Hetroclite Monument Borobodur

High on a mountain in Central Java, Borobudur Temple rises up towards the sky built in 750 AD. The world’s largest Buddhist temple is made up of five large square terraces, with three circular platforms on top of them, and then a magnificent stupa at the very top.From a distance it is stunning… but close up the true magic is revealed with intricate carvings on the walls throughout the whole complex.

In Buddhist belief, the closer you are to Heaven, the closer you are to the gods. And as you climb the steps of the temple, the jungle landscape of Indonesia revealing itself in every direction, you can understand how the people who built this masterpiece felt more connected to the ethereal than the earthly. Approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Yogyakarta, Borobudur sits on a plateau between two twin volcanoes, Sundoro-Sumbing and Merbabu-Merapi, and two rivers, the Progo and the Elo. According to local myth, the area known as Kedu Plain is a Javanese sacred place and has been dubbed 'the garden of Java' due to its high agricultural fertility.

Why is the Borobudur unique? Answer: It is an immense stupa of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, the Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage. Built with about 2,000,000 cubic feet (56,600 cubic metres) of gray volcanic stone, Borobudur encloses a small hill and is shaped like a stepped pyramid with three major levels—a square base, a middle level of five square

terraces, and an upper level of three circular terraces—totaling, in effect, nine lesser sections. Borobudur's design is a mix of Javanese style and Gupta dynasty architecture, reflecting the blend of indigenous and Indian aesthetics in ancient Java. Over 500 statues of Buddha are positioned around Borobudur, and Borobudur contains roughly 3,000 bas-relief sculptures.

During restoration in the early 20th century, it was discovered that three Buddhist temples in the region, Borobudur, Pawon and Mendut, fall on a straight line.[2] This may be coincidence, but is in agreement with a native folk tale that there was an ancient brick road from Borobudur to Mendut with walls on both sides. The three temples have similar architecture and ornamentation, which suggests a ritual relationship between them to form a sacred unity, although the exact ritual process is unknown.

The message of Borobudur- self conquest

Heteroclite- would mean a strange, unusual, irregularly declined, uncopied and incapable of being copied. Such indeed was the monument of Borobudur. Indeed, Borobudur proved a heteroclite, a prototype without copies; perhaps it so fully realized the potential for a monument to be both a mandala and a mountain no Indian or Khmer ruler was devout or ambitious enough to be tempted to surpass it.

We have in an earlier paper promoted the idea that the Ananda Temple of Burmale (1050-1100 C.E.) at Bagan, for example was closer but not closest. Almost 1/100 th the size of Borobudur. But it did have 1500 Buddhas lining the 15m tall walls of its two interior corridors – the equivalent of internal terraces – while its upper terraces are lined with 547 plaques illustrating each of the jataka or “birth stories” of Buddha’s previous incarnations.

It was built to pay the monarch’s karmic debt, and was a Theravada structure. Unlike the Mahayana Borobudur. Some say it had a well-defined didactic purpose; to educate the - sāmaṇeras Sanskrit: श्रामणेर novice male monastic in a Buddhist context.and the Bhikkhu, Bhikkhuṇī(nun) who not only visited Borobudur but provision was made for their stay and study.

This famous Buddhist temple, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, is located in central Java. It was built in three tiers: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. The walls and balustrades are decorated with fine low reliefs, covering a total surface area of 2,500 m2. Around the circular platforms are 72 openwork stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha. The monument was restored with UNESCO's help in the 1970s.

The UNESCO says about its Outstanding Universal Value “The Borobudur Temple Compounds is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world, and was built in the 8th and 9th centuries AD during the reign of the Syailendra Dynasty. The monument is located in the Kedu Valley, in the southern part of Central Java, at the centre of the island of Java, Indonesia.

The main temple is a stupa built in three tiers around a hill which was a natural centre: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. The walls and balustrades are decorated with fine low reliefs, covering a total surface area of 2,520 m2. Around the circular platforms are 72 openwork stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha.

