Borobudur

Borobudur (or Barabudur – the origin and meaning of the name are unknown) is a squat pyramid-shaped stupa 40km to the north west of Yogyakarta, in a volcanic region on the Indonesian island of Java. Erected in the late 8th or early 9th century, presumably by the kings of central Java, this Buddhist monument was probably abandoned within not much more than a century after construction when the power-base moved to east Java. There is no foundation inscription, no way of dating beyond the paleography of the workers' inscriptions, and no later mention of the sanctuary until 1709 AD.

The quality and importance of Borobudur are world-class, for the sheer abundance and beauty of its figured reliefs, decorated panels and sculptures. In Europe, no such sculptural complexes had been seen since well before the fall of the Roman Empire; and none would be seen until more than 100 years after its abandonment. In the region, it ranks with a much larger complexes at Pagan (Burma) and Angkor (Cambodia).

The stupa is some 31.5m high, and almost square with a side of 123m. From a broad podium, the visitor progresses through four relief-covered galleries to a circular terrace, adorned with 72 bell-shaped perforated stupas, each containing a seated Boddhisatva, surrounding a central stupa, once much taller than it is now, which may once have held a relic of the Buddha. Because the structure was built out of a mid- to dark-grey volcanic stone, the tropical climate, with an average rainfall of over 2m per annum, has ensured that the structure has been invaded by mosses and lichens. Originally, it was probably plastered white, and painted in bright colours. There must have been a substantial monastery for the monks who looked after the structure and the pilgrims, but nothing adequate has yet been discovered. The point of the pilgrimage was that the stupa (its shape perhaps intended as a replica of the universe) allowed the pilgrim to mimic a journey from base life through to enlightenment – from this temporal world to the attainment of enlightenment, symbolised by the Bodhisattvas on the circular terrace. (There are parallels here with the mazes found in mediaeval Christian buildings.)

The shape of the stupa – like a badly-risen cake, says one scholar – results from a mix of climate and ambition. The first building campaign began with a basement covered in 160 relief panels but, when the substantial weight of the first terrace was added, the land slipped, no doubt because the core of the structure (part natural hill, part infill) soaked up water like a sponge. A decision was taken to abandon the basement by girdling it with a terrace – a corset to ensure against future landslips. Hence we might assume that the profile originally intended was taller and sharper than what we see today.

As we see it today, Borobudur is the result of three major restoration schemes. After its description by by the Engineer officer H. C. Cornelius on the commission Sir Stamford Raffles, the English Governor, in 1814, the trees and bushes on the site were felled, and stones dislodged by water and earth movement rolled down to the base (with some damage) to await re-positioning. The resident of Kedu, C. L. Hartmann, did further clearance work in 1834 and 1835. Nevertheless, degradation continued; making casts of all the reliefs was contemplated, and in 1882 it was even proposed that the reliefs be dismounted and displayed in a purpose-built museum. The fact of the filled-in basement was discovered by J. W. Ijzerman in 1885, and this helped provoke the second great restoration which resulted in the monumental monograph by N. J. Krom & Th. Van Erp of 1919, which published photographs of all the sculptures and reliefs, including the hidden base. It is from this monograph that the digital images which adorn our VRML presentation of the stupa were made.

In Indonesian, ancient 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,[7] although the original names of most ancient Indonesian temples are no longer known.[7] The name Borobudur was first written in Sir Thomas Raffles' book on Javan history.[8] 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 Nagarakretagama, written by Mpu Prapanca in 1365.

The name 'Bore-Budur', and thus 'BoroBudur', is thought to have been written by Raffles in English grammar to mean the nearby village of Bore; most candi are named after a nearby village. If it followed Javanese language, the monument should have been named 'BudurBoro'. Raffles also suggested that 'Budur' might correspond to the modern Javanese word Buda ('ancient') – i.e., 'ancient Boro'. However, another archaeologist suggests the second component of the name ('Budur') comes from Javanese term bhudhara (mountain).

Karangtengah inscription dated 824 mentioned about the sima (tax free) lands awarded by Çrī Kahulunan (Pramodhawardhani) to ensure the funding and maintenance of a Kamūlān called Bhūmisambhāra. Kamūlān itself from the word mula which means 'the place of origin', a sacred building to honor the ancestors, probably the ancestors of the Sailendras. Casparis suggested that Bhūmi Sambhāra Bhudhāra which in Sanskrit means "The mountain of combined virtues of the ten stages of Boddhisattvahood", was the original name of Borobudur.

Approximately 40 kilometers (25 mi) northwest of Yogyakarta, Borobudur is located in an elevated area between two twin volcanoes, Sundoro-Sumbing and Merbabu-Merapi, and two rivers, the Progo and the Elo. According to local myth, the area known as Kedu Plain is a Javanese 'sacred' place and has been dubbed 'the garden of Java' due to its high agricultural fertility. 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.[14] 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, 265 m (869 ft) above sea level and 15 m (49 ft) 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

Geologists, on the other hand, support Nieuwenkamp's view, pointing out clay sediments found near the site. A study of stratigraphy, sediment and pollen samples conducted in 2000 supports the existence of a paleolake environment near Borobudur. which tends to confirm Nieuwenkamp's theory. The lake area fluctuated with time and the study also proves that Borobudur was near the lake shore circa thirteenth and fourteenth century. River flows and volcanic activities shape the surrounding landscape, including the lake. One of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, Mount Merapi, is in the direct vicinity of Borobudur and has been very active since the Pleistocene

Abandonment

Borobudur lay hidden for centuries under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth. The facts behind its abandonment remain a mystery. It is not 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 is not certain whether the latter influenced the former but several sources mention this as the most likely period of abandonment. Soekmono (1976) also mentions the popular belief that the temples were disbanded when the population converted to Islam in the fifteenth century.

The monument was not forgotten completely, though folk stories gradually shifted from its past glory into more superstitious beliefs associated with bad luck and misery. Two old Javanese chronicles (babad) from the eighteenth century mention cases of bad luck associated with the monument. According to the Babad Tanah Jawi (or the History of Java), the monument was a fatal factor for a rebel who revolted against the king of Mataram in 1709.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.

Courtesy : Unesco and Wikipedia