Mysteries of Borobudur Discover Indonesia. John Miksic

      

      DISCOVER INDONESIA

      The Mysteries of

      BOROBUDUR

      Text by JOHN MIKSIC

       Photographs by MARCELLO

       and ANITA TRANCHINI

      Copyright © 1999 Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

      All rights reserved

      Printed in Singapore

      ISBN: 978-1-4629-0699-4 (ebook)

      Publisher: Eric M. Oey

      Text: John Miksic

      Illustrations: all illustrations by Lucille Tham.

      Photographs: all photographs by Marcello and Anita Tranchini, except as noted: page 7, bottom, Luca Invernizzi Tettoni; page 10 courtesy of the Prentenkabinet, Leiden; page 11, top, Kal Muller; page 11, right, courtesy of the Leiden University Library; pages 18-19 Luca Invernizzi Tettoni; page 22 John Miksic; page 30 Tom Ballinger.

      Production: Mary Chia & Violet Wong

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      COVER PICTURES Front: all photographs by Marcello and Anita Tranchini.

      Back: left, from Thomas Stamford Raffles' History of Java, based on a sketch by H.C. Cornelius; centre, Lucille Tham; right, Marcello Tranchini.

      Contents

Buddhism in Java	4
Construction	6
Early Javanese Society	8
Reconstruction	10
Architecture	12
Symbolism	14
Statues	16
Visual Vocabulary	20
Mahakarmavibhangga	22
Jatakas and Avadanas	24
The Lalitavistara	26
The Gandavyuha	28
The Message	30
Glossary	32

      Buddhism In Java

      Buddhism enjoyed a short but intense period of popularity in central Java. All known Buddhist temples there, including Borobudur, were built within a century of one another, between AD 750 and 850.

      Buddhism was not in a calm, stable state during the 8th and 9th centuries when Borobudur was built. On the contrary, this was a period of intense intellectual activity. Each teacher and each country where new forms of Buddhism were developed evolved special interpretations of the religion. Indonesians must have contributed their own concepts in addition to helping spread those from India.

      Buddhism was less popular than Hinduism in ancient Java. It did, however, have powerful royal patrons and both Hinduism and Buddhism were linked to two families who formed the ruling elite of Javanese society during the Borobudur period: the Sanjaya and the Sailendra.

      The meaning of the word "family" in ancient Java must be explained. The Javanese have never used family names, and Javanese trace their family relationships through both males and females. Groups of kinsmen coalesce around distinguished forebears while less important ancestors are forgotten.

      Buddhism in Indonesia was closely linked to an influential family known as the Sailendra or "Lords of the Mountain." This title clearly indicates that the family claimed an intimate relationship with the supernatural power which the Javanese believed hovered around mountain peaks.

      The very first published view of Borobudur, which appeared in the second edition of the monumental work, The History of Java, written by Java's Lieutenant-Governor, Thomas Stamford Raffles. This view was based on a sketch by H.C. Cornelius (see page 11), it depicts large trees growing upon the monument which do not, however, obscure the main outline of the structure.

      As early as 2,000 years ago, many parts of the vast Asian continent were already linked by well-established trade routes. Buddhism spread from India to mainland and insular Southeast Asia along these land and sea routes during the first millennium AD.

      Asian Trade Routes ca. A.D. 800

      The Sailendra became the dominant political family in Java around AD 780, when they displaced the Sanjaya, an older elite who were devotees of Hinduism and had been important since at least AD 732— the date of the earliest known inscription to mention a kingdom in central Java.

      Tension between members of the Sailendra and Sanjaya