The vertical division of Borobudur Temple into base, body, and superstructure perfectly accords with the conception of the Universe in Buddhist cosmology. It is believed that the universe is divided into three superimposing spheres, kamadhatu, rupadhatu, and arupadhatu, representing respectively the sphere of desires where we are bound to our desires, the sphere of forms where we abandon our desires but are still bound to name and form, and the sphere of formlessness where there is no longer

either name or form. At Borobudur Temple, the kamadhatu is represented by the base, the rupadhatu by the five square terraces, and the arupadhatu by the three circular platforms as well as the big stupa. The whole structure shows a unique blending of the very central ideas of ancestor worship, related to the idea of a terraced mountain, combined with the Buddhist concept of attaining Nirvana.

The Temple should also be seen as an outstanding dynastic monument of the Syailendra Dynasty that ruled Java for around five centuries until the 10th century.

The Borobudur Temple Compounds consists of three monuments: namely the Borobudur Temple and two smaller temples situatued to the east on a straight axis to Borobudur. The two temples are Mendut Temple, whose depiction of Buddha is represented by a formidable monolith accompanied by two Bodhisattvas, and Pawon Temple, a smaller temple whose inner space does not reveal which deity might have been the object of worship. Those three monuments represent phases in the attainment of Nirvana.

The temple was used as a Buddhist temple from its construction until sometime between the 10th and 15th centuries when it was abandoned. Since its re-discovery in the 19th century and restoration in the 20th century, it has been brought back into a Buddhist archaeological site.

Criterion (i): Borobudur Temple Compounds with its stepped, unroofed pyramid consisting of ten superimposing terraces, crowned by a large bell-shaped dome is a harmonious marriage of stupas, temple and mountain that is a masterpiece of Buddhist architecture and monumental arts.

Criterion (ii): Borobudur Temple Compounds is an outstanding example of Indonesia’s art and architecture from between the early 8th and late 9th centuries that exerted considerable influence on an architectural revival between the mid-13th and early 16th centuries.

Criterion (vi): Laid out in the form of a lotus, the sacred flower of Buddha, Borobudur Temple Compounds is an exceptional reflection of a blending of the very central idea of indigenous ancestor worship and the Buddhist concept of attaining Nirvana. The ten mounting terraces of the entire structure correspond to the successive stages that the Bodhisattva has to achieve before attaining to Buddhahood.

Integrity

The boundaries contain the three temples that include the imaginary axis between them. Although the visual links are no longer open, the dynamic function between the three monuments, Borobudur Temple, Mendut Temple, and Pawon Temple is maintained. The main threat to the ensemble is from development that could compromise the extraordinary relationship between the main monument and its wider setting and could also affect the Outstanding

Universal Value of the property. The approach to the property has to a degree already been compromised by weak developmental regulations. Tourism also exerts considerable pressure on the property and its hinterland. There is a growing rate of deterioration of the building stone, the cause of which needs further research. There is also a small degree of damage caused by unsupervised visitors. The eruption of Mount Merapi is also considered as one of the potential threats because of its deposit acidic ash as happened in 2010.”

The Borobudur according to Chelsie Baldwin in The Internal and External Manifestations of Cultural Nationalism: A Borobudur Case Study-(https://anuhj.com.au/publication/the-internal-and-external-manifestations-of-cultural-nationalism-a-borobudur-case-study/ it is )a cosmogram of concentric square and circular stone terraces, Borobudur’s pyramidal structure mimics the surrounding mountainous landscape of the Central Javanese region. H. N. Seiburgh was the first to consider the site for its cosmogram architecture, and illustrated a series of drawings mapping the temple floor plan in 1837–38.8

The temple structure is consistent with the mandala of Buddhist symbolic architecture and design. Borobudur’s floor plan encourages a circumambulation of the site, starting at a disinterred basement. The square terraces of the lower temple form four galleries, depicting a succession of Jātaka, avadāna and sūtra that inform the experience of the site. The action of pilgrimage is mirrored in the reliefs of the second gallery, which depict the journey of Sudhana as articulated in the Gandavyūha sūtra, composed in Sanskrit by the fourth century. A series of illustrations from around 1814 depict the architectural details of the second gallery.

