Structural Elements of

Borobudur

Dr Uday Dokras
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 I N T R O D U C T I O N
Completed in 835 AD by Buddhist monarchs who were repurposing an earlier Hindu
structure, Borobudur was erected as “a testament to the greatness of Buddhism and the king
who built it,” says religion scholar and Borobudur expert Uday Dokras. Borobudur
was constructed between about 778 and 850 ce, under the Shailendra dynasty. It was buried
under volcanic ash from about 1000 and overgrown with vegetation until discovered by the
English lieutenant governor Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1814. A team of Dutch
archaeologists restored the site .These Compounds located in the Kedu Valley are one of the
greatest Buddhist monuments in the world, and was built in the 8th and 9th centuries AD
during the reign of the Shailendra Dynasty.
The greatest concentration of Javanese sacred architecture, however, lies on the plain of
Kedu, some 42 kilometers north-west of the present city of Yogyakarta. Here stands the
beautiful Hindu temple complex of Prambanam and the world famous Hindu/Buddhist
temple of Borobudur. Borobudur’ initial construction was planned and conducted by Hindu
builders sometime around 775 AD
Borobudur, a name deriving from an expression meaning 'Mountain of accumulation of
merits of the ten states of Bodhisattva' is commonly thought of as a Buddhist structure, yet
its initial construction was planned and conducted by Hindu builders sometime around 775
AD. The enormous first and second terraces were completed by a declining Hindu dynasty,
construction was then halted for some years, and later, from 790 to 835 AD, the Buddhist
Sailendra dynasty continued and finally completed the great stupa. The huge stone mass
might
have then been permanently abandoned, for it was difficult to adapt to the needs of
Buddhism. However, leaving in evidence such an obvious manifestation of Hinduism was
probably not deemed politically correct and thus the unfinished Shiva temple was
transformed into the world's largest Buddhist stupa.

After 832 AD the Hindu dynasty of Sanjaya began to reunify central Java and soon
reappropriated the Buddhist monuments built by the Sailendra. Although the Sanjaya were
themselves Hindu, they ruled over a Buddhist majority and thus, while some Hindu
modifications and ornamentations were done on Borobudur, the stupa remained a place of
Buddhist use. During the 10th and 11th centuries there was a transfer of power from central
Java to the east, and the great stupa fell into decline. For centuries the site lay forgotten,
buried under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth. In 1815 Europeans cleared the site,
in the early 1900's the Dutch began its restoration, and a US$21 million project begun in
1973 completed the work.

Hindu Design Characteristics

The Borobudur stupa is a massive, symetrical monument, 200 square meters in size, sitting
upon a low sculptured hill. The monument represents a Buddhist cosmological model of the
universe organized around the axis of mythical Mt. Meru. According to UNESCO, 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. Here we will examine all
these structural aspects one by one. Dr. Uday Dokras

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 I
The STRUCTURE of the Borobudur as a large base
Stupa

The evidence for a belief in Adi-Buddha is also evidenced by the symbolism of

Borobudur’s final stupa. Inside that stupa once was an incomplete and rough Buddha statue
which is depicting the Adi Buddha which is unimaginable by humans. This is seen as proof
that theistic Buddhism was present in Java since at least the 8th century.
Indonesian Buddhayana followers use the greeting Namo Sanghyang Adi Buddhaya. The
complete salutation which is commonly used as a greeting in the books’ preface, letters, or
meetings is:
Namo Sanghyang Adi Buddhaya
Namo Buddhaya, Bodhisatvaya Mahasatvaya

Various unique forms of Buddhist architecture developed in Indonesia and Malaysia the most common of which
is the stone Candi which are built as a symbol of Mount Meru. Others were built in punden berundak (step
pyramids) style — small terraced sanctuaries built on mountains — and pertapaan, (‘places of austerities’ or
hermitages) built on mountain slopes.

