Everything about Borobudur totally explained
Borobudur is a ninth century
Mahayana Buddhist monument in
Magelang,
Central Java,
Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672
relief panels and 504
Buddha statues. A main dome is located at the center of the top platform, and is surrounded by seventy-two Buddha statues seated inside perforated
stupa.
The monument is both a
shrine to the
Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist
pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path circumambulating the monument while ascending to the top through the three levels of
Buddhist cosmology, namely,
Kamadhatu (the world of desire);
Rupadhatu (the world of forms); and
Arupadhatu (the world of formless). During the journey, the monument guides the pilgrims through a system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the wall and the
balustrades.
Evidence suggests Borobudur was abandoned following the fourteenth century decline of Buddhist and
Hindu kingdoms in Java, and the
Javanese conversion to
Islam. It was rediscovered in 1814 by
Sir Thomas Raffles, the
British ruler of Java. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the
Indonesian government and
UNESCO, following which the monument was listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site. Borobudur is still used for pilgrimage, where once a year Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate
Vesak at the monument, and Borobudur is Indonesia's single most visited
tourist attraction.
Etymology
In
Indonesian, temples are known as
candi, thus "Borobudur Temple" is locally known as
Candi Borobudur. The term
candi is also used more loosely to describe any ancient structure, for example, gates and bathing structures. The origins of the name
Borobudur however are unclear, although the original names of most ancient Indonesian temples are no longer known. Raffles wrote about a monument called
borobudur, but there are no older documents suggesting the same name. The only
old Javanese manuscript that hints at the monument as a holy Buddhist sanctuary is
Nagarakertagama, written by
Mpu Prapanca in 1365. Besides Borobudur, there are other
Buddhist and
Hindu temples in the area, including the
Prambanan temples compound. During the restoration in the early 1900s, it was discovered that three Buddhist temples in the region, Borobudur,
Pawon and
Mendut, are lined in one straight line position. It might be accidental, but the temples' alignment is in conjunction with a native
folk tale that a long time ago, there was a brick-paved road from Borobudur to Mendut with walls on both sides. The three temples (Borobudur–Pawon–Mendut) have similar architecture and ornamentation derived from the same time period, which suggests that ritual relationship between the three temples, in order to have formed a sacred unity, must have existed, although exact ritual process is yet unknown.
Unlike other temples, which were built on a flat surface, Borobudur was built on a bedrock hill,
above sea level and above the floor of the dried-out paleolake. The lake's existence was the subject of intense discussion among archaeologists in the twentieth century; Borobudur was thought to have been built on a lake shore or even floated on a lake. In 1931, a Dutch artist and a scholar of Hindu and Buddhist architecture, W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp, developed a theory that Kedu Plain was once a lake and Borobudur initially represented a
lotus flower floating on the lake. Lotus flowers are found in almost every Buddhist work of art, often serving as a throne for buddhas and base for stupas. The architecture of Borobudur itself suggests a lotus depiction, in which Buddha postures in Borobudur symbolize the
Lotus Sutra, mostly found in many
Mahayana Buddhism (a school of Buddhism widely spread in the
east Asia region) texts. Three circular platforms on the top are also thought to represent a lotus leaf. A study of
stratigraphy, sediment and
pollen samples conducted in 2000 supports the existence of a paleolake environment near Borobudur,
History
Construction
There is no written record of who built Borobudur or of its intended purpose. The construction time has been estimated by comparison between
carved reliefs on the temple's hidden foot and the
inscriptions commonly used in royal charters during the eight and ninth centuries. Borobudur was likely founded around 800 AD., when it was under the influence of the
Srivijayan Empire. The construction has been estimated to have taken 75 years and been completed during the reign of
Samaratungga in 825.
There is confusion between
Hindu and
Buddhist rulers in
Java around that time. The Sailendras were known as ardent followers of Lord Buddha, though stone inscriptions found at Sojomerto suggest they may have been Hindus.