The illustrations are attributed to Dutch engineer H. C. Cornelius and his team. There are five iconographic depictions of the wisdom of Buddha represented at Borobudur, with four articulating one of the four sides of the temple structure. These Buddhas are illustrated in Drawing of the Five Buddhas Depicted on Candi Borobudur (1837–38) by H. N. Seiburgh. Akshobya is illustrated on the eastern temple wall, Ratnasambhava articulates the southern, Amitabha the western and Amoghasiddhi the northern wall. Above the

didactic levels are three stages of circular terraces. The terraces are adorned with 72 bell-shaped stūpa (hemispherical structures typical of Buddhist architecture). Inside these stūpa, the fifth Buddha, Vairocana, is conscealed, obscured in the most part by stūpa wall. A latticed fenestration of the stūpa (diamond on the lower terraces and square on the upper) reveals a glimpse of Vairocana inside. The implications of archaeology, pillaging, tourism and time have resulted in damage to a number of the stūpa, and the Buddhas enclosed to varying degrees. At the acme of the Borobudur temple is a central stūpa with an unfinished Buddha inside. The Borobudur temple typifies an iconographic depiction of Buddhist Mahāyāna philosophy.

There is no sign the builders of the Baphuon or Angkor Wat were even aware of their illustrious predecessor. In many ways, Angkor Wat seems almost the antithesis of Borobudur whose solid mass might have struck Khmer builders and kings as merely squat or squashed and inappropriate for the ordered spaciousness of an expanding empire. At Borobudur the architects seem deliberately to have constructed a confined, linear and ultimately private experience of space between its walls and balustrades,

unspooling like a film around each redented corner, twisting but climbing steadily upward along an unfolding path towards a conclusion that could only be experienced by reaching it. In this labyrinth, one can imagine, initiates could gradually shed their samsaric illusions of occupying a personal position in architectural and terrestrial space, erasing the dualism of here and there, self and other. The uneventful, often repetitious, story of Sudhana and his fifty-two “friends” numbs the scopophilic gaze grasping for exciting

drama, pomp and opulence, so amply rewarded in Angkor Wat’s 1st gallery; it is often difficult to link the carvings on Borobudur’s upper tiers to the Gandavyuha’s text because the scenes differ so little. When adepts finally emerged on the upper terrace, their attention would not have been directed at an expansive vista around them framed by open colonnades, the imperial domain stretching to the Cambodian plain’s horizon, instead they would have seen the volcanos hemming in the Javanese temple. In any event, had they followed

Sudhana’s lessons closely, they would be facing away from them, squinting into the cramped dagobas with their Buddha statues in teaching mudra, pointing out the emptiness of the external world to a spaciousness not of the eye. As the pilgrims circled the three narrowing rings of dagobas, the landscape always at their back, their view would be directed upward by the stupa with its vacant chambers, tapering until it disappeared at its dimensionless apex.

The Borobudur is not a candi.A candi is a Hindu or Buddhist temple in Indonesia, mostly built during the Zaman Hindu-Buddha or "Hindu-Buddhist period" between circa the 4th and 15th centuries.[

The Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language of the Language Center defines a candi as an ancient stone building used for worship, or for storing the ashes of cremated Hindu or Buddhist kings and priests. Indonesian archaeologists describe candis as sacred structures of Hindu and Buddhist heritage, used for religious rituals and ceremonies in Indonesia.[3] However, ancient secular structures such as gates, urban ruins, pools and

bathing places are often called candi too, while a shrine that specifically serves as a tomb is called a cungkup. In Hindu Balinese architecture, the term candi refers to a stone or brick structure of single-celled shrine with portico, entrance and stairs, topped with pyramidal roof and located within a pura. It is often modeled after East Javanese temples, and functions as a shrine to a certain deity. To the Balinese, a candi is not

necessarily ancient, since candis continue to be (re-)built within these puras, such as the reconstructed temple in Alas Purwo, Banyuwangi. In contemporary Indonesian Buddhist perspective, candi also refers to a shrine, either ancient or new. Several contemporary viharas in Indonesia for example, contain the actual-size replica or reconstruction of famous Buddhist temples, such as the replica of Pawon[5] and Plaosan's perwara (small) temples. In Buddhism, the role of a candi as a shrine is sometimes interchangeable with a stupa, a domed structure to store Buddhist relics or the ashes of cremated Buddhist priests, patrons or benefactors. Borobudur, Muara Takus and Batujaya for example are actually elaborate stupas.

