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
Distributors
Indonesia:
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United States:
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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