Borobudur - Indonesia

World’s Largest Buddhist Temple

Travelogue 32

 

Evidence suggests that Borobudur was constructed in the 8th century and subsequently abandoned following the 14th-century decline of Hindu kingdoms in Java and the Javanese conversion to Islam. Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparked in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British governor of Java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Since then, it has undergone extensive renovations, the largest one in 1983, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site today. Borobudur is the most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia and one of the best known in Southeast Asia.

 

Aerial view of the Borobudur Buddhist Temple complex

 

Prelude

In my recent article on Angkor Wat in Cambodia, I had spoken of how my long-time friend and colleague Dr C Seshadri had motivated me to visit this, one of the wonders of the world. At that time, he had also spoken equally admiringly of a similar one, also in Southeast Asia, the Borobudur Buddhist Temple complex near Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia. Actually, I had visited this on 21 Jan 2018, about two months before visiting Angkor Wat, but was hitherto not enthusiastic on writing about it because the visit was largely a washout (as also on the same afternoon to Prambanan, an equally great Hindu Temple complex nearby), in pouring rain. Since I have felt rather guilty of overlooking one in favour of the other for no compelling reason, I am now making up for the lapse. In doing so, I am supplementing some of my own rain affected pictures (a few with tell-tale raindrops lingering on my camera lens) with similar ones from other sources in good lighting conditions so as to show the presentation in better light.

The location of Borobudur is shown in the map of central Java below:

Journey

I had arrived at the city of Yogyakarta in central Java by a late evening flight from Bali on 20 Jan 18, having booked a full day local tour of Borobudur and Prambanan the next day by a tourist bus service.  I was picked up promptly, and uncomfortably early at 4 am from my hotel, and the first stop on the way to an early morning visit to Borobudur was a picturesque hilly spot called Barede (see picture below), about an hour’s drive away, to observe what is generally a spectacular sunrise over the nearby hills, as part of the tour package.

That morning, a drizzle had already set in and there was to be no sunrise behind the cloudy skies (see picture below) overlooking the beautiful hills. But the rich greenery all around the observation site in the early morning light was in itself worth the detour. 

Borobudur

After a halt for breakfast, we reached the beautiful, extensive and superbly maintained Borobudur Temple complex, among the earliest arrivals, even as the drizzle had gradually progressed to a light rain.  Thoughtfully, the bus driver handed out an umbrella to those of us who didn’t have one, but I had brought my own, as much to shield my precious camera as to protect myself.  Below is one of my first pictures of the famed temple, with its central stupa clearly visible quite some distance away even in the dull light, as also part of my umbrella. 

Further up the road, the visitor is greeted with a large bilingual display panel at an entrance to the prominently highlighted UNESCO Cultural Heritage site.  Here is a picture of it under normal sunlight on another day from another source. Observe how clearly the temple complex stands out at the rear.

As I continued to walk the fairly long distance up to the monument, and came close to it with the rain relenting slightly, I shot the picture below which shows a nearly full view of it:

Here is a splendid side-on picture of it from further behind, in bright blue skies from a different source on a different day, covering almost the whole monument:

Borobudur is surrounded by mountains, including the two volcanic ones, Mount Merbabu (left in picture below), and Mount Merapi (right).

The Architecture

The architecture of Borobudur is both unique and intricate, consisting of a stepped pyramid of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a huge central dome. The base is a 123 m sided square platform with four-meter walls. Five square concentric platforms above it, each of progressively diminishing dimensions, form the main body of the monument together with the large base platform. Each stage supports a row of stupas positioned in concentric circles. The three circular platforms rise above the square ones. The whole structure looks like a lotus, symbolic of Buddhist culture and tradition.

The temple’s walls and balustrades are adorned all around with reliefs carved in situ, over 2600 of them stretching over 6 km, both richly narrative and decorative in content, as can be seen in the two representative pictures below: 

There are 72 stupas around the concentric circular platforms, each containing a statue of the Buddha. Each stupa is bell shaped and perforated by decorative openings (see picture below). 