Construction of Buddhist temples, including Borobudur, at that time was possible because Sanjaya's immediate successor,
Rakai Panangkaran, granted his permission to the Buddhist followers to build such temples. In fact, to show his respect, Panangkaran gave the village of
Kalasan to the Buddhist community, as is written in the Kalasan Charter dated 778 AD. However, it's likely that there were two rival royal dynasties in Java at the time—the Buddhist Sailendra and the
Saivite Sanjaya—in which the latter triumphed over their rival in the 856 battle on the
Ratubaka plateau. This confusion also exists regarding the Lara Jonggrang temple at the
Prambanan complex, which was believed that it was erected by the victor Rakai Pikatan as the Sanjaya dynasty's reply to Borobudur,
Abandonment
Borobudur lay hidden for centuries under layers of
volcanic ash and jungle growth. The facts behind its abandonment remain a mystery. It isn't known when active use of the monument and Buddhist pilgrimage to it ceased. Somewhere between 928 and 1006, the center of power moved to
East Java region and a series of volcanic eruptions took place; it isn't certain whether the latter influenced the former but several sources mention this as the most likely period of abandonment. The hill was besieged and the insurgents were defeated and sentenced to death by the king. In the
Babad Mataram (or the History of the Mataram Kingdom), the monument was associated with the misfortune of the crown prince of the
Yogyakarta Sultanate in 1757. In spite of a taboo against visiting the monument, "he took what is written as
the knight who was captured in a cage (a statue in one of the perforated stupas)". Upon returning to his palace, he fell ill and died one day later.
Rediscovery
Following the
Anglo-Dutch Java War, Java was under British administration from 1811 to 1816. The appointed governor was Lieutenant
Governor-General Thomas Stamford Raffles, who took great interest in the history of Java. He collected Javanese antiques and made notes through contacts with local inhabitants during his tour throughout the island. On an inspection tour to
Semarang in 1814, he was informed about a big monument deep in a jungle near the village of Bumisegoro. In 1842, Hartmann investigated the main dome although what he discovered remains unknown as the main stupa remains empty.
The
Dutch East Indies government then commissioned F.C. Wilsen, a Dutch engineering official, who studied the monument and drew hundreds of relief sketches. J.F.G. Brumund was also appointed to make a detailed study of the monument, which was completed in 1859. The government intended to publish an article based on Brumund study supplemented by Wilsen's drawings, but Brumund refused to cooperate. The government then commissioned another scholar, C. Leemans, who compiled a
monograph based on Brumund's and Wilsen's sources. In 1873, the first monograph of the detailed study of Borobudur was published, followed by its French translation a year later.
Appreciation of the site developed slowly, and it served for some time largely as a source of souvenirs and income for "souvenir hunters" and thieves. In 1882, the chief inspector of cultural artifacts recommended that Borobudur be entirely disassembled with the relocation of reliefs into museums due to the unstable condition of the monument. and the ceremony is centered at the three Buddhist temples by walking from
Mendut to
Pawon and ending at Borobudur.
The monument is the single most visited
tourist attraction in Indonesia. In 1974, 260,000 tourists of whom 36,000 were foreigners visited the monument. The figure hiked into 2.5 million visitors annually (80% were domestic tourists) in the mid 1990s, before
the country's economy crisis. Tourism development, however, has been criticized for not including the local community on which occasional local conflict has arisen.
On
21 January 1985, nine stupas were badly damaged by nine bombs. In 1991, a blind
Muslim evangelist, Husein Ali Al Habsyie, was sentenced to
life imprisonment for masterminding a series of bombings in the mid 1980s including the temple attack. Two other members of a right-wing
extremist group that carried out the bombings were each sentenced to 20 years in 1986 and another man received a 13-year prison term. On
27 May 2006, an
earthquake of 6.2 magnitude on
Richter scale struck the south coast of Central Java. The event had caused severe damage around the region and casualties to the nearby city of
Yogyakarta, but Borobudur remained intact.
Architecture
Borobudur is built as a single large
stupa, and when viewed from above takes the form of a giant
tantric Buddhist mandala, simultaneously representing the Buddhist cosmology and the nature of mind. The foundation is a square, approximately on each side. It has nine platforms, of which the lower six are
square and the upper three are
circular. The upper platform features seventy-two small stupas surrounding one large central stupa. Each stupa is bell-shaped and pierced by numerous decorative openings. Statues of the
Buddha sit inside the pierced enclosures.
Approximately of stones were taken from neighbouring rivers to build the monument. A
stupa is intended as a
shrine for the Lord Buddha. Sometimes stupas were built only as devotional symbols of Buddhism. A temple, on the other hand, is used as a house of
deity and have inner spaces for worship. The complexity of the monument's meticulous design suggests Borobudur is in fact a temple. Congregational worship in Borobudur is performed by means of pilgrimage. Pilgrims were guided by the system of staircases and corridors ascending to the top platform. Each platform represents one stage of
enlightenment. The path that guides pilgrims was designed with the symbolism of sacred knowledge according to the
Buddhist cosmology.
Little is known about the architect
Gunadharma. His name is actually recounted from Javanese legendary folk tales rather than written in old inscriptions. He was said to be one who "... bears the measuring rod, knows division and thinks himself composed of parts." The unit metrics is then obviously relative between persons, but the monument has exact measurements. A survey conducted in 1977 revealed frequent findings of a ratio of 4:6:9 around the monument. The architect had used the formula to lay out the precise dimensions of Borobudur.