In modern Indonesian language, the term candi can be translated as "temple" or similar structure, especially of Hindu and Buddhist faiths. Thus temples of Cambodia (such as the Angkor Wat), Champa (Central and Southern Vietnam), Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and India are also called candi in Indonesian. It is a Gigantic STUPA or CANDI Biggest in the world The candi architecture follows the typical Hindu architecture traditions based on Vastu Shastra. The temple layout, especially in Central Java period, incorporated mandala temple plan arrangements and also the typical high towering spires of Hindu temples. The candi was designed to mimic Meru, the holy mountain the abode of gods. The whole temple is a model of Hindu universe according to Hindu cosmology and the layers of Loka Structure elements

The Shiva temple Candi Prambanan consist of three ascending realms, temple's base (Bhurloka), body (Bhurvaloka) and roof (Svarloka).The candi structure and layout recognize the hierarchy of the zones, spanned from the less holy to the holiest realms. The Indic tradition of Hindu-Buddhist architecture recognize the concept of arranging elements in three parts or three elements. Subsequently, the design, plan and layout of the temple follows the rule of space allocation within three elements; commonly identified as foot (base), body (center), and head (roof). The three zones is arranged according to a sacred hierarchy. Each Hindu and Buddhist concepts has their own terms, but the concept's essentials is identical. Either the compound site plan (horizontally) or the temple structure (vertically) consists of three zones:

Bhurloka (in Buddhism: ⦁ Kāmadhātu), the lowest realm of common mortals; humans, animals also demons. Where humans still bound by their lust, desire and unholy way of life. The outer courtyard and the foot (base) part of each temples is symbolized the realm of bhurloka. Bhuvarloka (in Buddhism: ⦁ Rupadhatu), the middle realm of holy people, ⦁ rishis, ascetics, and lesser gods. People here began to see the [[light

of truth]]. The middle courtyard and the body of each temples is symbolized the realm of bhuvarloka. Svarloka (in Buddhism: ⦁ Arupadhatu), the highest and holiest realm of gods, also known as ⦁ svargaloka. The inner courtyard and the roof of each temples is symbolized the realm of svarloka. The roof of Hindu structure usually crowned with ⦁ ratna (⦁ sanskrit: jewel) or ⦁ vajra, or in eastern Java period, crowned by cube structure. While ⦁ stupa or dagoba cylindrical structure served as the pinnacle of Buddhist ones.

Style

Soekmono, an Indonesian archaeologist, has classified the candi styles into two main groups: a central Java style, which predominantly date from before 1,000 CE, and an eastern Java style, which date from after 1,000 CE. He groups the temples of Sumatra and Bali into the eastern Java style.

Central Java style Bubrah temple/ Eastern Java style Bajang Ratu gate

Bubrah temple near Prambanan, an example of Central Javanese style, while Bajang Ratu gate in Trowulan is an example of Eastern Javanese style.

Parts of the temple Central Java Style Eastern Java Style Shape of the structure Tends to be bulky Tends to be slender and tall

Roof Clearly shows stepped roof sections, usually consist of 3 parts The multiple parts of stepped sections formed a combined roof structure smoothly Pinnacle Stupa (Buddhist temples), Ratna or Vajra (Hindu temples) Cube (mostly Hindu temples), sometimes Dagoba cylindrical structures (Buddhist temples)

Portal and niches adornment Kala-Makara style; Kala head without lower jaw opening its mouth located on top of the portal, connected with double Makara on each side of the portal Only Kala head sneering with the mouth complete with lower jaw located on top of the portal, Makara is absent

Relief Projected rather high from the background, the images was done in naturalistic style Projected rather flat from the background, the images was done in stylized style similar to Balinese wayang image

Layout and location of the main temple Concentric mandala, symmetric, formal; with main temple located in the center of the complex surrounded by smaller perwara temples in regular rows Linear, asymmetric, followed topography of the site; with main temple located in the back or furthermost from the entrance, often located in the highest ground of the complex, perwara temples is located in front of the main temple

Direction Mostly faced east Mostly faced west

Materials Mostly andesite stone Mostly red brick

The walls of candi often displayed bas-reliefs, either serves as decorative elements as well as to convey religious symbolic meanings; through describing narrative bas-reliefs. The first four terrace of Borobudur walls are showcases for bas-relief sculptures. These are exquisite, considered to be the most elegant and graceful in the ancient Buddhist world. The Buddhist scriptures describes as bas-reliefs in Borobudur such as Karmavibhangga (the law of karma), Lalitavistara (the birth of Buddha), Jataka, Avadana and Gandavyuha. While in Prambanan the Hindu scriptures is describes in its bas-relief panels; the Ramayana and Bhagavata Purana (popularly known as Krishnayana).