The top of the huge central stupa (see picture below) is 35 meters above ground level.  Prior to the latest restoration efforts, this was known to have been topped off with a chhatra, the traditional umbrella shaped pinnacle on top. But this is still missing, apparently requiring further restorative action. 

Here is one of the exposed statues of the Buddha in a top layer:

The extent of the temple complex, with the rich greenery all around, can be gauged from the following picture I took near the top, looking down on one side:

Access to the top is provided by stairways at each of the four sides of the monument, the main entry being on the eastern side (see picture below).

Borobudur was founded around 800 AD by the Sailendra dynasty that ruled over Mataram kingdom in central Java.  The construction appears to have taken around 75 years, using over 2 million stone blocks (about 55,000 cubic meters), employing a complex interlocking technique without the use of mortar or any cement. Abandoned, presumably after the rise of Islam in the region, it lay hidden for centuries under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth. It was unearthed in 1835 and restored partially through the initiative of Thomas Raffles, governor of British ruled Java at the time. The major restoration was done in 1983 with help from UNESCO and some of its participating countries.   

Architectural Design and Significance

When viewed from above, the monument looks like a colossal tantric mandala, reflecting the Buddhist concept of cosmology.  The monument’s three divisions (see picture of promotion poster below) are emblematic of its three realms – Kamadhatu (realm of desires, represented by the huge base), Rupadhatu (realm of forms, represented by the five square platforms, the body), and Arupadhatu (the formless realm represented by the three circular platforms and the top stupa, signifying nirvana).

Below is a cross-sectional representation of the geometry of the whole monument: 

An interlude

For me, the difficulty with moving about in the unceasing rain, with an umbrella in one hand and a camera in the other, was compounded by a nasty fall, face forward, on the slippery ground around the monument.  A young co-passenger came to my help immediately, took me to the nearby information center, got me some first aid and put me back on my own feet, requiring no further medical intervention. We quickly became friends and I learnt that he was from distant Honduras in Central America, spoke fluent English and was a highly educated engineer as well. Our conversations covered a lot of ground on current international affairs, especially about neighboring Nicaragua that was in dire straits despite its oil riches because of its unbridled profligacy.  He explained to me how Nicaragua had now become an unwelcome neighbor to Honduras, reversing the situation not too long ago, to the extent that his country was now slowly turning out to be a haven for some Nicaraguans along their common border.

Here is a treasured picture of me with my Honduran friend of the moment, taken in continuing light rain, against the backdrop of the great Buddhist monument that had attracted both of us to a common meeting point there that rainy morning.

Borobudur and Angkor Wat

Dr Seshadri was right when he spoke about the grandeur of Borobudur in the same breath as Angkor Wat. There are both similarities and differences between the two in architectural styles, but each is great in its own way and both are among the wonders of the world, fully justified in UNESCO’s support and intervention on a large scale. Despite the pouring rain, I found Borobudur visually more attractive than Angkor Wat, especially for the extensive greenery and beautiful pathways and support structures surrounding it.  Other than the huge water pools all around and the causeway to the monument across one side, Angkor Wat’s surroundings look distinctly ordinary compared to Borobudur.  While the reliefs and friezes in Angkor Wat are strongly linked to Hindu mythology, Buddhism is the driving force behind Borobudur.   Both proclaim the extent to which Hinduism had penetrated southeast Asia before yielding to other influences.

World Heritage

After the renovation was finished, UNESCO listed Borobudur as a World Heritage Site in 1991. It is listed under Cultural criteria:

(i)              "To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius",

(ii)           "To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design", and

(vi)          "To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance".

Barring obvious spelling errors, the same information is incorporated in the following English version of the bilingual text displayed in the large welcome panel at the entrance to the temple complex:

Notwithstanding the archaic phraseology, there is little to disagree with these criteria and their fulfilment by the restored monument.