Candi Mendut
Construction started in 750 as a Hindu temple. The transformation into a Buddhist sanctuary took place in around AD800, and the third stage of construction was started in 830. Built for worship. Located 3kms from Borobudhur.
The temple is arranged in a cruciform plan, measuing 26.5m at the longest point, and 21m at the widest point. The estimated height is 26.5m. Entry is from the North West side. The temple has a lower base with a total of 51 reliefs alternating figurative images and abstract repetitive designs. A staircase leads to a second level where a balustrade allows for perambulation of the main structure. The inner cella houses three statues, and niches for what could have been bronze statues.
The reliefs on the lower basement combine Hindu and Buddhist elements. Heading due east from the main stairway, leaving the reliefs on our right hand side, we first find an image of what is likely Wisnu, given that the image on the corresponding relief on the other side of the staircase represents Garuda.
Approach stairway has carvings illustrating stories from the Jataka tales, and reliefs of goddess Hariti and Kuwera. Hariti is a symbol of good fortune and Kuwera (right hand side) signifies wealth and prosperity.
In the chamber: facing the visitor on entrace, Buddha Cakyamuni sitting on Prabha Cakyamuni with Dharma Cakra Pravartana mudra. North (on Buddha's left): Avalokiteswara, South (on Buddha's right): Vajrapani.
On the outer walls: North - Tara; East - Avalokeswara, South - Mañjuçri. The statues are flanked by kings who are believed to be from the Cailendra dynasty. The lower inner section of the outer walls have images, some of which refer to legends from the Buddhist canon.
Mendut was discovered around 1834 in land clearing for a coffee plantation. The temple was overgrown, and its crown was missing. Three statues remained inside the temple body that was still intact. The Public Works Department nor any other party had experience in restoring temples, and the challenge at Mendut was to prevent the collapse of the outer wall that had been constructed independently of the inner wall. Similarly, what remained of the crown of the temple was exerting pressure on the body that on clearing would likely tear. Not to speak of damage to the statues by falling stones. Finally, a solution was found. The statues would be wrapped in protective materials, the chamber would be filled with sand to a height of 1.7m, and scaffolding would be erected around the temple body. Restoration was started in 1987 but terminated in 1904 when the F41,000 budget had been exceeded and a further request for some F35,000 was rejected. Restoration was first undertaken under the supervision of Van de Kamer, and later Brandes took over the task, making many generally recognised improvements and corrections. He reopened the skylight his predecessor closed and allowed for light to enter the cella - in line with the condition found in the temple ruin. The lack of funding, and Brandes' early death in 1905 put an end to the work at Mendut.
In the Mendut restoration elements have been recreated even were no certainty existed. It is not known whether the four makara along the plinth of the lower basement were ever there, nor whether the recreated halo of one of the Buddha statues along the lines of the other statues was indeed like that. Current notions of 'how to restore' leave no room for 'free interpretations' and tends to see them as forgeries. Sadly, in the case of Mendut the contemporary additions/ interpretations were never marked as such. Fortunately, lack of official funding prevented the restorers from being overzealous in recreating the temple as they imagined it had once been.
New funds were made available in 1908, but purely for preservation - not restoration. The first two ceiling layers could be almost fully reconstructed with stones kept in the adjacent village. Less certainty existed with regard to the portal, and different potential reconstructions were drawn up by Van Erp (see Borobudur) and Brandes. The portal could not be fully restored because of the inability of the supporting walls to carry the weight. The disturbing and artificial flatness of the roof was altered somewhat in 1925 by the addition of a few stupa.