The bas-reliefs in Borobudur depicted many scenes of daily life in 8th-century ancient Java, from the courtly palace life, hermit in the forest, to those of commoners in the village. It also depicted temple, marketplace, various flora and fauna, and also native vernacular architecture. People depicted here are the images of king, queen, princes, noblemen, courtier, soldier, servant, commoners, priest and hermit. The reliefs also depicted mythical spiritual beings in [[Buddhist

beliefs]] such as asuras, gods, boddhisattvas, kinnaras, gandharvas and apsaras. The images depicted on bas-relief often served as reference for historians to research for certain subjects, such as the study of architecture, weaponry, economy, fashion, and also mode of transportation of 8th-century Maritime Southeast Asia. One of the famous renderings of an 8th-century Southeast Asian double outrigger ship is Borobudur Ship.

A Bodhisattva flanked by two Taras in Sewu temple./Hanuman battling enemy, bas-relief of Ramayana on Penataran temple, East Java style.

There are significant distinction of bas-reliefs' style and aesthetics between the Central Javanese period (prior of 1000 CE) and East Javanese period (after 1000 CE). The earlier Central Javanese style, as observable in Borobudur and Prambanan, are more exquisite and naturalistic in style. The reliefs is projected rather high from the

background, the images was done in naturalistic style with proper ideal body proportion. On the other hand, the bas-reliefs of Eastern Javanese style is projected rather flat from the background, the images was done in stiffer pose and stylized style, similar to currently Balinese wayang images. The East Javanese style is currently preserved in Balinese art, style and aesthetics in temple bas-reliefs, also wayang shadow puppet imagery, as well as the Kamasan painting.

Deities Boddhisattva and Tara

In Buddhist temples, the panels of bas-reliefs usually adorned with exquisite images of male figure of Bodhisattvas and female figure of Taras, along with Gandarvas heavenly musicians, and sometimes the flock of Gana dwarfs. These are the deities and divinities in Buddhist beliefs, which resides in the Tushita heaven in Buddhism cosmology.

Bodhisattvas are usually depicted as handsome man with peaceful and serene facial expression, adorned with luxurious jewelry akin to a king or a deity. While the Taras are his female counterparts, figures of beautiful celestial maidens. Both figures are depicted gracefully, usually holding various kinds of lotus (red padma, blue utpala, or white kumuda), monk staff (khakkhara) or fly whisk (chamara), and standing in tribhanga pose. The notable images of boddhisattvas could be found adorning the outer walls of Plaosan, Sari, Kalasan, Sewu, Pawon and of course Borobudur temple.

Borobudur Stupa, Ratna and Vajra pinnacles

Prambanan vajra pinnacle//Bell-shaped perforated stupas of Borobudur. The religions dedicated in the temples of ancient Java can be easily distinguished mainly from its pinnacles on top of the roof. Bell-shaped stupa can be found on the Buddhist temples' roof, while ratna, the pinnacle ornaments symbolize gem, mostly founds in Hindu temples.

The typical stupas in Javanese classical temple architecture is best described as those of Borobudur style; the bell-shaped stupa. The stupa in Borobudur upper round terrace of Arupadhatu consist of round lotus pedestal (padmasana or "lotus pad"), gently sloped bell-shaped dome (anda), a rectangular or octagonal shape (harmika) sits on top of the dome serves as the base of hexagonal rod-like pinnacle (yasti).

Each stupa is pierced by numerous decorative openings, either in the shape of rectangular or rhombus. Statues of the Buddha sit inside the pierced stupa enclosures. Borobudur was first thought more likely to have served as a stupa, instead of a temple. A stupa is intended as a shrine for the Buddha. Sometimes stupas were built only as devotional symbols of Buddhism. A temple, on the other hand, is used as a house of worship.