Approximately 40 kilometers (25 mi) northwest of Yogyakarta, Borobudur is located in an

elevated area 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. Besides Borobudur, there are other Buddhist and Hindu temples in the area,
including the Prambanan temples compound. During the restoration in the early 1900s, it was

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discovered that three Buddhist temples in the region, Borobudur, Pawon and Mendut, are
lined in one straight line position. It might be accidental, but the temples' alignment is in
conjunction with a native folk tale that a long time ago, there was a brick-paved road from
Borobudur to Mendut with walls on both sides. The three temples (Borobudur–Pawon–
Mendut) have similar architecture and ornamentation derived from the same time period,
which suggests that ritual relationship between the three temples, in order to have formed a
sacred unity, must have existed, although exact ritual process is yet unknown

Suroloyo Peak is the highest summit at the picturesque Menoreh Hills, which share the
neighbourhood with the renowned eco-tourism destination Kulon Progo. This peak is one of
the most popular spots to catch Yogyakarta’s most glorious sunrise that cast rays of light
upon the Borobudur Temple and Java’s big four mountains: Merapi, Merbabu, Sumbing, and
Sindoro. Other than the breathtaking view, this peak also holds some religious artefacts,
including ascetic pavilions and statues.

Unlike other temples, which were built on a flat surface, Borobudur was built on a bedrock
hill, 265 m (869 ft) above sea level and 15 m (49 ft) above the floor of the dried-out
paleolake. The lake's existence was the subject of intense discussion among archaeologists in
the twentieth century; Borobudur was thought to have been built on a lake shore or even
floated on a lake. In 1931, a Dutch artist and a scholar of Hindu and Buddhist
architecture, W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp, developed a theory that Kedu Plain was once a lake and
Borobudur initially represented a lotus flower floating on the lake. Lotus flowers are found in
almost every Buddhist work of art, often serving as a throne for buddhas and base for stupas.
The architecture of Borobudur itself suggests a lotus depiction, in which Buddha postures in
Borobudur symbolize the Lotus Sutra, mostly found in many Mahayana Buddhism (a school
of Buddhism widely spread in the east Asia region) texts. Three circular platforms on the top
are also thought to resent a lotus leaf. Nieuwenkamp's theory, however, was contested by
many archaeologists because the natural environment surrounding the monument is a dry
land.
Geologists, on the other hand, support Nieuwenkamp's view, pointing out clay sediments
found near the site. A study of stratigraphy, sediment and pollen samples conducted in 2000

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supports the existence of a paleolake environment near Borobudur, which tends to confirm
Nieuwenkamp's theory. The lake area fluctuated with time and the study also proves that
Borobudur was near the lake shore circa thirteenth and fourteenth century. River flows
and volcanic activities shape the surrounding landscape, including the lake. One of the most
active volcanoes in Indonesia, Mount Merapi, is in the direct vicinity of Borobudur and has
been very active since the Pleistocene.

The overall structure of Borobudur is made up of a square foundation along with a total
of nine platforms. Of those nine platforms six of them are squared while the remaining three
are circular. The structure can be further divided into three main levels: a base, a body, and the
top. The architecture of Borobudur would also signify a gradual process as it starts off square in
the lower terraces, transitions to elliptical with the first two upper terraces and finally becomes
circular in the third upper terrace.

Stupa, Ratna and Vajra pinnacles

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.

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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.

Prambanan vajra pinnacle.

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.
By virtue of their spatial connection to the terrain and the necessity for secure foundations,
works of architecture differ from objects that can be inverted or carried away. The bottom
edge, where a building rests on the ground, requires a different treatment than all other edges
and surfaces (> tectonics). The base reveals the relationship between a building and the
ground: it pushes into the earth, rests on the ground, or is detached from it. Whether a
building makes the impression of standing upright, reclining or floating depends upon

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whether it has a base, and if so on its formation. The connection between the building and the
ground also determines the way in which the building relates to the terrain of the exterior
space and how the two join together to form a spatial unity.

