BOROBUDUR - a true Wonder

One of the benefits of living in an industrial suburb of a small town in Indonesia was the opportunity we got to visit some very exotic sites , scattered around Central Java. One of them was BOROBUDUR.

The data about Borobudur :

A World Heritage Site .
The Largest Buddhist Stupa in the world.
" The Temple With No Inside".

Built between 740 and 852 AD, during the reign of King Samaratungga of Mataram Dynasty. Destroyed by seismic activity and abandoned around 950 AD ; swallowed by jungle and forgotten till 1814 when Stanford Raffles rediscovered the humongous rubble. Painstaking, continuous restoration by various nationalities ....
Opened for pilgrimage and tourism in 1973.

The monument is built like a stone ( lava-rock) cladding over a natural hill ( hence, "no Inside") in Central Java, not very far from the holy volcano Merapi. It is 9 tiered,(six of them square and three, circular) with stairways to ascend to each tier or terrace. It is surrounded by tropical forests , encircled by mountain ranges.

Pilgrimage consists of climbing up, level by level, doing circumambulation in each terrace. The walls of the terraces are encrusted with prodigious bas relief panels ( close to 1500 panels , extending over a total of 2 km. in all) illustrating Buddhist mythology from Karmavibhanga, Lalitavistara,Jataka,Avadana Sataka , Gandhavyuha etc .

Buddhas, Buddhas and more Buddhas are scattered all over the rampart walls , balustrades and alcoves.

The pyramidal structure is a representation of the Buddhist concept of Cosmos. The nine tiers are divided into Three Divisions representing the threefold progressive journey to The Ultimate Goal through Kamadhatu ( World of Desires), Rupa Dhatu ( World of Forms) and Arupadhatu ( The Formless World).

The pinnacle is single large stupa , the top point being 35 meters from ground level. The last three circular terraces have 72 large Buddhas sitting inside the unique , perforated bell shaped stupas. All are different, with different mudras. One Buddha is left open now, for pilgrims to touch and gain Merit.

An aerial view of the architecture  is said to show  that the shape of the shrine  resembles a "Mandala" or "Yantra".

The name  Borobudur does not have any precise meaning as it is not the traditional name for it in the local language . Since it was an abandoned ruin , it would not have had a name . Since it was first mentioned by Stamford Raffles , soon after the discovery of the ruins , one can assume the name was his corruption of some local words that would mean "mound" or "old". 

My impression :

There's a word in English : "Breath taking". I experienced the import of the word fully in Borobudur.
To begin with, its sheer immensity is overwhelming. It looks like some fairy tale mountain.

The first time I saw it, it was early morning . The misty, surreal, golden dawn light transformed it into an ethereal vision, an unbelievable dream rising from the lush jungles and resonating with birdsong , while all those silent, self-absorbed Buddhas surveyed the shimmering horizon with beatific calm.......Pure enchantment !
On the next visit, it was mid-day, drizzly ; and the wet relief panels, seemed alive !

Each individual figure in the panels is invested with a distinct characteristic and expression. No detail too negligible for the diligent sculptors. The painstaking labour of those ancient artisans must have been repeated by modern conservation workers who had to number and index all the discovered rubble , clean each bit carefully and then put them all together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Ascending, tier by tier, one can really feel the spirit being lifted to higher planes !

As I said, a Breathtaking Experience ! I consider myself very fortunate to have experienced the magic of Borobudur.
A repeat visit , sometime , always in the  bucket-list. 

Just imagining the state of mind of that first explorer who caught sight of the magnificent ruin emerging out of the thick jungle growth ! If there be Magic , that was it ! 
.............................................

( Photographs by husband. )

Comments

Teamgsquare said…
Nice info .....its truly breath taking . Will sure visit this place in future..
JC said…
"...It is 9 tiered,(six of them square and three, circular) with stairways to ascend to each tier or terrace..." brings to my 'hindu' mind the concept of evolution,,, six-faced Kartikeya, ie, essences of six planets (images of Brahma the four-faced) that reflect evolution, and therefore also hierarchy, from Mars (the dual personality reflecting both zero as well as infinity thanks to connection with essence of the most evolved Saturn, the son of Sun, but normally coiled like a serpent, zero the perfect shape that also represent earth & moon at the top-most level in human head) at the seat (mooladhar) to Venus or Shukra ('Shukracharya') as the Teacher of selfish (rakshasas) at the throat,,,
Rajesh said…
Beautiful temple. The carvings are amazing. They look like just any other Indian temple.
I am glad I came across your blog, I didn't even know about this place otherwise!

The pics are great, but are these very old and scanned recently? Lovely nevertheless...
YOSEE said…
Team G Sq.: Am sure you'll love the place.

JC : Thanks for sharing the insight.

Rajesh : Yes, the Indian Influence is unavoidable because the religions ( Hinduism & Buddhism ) were exported from here !

Siddhartha Joshi : Glad you found the post useful. Yes, the pictures were scanned from 12 year old photos clicked on a pocket camera using the "110" film.
Satyask said…
i completed all posts from here to the dolphins.. i'm in update mode.. as always terrific!
YOSEE said…
Satya : Thank you !
Indrani said…
Lucky you to stay there. Great views shared, thanks so much. :)
Anonymous said…
You are so lucky!
The photograph of dawn over Borobudur is breathtaking.
Kamini.

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