Ratna pinnacle took form of a curved obtuse pyramidal shape or sometimes cylindrical, completed with several base structure or pedestals took form as some ornamental seams (Javanese:pelipit). This form is known as keben pinnacle or the form of Barringtonia asiatica fruit. It can be found as the pinnacle of both Hindu and Buddhist temples. Nevertheless,

it is most prevalent in Hindu temples. The example of temple with ratna pinnacle is Sambisari and Ijo temple. In Prambanan, the stylized vajra replaced ratna as the temple's pinnacles. In ancient Javanese temple architecture, the vajra pinnacle is probably served as the

Hindu counterparts of Buddhist stupa pinnacle. This practice is preserved in Balinese Hindu temples of later period where the multi-tiered meru towers are crowned with vajra pinnacles. Nevertheless, vajra is actually a familiar symbols in both dharmic faiths. In later periods of Eastern Java temple architecture, the false lingga-yoni, or cube can be found in Hindu temple's roof, while cylindrical dagoba on top of Buddhist counterparts.

Location: Borobudur and Kedu Plain

Borobudur

The Kedu Plain lies to the north west of Yogyakarta and west of Gunung Merapi and south west of Magelang, in Central Java. Borobudur. 9th-century Buddhist monument, reportedly the world's largest. Seven terraces to the top represent the steps from the earthly realm to ⦁ Nirvana. Reliefs of the birth, enlightenment and death of the ⦁ Buddha. A ⦁ UNESCO ⦁ World Heritage Site. Pawon. 8th-century Buddhist temple.

Mendut. 8th-century ⦁ Mahayana Buddhist temple.

Ngawen. Five aligned sanctuaries, one decorated with finely sculpted lions. 8th-century Buddhist temple located east from Mendut temple. The name linked to Venuvana, "the temple of bamboo forest". Banon. 8th-century Hindu temple located north from Pawon temple. The few remains make it impossible to reconstruct the temple. The Hindu god statue from this temple is now located at the ⦁ National Museum in Jakarta.

Umbul, a 9th-century bathing complex in Grabag, Magelang

Gunung Sari. Ruins of three secondary temples and the foot of the main temple remain.

Gunung Wukir. One of the oldest inscriptions on Java, written in 732 ⦁ CE, found here. Only the bases remain of the main sanctuary and three secondary temples. Candi Borobudur’s design was conceived of by the poet, thinker, and architect Gunadharma, considered by many today to be a man of great vision and devotion. The temple has been described in a number of ways. Its basic structure resembles that of a pyramid, yet it has been also referred to as a caitya (shrine), a stupa (reliquary),

and a sacred mountain. In fact, the name Śailendra literally means “Lord of the Mountain.” While the temple exhibits characteristics of all these architectural configurations, its overall plan is that of a three-dimensional mandala—a diagram of the cosmos used for meditation—and it is in that sense where the richest understanding of the monument occurs. Set high upon a hill vertically enhanced by its builders to achieve a greater elevation, Borobudur consists of a series of open-air passageways that radiate around a central [[Wikipedia:axis

mundi|axis

mundi]] (cosmic axis). Devotees circumambulate clockwise along walkways that gradually ascend to its uppermost level. At Borobudur, geometry, geomancy, and theology all instruct adherents toward the ultimate goal of enlightenment. Meticulously carved relief sculptures mediate a physical and spiritual journey that guides pilgrims progressively toward higher states of consciousness.

The entire site contains 504 statues of the Buddha. 1460 stone reliefs on the walls and opposite balustrades decorate the first four galleries, with an additional 1212 decorative reliefs augmenting the path. The relief sculptures narrate the Buddha’s teachings (the Dharma), depict various events related to his past lives (Jataka tales), and illustrate

didactic stories taken from important Buddhist scriptures (sutras). Interestingly, another 160 relief sculptures adorn the base of the monument, but are concealed behind stone buttresses that were added shortly after the building’s construction in order to further support the structure’s weight. The hidden narrative reliefs were photographed when they

were discovered in the late 19th century before the stones were put back to help ensure the temple’s stability. Moving past the base and through the four galleries, the devotee emerges onto the three upper terraces, encountering 72 stupas each containing a three-dimensional sculpture of a seated Buddha within a stone latticework. At the temple’s apex sits the large central stupa, a symbol of the enlightened mind.

