As with many weird things, Florida has you covered. The Church by the Sea in Madeira Beach (http://www.churchbythesea.com/content/about-church-sea) looks more than a little chicken-like when viewed from a certain angle, although an employee there told The Huffington Post that they're "not fond" of the moniker (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=2013/03/04/chicken-church-florida_n_2805563.html).
"It's attracting people to us for all the wrong reasons. I don't think they're attracted to come in and worship. I think they're making fun of it," the employee, who requested not to be named, told HuffPost last year.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183298/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-4-570.jpg?6
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183306/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-5-570.jpg?7
The chicken church is located just west of Borobudur, a famous 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang.
Here's the chicken church as seen from Google Earth. Its beak faces east toward Borobudur.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183400/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-GOOGLE-MAPS-570.jpg?6
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Residents of Magelang, Indonesia, know well the towering, red-beaked visage of gereja ayam (literally, chicken church), which stands on a hilltop overlooking the city.
The building looks like something out of Gary Larson's "Far Side" comic strip, but it's totally for real.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183276/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-1-570.jpg?6
Daniel Alamsjah, 67, is the man behind the structure. He told the Jakarta Globe that he built it after having a vision of a dove-shaped "prayer house" on a hill (http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/features/towering-prayer-house-hills/) in 1989.
He and about 30 locals began construction in the 1990s. Although it was never finished and has been abandoned since 2000, the building remains a hit with tourists.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183282/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-2-570.jpg?6
Alamsjah said that although he's a Christian, the "chicken church" -- as it came to be known -- doesn't cater to a specific religion, and that both Christians and Muslims have prayed there. The crumbling building has about a dozen private prayer chambers and a large central meeting hall.
“Perhaps because of my Christian faith, people thought I was building a church. But it’s not a church. I was building a prayer house, not a church, but a place for people who believe in God,” Alamsjah told the Globe.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183288/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-3-570.jpg?7
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183314/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-6-570.jpg?6
You don't have to go all the way to Indonesia to visit a church that looks like a chicken. As with many weird things, Florida has you covered. The Church by the Sea in Madeira Beach (http://www.churchbythesea.com/content/about-church-sea) looks more than a little chicken-like when viewed from a certain angle, although an employee there told The Huffington Post that they're "not fond" of the moniker (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=2013/03/04/chicken-church-florida_n_2805563.html).
"It's attracting people to us for all the wrong reasons. I don't think they're attracted to come in and worship. I think they're making fun of it," the employee, who requested not to be named, told HuffPost last year.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183298/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-4-570.jpg?6
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183306/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-5-570.jpg?7
The chicken church is located just west of Borobudur, a famous 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang.
Here's the chicken church as seen from Google Earth. Its beak faces east toward Borobudur.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/3183400/thumbs/o-CHICKEN-CHURCH-GOOGLE-MAPS-570.jpg?6
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-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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