Candi Borobudur

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Origins

Located in the village of Borobudur, West of Muntilan, and around 20kms South of Magelang. Muntilan is 42km NW of Yogyakarta. Built in four stages between 775 and 840 AD.

Map reference: 1408-234 Mungkid [12,59] [explanation].

The temple is Mahayana buddhist, and the name of the temple has been translated to mean: "Mountain of virtues (accumulation of merits) of the ten states of bodhisattva". This translation is based on a phrase found in a very weathered foundation stone of AD 842 by the epigraphist de Casparis. An earlier, and equally plausible, explanation by Poerbatjaraka of the name was 'Monastry of Budur' in which 'boro' stands for biara and 'budur' is a place name. Canto 77 of the Nagarakrtagama mentions Budur as one in the list of Buddhist Vajradhara sanctuaries.  

Stages of construction: 

Description of architecture

Borobudur has a diameter of 123m across the axes and including the reinforcing pedestal. Currently, it has a height of 31.5m, this would have been around 42m when its pinnacle was still intact. It is built in the shape of a large stupa, and in the opinion of the scholar Stutterheim its structure represents the three spheres of the Buddhist cosmology, with the reliefs reinforcing the meaning of each sphere.

Not all scholars accept Stutterheims classification, but owing to its utility in differentiating between the various parts of the temple it remains commonly used. 

According to Klokke (1996), the monument was built purposely obscure the narrative reliefs and the circular terrace. The pilgrim would have to follow the course of the narratives first before reaching the final revelation of the transcendental buddhas turning the Wheel of the Law on the circular terraces.

Description of reliefs

The Borobudur has a total of 1460 reliefs depicting scenes from eleven stories, not all of which have been identified. The reliefs should be viewed from the East side, and one should walk holding the monument to the right. Interspersed between the reliefs are 1212 decorative panels. The stories of the panels stem from Buddhist scriptures that can be identified based on the Sanskrit originals. So far, no Old Javanese version matching the stories as depicted on Borobudur has been found. As a group, the reliefs show the life of the historical Buddha until his enlightenment (Lalitavistara), progress on to teachings (Jataka & Avadana) and end with the pilgrim's quest for enlightenment (Gandawyuha).

Kamadhatu: 160 covered base reliefs illustrate scenes of everyday life, scenes in hell, the torture of sinners and scenes in heaven. The series show the karmawibhangga, the illustration of the law of karma (cause and effect). Inscriptions have been found above some of the reliefs with instructions to the sculptors about the scene to be carved, this suggests that the base was covered before the work was completed - elsewhere on the monument no such instructions have been found. In the 1968-83 restoration the SE side of the base has been left uncovered.

Rupadhatu: reliefs with stories from Sanskrit manuscripts: Lalitawistara, Jataka and Awadana stories, Gandawyuha. Ornamental designs along the edges: kalamakara, foliage, spirals & flowers.

First gallery:

  • Balustrade inner side, upper and lower series:  Stories from the Awadana and Jataka about the Buddha's former lives. Relief 1 - 135 of the upper series are from the Jatakamala. 

  • Main wall, upper series: Stories from the Lalitawistara: the life-story of Buddha Gautama, from the time in Tushita heaven to his first sermon in the Lumbini grove. 

  • Main wall, lower series: Stories from the Awadana and Jataka about the Buddha's former lives. Not all scenes have been identified as taken from the Awadana and Jataka.

Second gallery:

  • Balustrade, inner side: Continuation of Buddha's previous lives, not all identified. NW corner has a peacock, the reincarnation of bodhisattva is caught and afterwards gives instruction. 

  • Main wall: 128 reliefs with stories from the unpublished Gandawyuha. Bodhisattva Sudhana is in search of the perfect knowledge. He meets various gurus on his wandering, of which Manjusri is the first. Manjusri is an important bodhisattva who acts as guardian for scholars and students and is invoked for endeavours in the spiritual field. After having visited other persons and gods, Sudhana returns to Manjusri Relief 1-13: prologue, Relief 16: Sudhana and Manjusri : the former is identified by the three moneybags, depicted against the pedestal on which he stands. The story tells that Sudhana's father becomes suddenly rich at the birth of his son. Relief 128: meeting with Maitreya (dagob in his crown), Last relief of the series, which continues on the main wall of the third gallery.

Third gallery:

  • Main wall: Continuation of the Gandawyuha, where the visit with Maitreya continues.

  • Balustrade: On the life of Bodisattva Maitreya who chose to remain a Boddhisattva in order to guides believers to enlightenment.

Fourth gallery:

  • Balustrade, inner side: Illustration of Bodhisattva Maitreya. 

  • Balustrade, outer side: Not identified.

  • Main wall: Life of a bodhisattva, possibly named Samantabhadra who has an outstanding position among all bodhisattvas. Recognised as the last buddha for the future where Maitreya is the first.

Arupadhatu: no reliefs nor ornament, a world for meditation. 

  • Terrace I: 32 buddhas

  • Terrace II: 24 buddhas

  • Terrace III: 16 buddhas

  • The main stupa is now empty and there is no no consensus on what might have been there. The resident of Kedu, Hartmann even found it empty in 1842.