Kamadhatu is represented by the base,
Rupadhatu by the five square platforms (the body), and
Arupadhatu by the three circular platforms and the large topmost stupa. The architectural features between three stages have metaphorical differences. For instance, square and detailed decorations in the
Rupadhatu disappear into plain circular platforms in the
Arupadhatu to represent how the world of forms - where men are still attached with forms and names - changes into the world of the formless.
In 1885, a hidden structure under the base was accidentally discovered. The "hidden foot" contains reliefs, 160 of which are narrative describing the real
Kamadhatu. The remaining reliefs are panels with short inscriptions that apparently describe instruction for the sculptors, illustrating the scene to be carved. The real base is hidden by an encasement base, the purpose of which remains a mystery. It was first thought that the real base had to be covered to prevent a disastrous subsidence of the monument through the hill.
|-
! section !! location !! story !! #panels
|-
| hidden foot || wall || Karmavibhangga || align=right|160
|-
| rowspan=4 | first gallery
| rowspan=2 | main wall
| Lalitavistara || align=right|120
|-
| Jataka/Avadana || align=right|120
|-
| rowspan=2 | balustrade
| Jataka/Avadana || align=right|372
|-
| Jataka/Avadana || align=right|128
|-
| rowspan=2 | second gallery
| balustrade || Jataka/Avadana || align=right|100
|-
| main wall || Gandavyuha || align=right|128
|-
| rowspan=2 | third gallery
| main wall || Gandavyuha || align=right|88
|-
| balustrade || Gandavyuha || align=right|88
|-
| rowspan=2 | fourth gallery
| main wall || Gandavyuha || align=right|84
|-
| balustrade || Gandavyuha || align=right|72
|-
| colspan=3 align=right | Total || align=right|1,460
|}
Borobudur contains approximately 2,670 individual
bas reliefs (1,460 narrative and 1,212 decorative panels), which cover the
façades and
balustrades. The total relief surface is and they're distributed at the hidden foot (
Kamadhatu) and the five square platforms (
Rupadhatu). are grouped into 11 series encircled the monument with the total length of . The hidden foot contains the first series with 160 narrative panels and the remaining 10 series are distributed throughout walls and balustrades in four galleries starting from the eastern entrance stairway to the left. Narrative panels on the wall read from right to left, while on the balustrade read from left to right. This conforms with
pradaksina, the ritual of circumambulation performed by
pilgrims who move in a clockwise direction while keeping the
sanctuary to their right.
The hidden foot depicts the workings of
karmic law. The walls of the first gallery have two superimposed series of reliefs; each consists of 120 panels. The upper part depicts the
biography of the Buddha, while the lower part of the wall and also balustrades in the first and the second galleries tell the story of the Buddha's former lives. The remaining panels are devoted to Sudhana's further wandering about his search, terminated by his attainment of the
Perfect Wisdom.
The law of karma (Karmavibhangga)
The 160 hidden panels don't form a continuous story, but each panel provides one complete illustration of cause and effect. Avadanas are similar to jatakas, but the main figure isn't the Bodhisattva himself. The saintly deeds in avadanas are attributed to other legendary persons. Jatakas and avadanas are treated in one and the same series in the reliefs of Borobudur.
The first 20 lower panels in the first gallery on the wall depict the Sudhanakumaravadana or the saintly deeds of Sudhana. The first 135 upper panels in the same gallery on the balustrades are devoted to the 34 legends of the Jatakamala. The remaining 237 panels depict stories from other sources, as do for the lower series and panels in the second gallery. Some jatakas stories are depicted twice, for example the story of King Sibhi (Rama's forefather).
Sudhana's search for the Ultimate Truth (Gandavyuha)
Gandavyuha is the story told in the final chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra about Sudhana's tireless wandering in search of the Highest Perfect Wisdom. It covers two galleries (third and fourth) and also half of the second gallery; comprising in total of 460 panels. The principal figure of the story, the youth Sudhana, son of an extremely rich merchant, appears on the 16th panel. The preceding 15 panels form a prologue to the story of the miracles during Buddha's samadhi in the Garden of Jeta at Sravasti.
During his search, Sudhana visited no less than 30 teachers but none of them had satisfied him completely. He was then instructed by Manjusri to meet the monk Megasri, where he was given the first doctrine. As his journey continues, Sudhana meets (in the following order) Supratisthita, the physician Megha (Spirit of Knowledge), the banker Muktaka, the monk Saradhvaja, the upasika Asa (Spirit of Supreme Enlightment), Bhismottaranirghosa, the Brahmin Jayosmayatna, Princess Maitrayani, the monk Sudarsana, a boy called Indriyesvara, the upasika Prabhuta, the banker Ratnachuda, King Anala, the god Siva Mahadeva, Queen Maya, Bodhisattva Maitreya and then back to Manjusri. Each meeting has given Sudhana a specific doctrine, knowledge and wisdom. These meetings are shown in the third gallery.