Depending upon its design, the base shows us how a building rests upon the ground. Solidity
and robustness produce a tectonic expression of load-bearing capacity. Particularly in historic
buildings, these qualities are achieved by means of rough rusticated masonry or the use of
natural stone in the pedestal zone, or by squat proportions and apertures smaller than those in
upper storeys. Bases also ensure that individual architectural elements, such as > columns and
pillars, neither sink into the earth optically nor seem detached from it. Although the base
belongs to the building, and not to the earth, it fulfils the task of creating a connection to the
terrain, broadening out by means of transitions, steps, pedestals or terraces. In ways
comparable to the shoes we wear on our feet, materials also convey distinctions between the
fineness of the interior and the coarseness of the exterior.

Along with the building, the base also brings its occupants down to earth, shaping direct
contact with the passersby and vehicles that move around the building. Through its palpable
presence and tactile qualities, the base constitutes the first zone of contact for approaching a

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building within its immediate surroundings, and is its first distinctive identifying symbol.
Essentially, it is reminiscent of the role of the pedestal, which provided stability to ancient
temples as the first islands of civilization within inaccessible terrain. Under certain
circumstances, the task of the base, namely to provide stability and an optical foundation,
may be extended by its use as a basement storey. With reduced apertures, the rooms
contained in the base are partially inserted into the ground. The unfortunately widespread bad
habit, however, of digging out the base in order to provide living space with improved
illumination deprives a building of stable grounding. The mental state of the inhabitant of a
massive basement storey that serves a building as a base, on the other hand, is shaped by a
sense of the apartment’s anchoring into the ground.
Right from the 2 nd Century onwards, Kushans in order to house relics of the Buddha, which
may have been sourced from earlier monuments, and originally buried at the site around 78
CE. Buddhist texts mention that frankincense was used during religious services at
Dharmarajika, while the complex was paved with colourful glass tiles. Though not
Buddhists,he Kushans in general were great patrons of Buddhism, and, starting with Emperor
Kanishka, they also employed elements of Zoroastrianism in their pantheon. They played an
important role in the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and China.These have a Large
square or circular plinth and several diminishing terraces as mentioned before.

“Prambanan,” explains archeologist Manggar Sarl Ayuati, “is one of the largest Hindu
temple complexes in Asia with an enclosed area 390 meters on a side. It was built in 856 by
King Rakai Pikatan of the Sanjaya dynasty, which ruled the Mataram Kingdom, and was
expanded by later kings. It is dedicated to Siva.”

Prambanan has three concentric courtyards. The innermost contains 16 temples, including the
156-foot-high main temple to Siva and 108-foot temples to Vishnu and Brahma. Each is
faced by a smaller temple for the God’s vahana (mount): Nandi the bull for Siva, Hamsa the
swan for Brahma and Garuda the eagle (Indonesia’s national symbol) for Vishnu. Scenes
from the Ramayana and the life of Krishna are carved on the outer walls of the temples. The
Siva temple has multiple chambers - Siva in the center, Durga in the north, Rishi Agastya in
the south and Ganesha in the west.

The second courtyard originally contained 240 small temples; only 129 have undergone any
degree of restoration. The rest are just piles of rocks. No structures remain in the third
courtyard, and the historical use of that area is unknown. The complex also contains four
Buddhist temples, built by a Hindu king for his Buddhist wife.Prambanan was abandoned in
the 10th century, likely when the Mataram kingdom moved to East Java following a huge
eruption of nearby Mount Merapi that covered the entire area in volcanic ash. A major
earthquake in the 16th century collapsed the upper parts of the main structures. The temple
sustained additional damage in the 6.5-magnitude earthquake of 2006. Repairs were still
underway during our 2014 visit.

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I was saddened to hear this spectacular place referred to as a dead monument and to see it
reduced to a picnic spot for tourists. Puja is performed here only once a year, but that brings
thousands of people from all over Indonesia to worship Siva, Brahma and Vishnu. With some
difficulty, puja can be arranged at other times of the year. Our guide, Pak Dewa Suratnaya, a
journalist with Media Hindu magazine, said strongly that these great temples should be
brought to life again through regular worship. I agreed with him wholeheartedly.

Diagram of the main Siva temple; repairs underway shortly after the 2006 earthquake; (inset) the partially
collapsed central Siva temple around 1895, after its rediscovery by the British.