Prambanan Cross section

Borobudur Cross section

From darkness into light

Following the Noble Path is like entering a dark room with a light in the hand; the darkness will all be cleared away, and the room will be filled with light. Go forth in every direction- for the happiness, the harmony, the welfare of the many. Said the Buddha

The idea of moving from the darkness into the light is the final element of the experience of Borobudur. The temple’s pathway takes one from the earthly realm of desire (kamadhatu), represented and documented on the hidden narratives of the structure’s earthbound base, through the world of forms (rupadhatu) as expounded on the narratives carved along the four galleries set at right angles, until one finally emerges into the realm of formlessness (arupadhatu) as symbolized and manifested in the open circular terraces crowned with 72 stupas.

However, the symbolization of enlightenment these stupas represent is not intended to be merely aesthetic. Buddhist stupas and mandalas are understood as “spiritual technologies” that harness spiritual “energies” in the creation of sacred space. The repetition of form and the circumabulatory progress of the pilgrim mimic, and thereby access, the cosmological as a microcosm. The clockwise movement around the cosmic center reproduces the macrocosmic path of the sun. Thus, when one emerges from the dark galleries representing the realms of desire and form into the light of the “formless” circular open air upper walkways, the material effect of light on

one’s physical form merges concomitantly with the spiritual enlightenment generated by the metaphysical journey of the sacred path. Light, in all its paradoxes, is the ultimate goal. The crowning stupa of this sacred mountain is dedicated to the “Great Sun Buddha” Vairocana. The temple sits in cosmic proximity to the nearby volcano Mt. Merapi. During certain times of the year the path of the rising sun in the East

seems to emerge out of the mountain to strike the temple’s peak in radiant synergy. Light illuminates the stone in a way that is intended to be more than beautiful. The brilliance of the site can be found in how the Borobudur mandala blends the metaphysical and physical, the symbolic and the material, the cosmological and the earthly within the structure of its physical setting and the framework of spiritual paradox.

The experience of meaning

While the sheer size and scope of a mandala structure such as this makes the site worthy of admiration, it is important to understand how the experience of Borobudur relates to the philosophic and spiritual underpinnings of the Buddhist religion it reifies and commemorates. Since its inception, roughly 2500 years ago, Buddhism has directly engaged what it sees as the paradoxical nature of human existence. The most essential tenet the religion promulgates is the impermanent, transient nature of existence.

Transcendental wisdom via the Dharma (the Noble Eight-Fold Path) hinges on recognizing that attachment to the idea of a fixed, immutable “self” is a delusion. Enlightenment entails embracing the concept of “no-self” (anattā), understood to be at the heart of eliminating the suffering and dissatisfaction (dukkha) of

sentient beings. This is the ultimate message expressed in the sacred scriptures that are solidified in artistic magnificence along the stone walls and railings of Borobudur. The physical movement of circumambulating the structure symbolizes the non-physical—or spiritual—path of enlightenment. In a real sense,

then, the concept of path within Borobudur monumentalizes the impermanent. Like a river that is never the same from moment to moment, to physically move along the path while meditating on the spiritual message of the sutras is meant to help one fully embrace the Buddha’s paradoxical message of impermanence.

The texts illustr ated on the walls refer to pathways as well. For instance, the Gandavyuha Sutra forms a major segment of the temple’s upper galleries. The last chapter of a larger text called the Flower Garland Sutra, it relates the story of Suddhana, a youth who commences a journey to meet fifty-three teachers while seeking the path to enlightenment. The concept of “path” is a central theme in the text. He eventually meets an enlightened being (bodhisattva) named Samantabadhra. Excerpts from the larger sutra illustrate the concepts under discussion:

“I will lead those who have lost their way to the right road. I will be a bright light for those in the dark night, and cause the poor and destitute to uncover hidden treasures. The Bodhisattva impartially benefits all living beings in this manner.

I vow to shut the door to evil destinies and open the right paths of humans, gods and that of Nirvana. Once any sentient beings see the Buddha, it will cause them to clear away habitual obstructions. And forever abandon devilish actions: This is the path traveled by Illumination.