For the modern visitor, the panels also contain interesting information about contemporary life. Follow this link to read more about musical instruments displayed on them.

A virtual image gallery of Borobodur is under construction by Dr. Titus Leber (www.titusleber.com) unde rthe title Borobudur - Paths to Enlightenment". At the time of writing,only the picture book of the Lalitavistara was available, but I will continue to check back periodically. www.titusleber.com/vr-borobudur.htm

Description of statues

Built in the shape of a stupa, many stupa adorn the structure starting from the solid central stupa at the top of the monument. Around it are arranged 72 stupas in open lattice work each housing one buddha. A further 1472 stupa adorn the Rupadhatu. Additionally, the Rupadhatu houses 432 niches with buddhas that can be found from the first storey upwards. The statues depict the various manifestations of Buddha, and these differ per layer and orientations. Link: iconography

First storey facing outward: statues of Manushi buddhas, who manifest themselves in the world. 

Niches surrounding the three lower galleries: Dhyani (or Medidation) buddhas with specific mudra:

  • East Akshobhya               bumisparca-mudra: summoning the world as witness: left hand rests opened in lap, right hand covers right knee.

  • North Amogasiddha          abhaya-mudra: not fearing danger, left hand rests opened in lap, right and is raised and opened to the viewer.

  • West Amithaba                 dyanamudra: meditating: left hand rests opened in lap, right hand rests opened in the left hand.

  • South Ratnasambhawa      waramudra: giving favour or blessing: left hand rests opened in lap, right hand is turned down to cover right knee, but palm faces viewer.

Fifth storey gallery: 64 Dyani buddhas Vairocana in witarka mudra - teaching, giving instruction or addressing persons: left hand rests in lap, right hand is raised as in waramudra, but first finger touches the thumb and is separate from the index finger. 

Arupadhatu: Buddha Vajrasattva, dharmacakramudra, turning the wheel dharma: left arm and hand are raised to breast level and the index finger nearly touches the thumb. The right hand makes an OK sign and touches the left hand.  

Attributes: All the buddha statues have an uncovered right shoulder, are in sitting position with an undergarment visible at his legs.

  • Ushnisha round protuberance of hair in the middle of the skull.

  • Hair in small curls, twisted to the right - covers his head completely.

  • Urna small lump between eye-brows of buddha and bodhisatvas.

  • Mudra hand positions allowing differentiation between various buddhas. Manushi buddhas often appear with the mudra of a Dhyani buddha. Only Cakyamuni has a beggar bowl as attribute, others have none.

Rediscovery and restoration

The existence of the Borobudur was known to the Javanese even before Raffles' visit as witnessed by references to "redi Borobudur" in the Babad Tanah Jawa (Mas Dana who rebelled against Pakubuwana I was captured there 1709-1710) and elsewhere. Interest in the Borobudur greatly increased after 1814 when Cornelius visits Borobudur at the behest of Raffles, who heard of the ruins existence in Semarang. With 200 men and in 1.5 months he uncovers the monument.  Starting with Sieburgh in1837, painters and photographers visited the monument, driven by their own interest or as part of official missions such as Wilsen and Schoenberg Mueller in 1948-53. The first photographs were taken in 1845 by Schaeffer, but it was Van Kinsbergen's careful and artistic work of 1873 that was to become famous and inspire Gauguin's work. The stream of interested visitors continues unabated leading to the discovery of the hidden base by IJzerman in 1885. The plethora of sculpture attracted collectors, and even the Government believed there was plenty so that when King Chulalongkorn of Siam visited in 1896 he was given five Dhyani buddha, two lions, a makara gargoyle, lion-heads from staircase wings, kala heads &c. The Borobudur display at the Exposition Mondial in Paris in 1900 added to the temple's fame, and in that year a Committee was inaugurated and charged with advising the Government about the restauration of the Borobudur. 

The Borobudur Committee was chaired by Brandes and included the then still unknown 2nd Lieutenant van Erp who was to supervise and lead the actual restoration. Working with a budget of F48,000 (to which later F10,000 was added for photography), van Erp's work focussed in the first instance on improving the sewerage works, making urgent repairs and a partial restoration. As work progressed many stones and sculptures found their way back to the monument from the village. 

In the second stage of the restoration, starting in 1909, the focus moved beyond urgent repairs and the "reunion of that what time had separated" to recreating the elements that were key to building, to recapture the thought that motivated its construction". In so doing, van Erp's approach did not allow for the creation of what was never there, instead he aimed to recapture the strong horizontal lines of the upper plinths of the main walls, and the visual reverberation of the power of repetition emanating from the niches topping these walls. 

Van Erp in his restoration moved beyond the prevention of further decay and stopped well short of recreating what was not there. His careful work and the continued focus on the whole, rather than series of minute details alone made his restoration exemplary, and his approach laid the foundation - though be it with a lag - for future work. 

In 1968 a large scale renewed renovation was undertaken in which the foundation was further strengthened, and (rain) water treatment improved. This restoration was completed in 1983 when the temple was reopened in a new park setting.

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Mounted: 6-Jan-06; last edited: 13-Jul-08

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