After the last meeting with Manjusri, Sudhana went to the residence of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra; depicted in the fourth gallery. The entire series of the fourth gallery is devoted to the teaching of Samantabhadra. The narrative panels finally end with Sudhana's achievement of the Supreme Knowledge and the Ultimate Truth.
Buddha statues
Apart from the story of
Buddhist cosmology carved in stone, Borobudur has many statues of various Buddhas. The cross-legged statues are seated in a
lotus position and distributed on the five square platforms (the
Rupadhatu level) as well as on the top platform (the
Arupadhatu level).
The Buddha statues are in niches at the
Rupadhatu level, arranged in rows on the outer sides of the balustrades, the number of statues decreasing as platforms progressively diminish to the upper level. The first balustrades have 104 niches, the second 104, the third 88, the fourth 72 and the fifth 64. In total, there are 432 Buddha statues at the
Rupadhatu level. At the
Arupadhatu level (or the three circular platforms), Buddha statues are placed inside perforated
stupas. The first circular platform has 32 stupas, the second 24 and the third 16, that add up to 72 stupas.
At glance, all the Buddha statues appear similar, but there's a subtle difference between them in the
mudras or the position of the hands. There are five groups of
mudra: North, East, South, West and Zenith, which represent the five cardinal compass according to
Mahayana. The first four balustrades have the first four
mudras: North, East, South and West, of which the Buddha statues that face one compass direction have the corresponding
mudra. Buddha statues at the fifth balustrades and inside the 72 stupas on the top platform have the same
mudra:
Zenith. Each
mudra represent one of the
Five Dhyani Buddhas; each has its own symbolism. They are
Abhaya mudra for
Amoghasiddhi (north),
Vara mudra for
Ratnasambhava (south),
Dhyana mudra for
Amitabha (west),
Bhumisparsa mudra for
Aksobhya (east) and
Dharmachakra mudra for
Vairochana (zenith).
Restoration
Borobudur attracted attention in 1885, when Yzerman, the Chairman of the Archaeological Society in Yogyakarta, made a discovery about the
hidden foot. The discovery has led the
Dutch East Indies government to take a necessary step to safeguard the monument. In 1900, the government set up a commission consisting of three officials to assess the monument: Brandes, an
art historian, Theodoor van Erp, a
Dutch army engineer officer, and Van de Kamer, a construction engineer from the Department of Public Works.
In 1902, the commission submitted a threefold plan of proposal to the government. First, the immediate dangers should be avoided by resetting the corners, removing stones that endangered the adjacent parts, strengthening the first balustrades and restoring several niches, archways, stupas and the main dome. Second, fencing off the courtyards, providing proper maintenance and improving drainage by restoring floors and spouts. Third, all loose stones should be removed, the monument cleared up to the first balustrades, disfigured stones removed and the main dome restored. The total cost was estimated at that time around 48,800
Dutch guilders.
The restoration then was carried out between 1907–1911, using the principles of
anastylosis and led by Theodor van Erp. The first seven months of his restoration was occupied with excavating the grounds around the monument to find missing Buddha heads and panel stones. Van Erp dismantled and rebuilt the upper three circular platforms and stupas. Along the way, Van Erp discovered more things he could do to improve the monument; he submitted another proposal that was approved with the additional cost of 34,600 guilders. At first glance Borobudur had been restored to its old glory.
Due to the limited budget, the restoration had been primarily focused on cleaning the sculptures, and Van Erp didn't solve the drainage problem. Within fifteen years, the gallery walls were sagging and the reliefs showed signs of new cracks and deterioration. The Indonesian government and
UNESCO then undertook the complete overhaul of the monument in a big restoration project between 1975–1982. After the renovation was finished, UNESCO listed Borobudur as a
World Heritage Site in 1991.
Gallery of reliefs
Image:Borobudur ship.JPG|Relief panel of a ship at Borobudur.
Image:Musician Borobudur.jpg|Musicians performing musical ensamble.
Image:Apsara Borobudur.jpg|The Apsara of Borobudur.
Image:Sailendra King and Queen, Borobudur.jpg|The scene of King and Queen with their subjects.
Image:Borobudur relief 3.jpg|One relief on a corridor wall.
Image:Borobodur2.jpg|A detailed carved relief stone.
Further Information
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