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One prime example of the large base and conical top design id the Dharmarajika Stupa also
referred to as the Great Stupa of Taxila which is a Buddhist stupa near Taxila, Pakistan.
It dates from as early as the 2nd century CE, and was built by the Kushans to house small
bone fragments of the Buddha. It has been claimed that that Dharmarajika Stupa was built
over the remains of an even older stupa that had been built by the Mauryan emperor
King Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, though other archeologists alternatively suggest that
this is unlikely. Indo-Greek coins found at the site date from the 2nd century BCE, suggesting
earliest possible establishment of a religious monument at the site.

The stupa, along with the large monastic complex that later developed around it, forms part
of the Ruins of Taxila - which were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.

The Kushans were most probably one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, an Indo-
European nomadic people of possible Tocharian origin, who migrated from northwestern
China (Xinjiang and Gansu) and settled in ancient Bactria. The founder of the
dynasty, Kujula Kadphises, followed Greek religious ideas and iconography after the Greco-
Bactrian tradition, and also followed traditions of Hinduism, being a devotee of the Hindu
God Shiva. Small stupas that predate the main stupa are found throughout the Dharmarajika
site, and surrounded an earlier core stupa in an irregular layout. It is known that the earlier
core stupa contained a pathway for circumambulation that was made of plaster, and decorated
with shell bangles in geometric patterns. The earlier stupa likely had four gates in axial
directions.
The site came under control of Persian Sassanid rule, and suffered a period of
stagnation. Large-scale developments took place during the late Kushan and Kidarite era
which added numerous monasteries and stupas to the site.

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Plan of the Dharmarajika Stupa.

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The site was devastated by the White Huns in the 5th century CE, and then abandoned.
The location of the stupa and its monastic community about 1 kilometre outside
of Sirkap aligns with ancient Gandharan beliefs that the Buddha recommended monasteries
should be neither "too far" nor "too close" to adjacent towns. Three distinctive types of
masonry in the buildings around the main stupa suggest the contributions of different periods
to the building activity.

Core stupa

The passageway between the main stupa and several smaller stupas was used for the practice
of pradakshina.

Dharmarajika Stupa is the largest of all stupas in the Taxila region, Surrounding the main
mound is a passageway for pradakshina — the ancient practice of walking around a holy site.
The stupa's large anda, or hemispherical mound, is damaged − though the plinth of the
mound, known as the medhi, is still largely intact. The anda mound was made
of ashlar stone. The stupa's harmika, or fence like structure built atop the anda mound, has
been lost.
The stupa's southern gateway was initially considered the most important, though the
construction of four smaller stupas (termed G7, G8, S7, Q1) to the west of the stupa indicate
that this then likely became the preferred entrance for those performing circambulation. Later

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constructions around the "Eastern Avenue" then shifted the preferred route for circambulation
to the eastern side of the stupa.

Before entering the main sacred areas, visitors to the shrine from Sirkap would pass through a
large building, now termed building H, that would openly display relics. Visitors likely
venerated the relics at building H before entering the main stupa area.

It is both a temple and a complete exposition of doctrine, designed as a whole, and

completed as it was designed, with only one major afterthought. It seems to have provided a
pattern for Hindu temple mountains at Angkor and in its own day it must have been one of
the wonders of the Asian world.

Built about 800, it probably fell into neglect by c. 1000 and was overgrown. It was excavated
and restored by the Dutch between 1907 and 1911. It now appears as a large square plinth
(the processional path) upon which stand five terraces gradually diminishing in size. The
plans of the squares are stepped out twice to a central projection. Above the fifth terrace
stands a series of three diminishing circular terraces carrying small stupas, crowned at the
centre of the summit by a large circular bell-shaped stupa. Running up the centre of each face
is a long staircase; all four are given equal importance.

(From taxila an illustrated account of archaeological excavations, By Marshall John, google books)

SOLID STRUCTURE

There are no internal cell shrines, and the terraces are solid. Borobudur is thus a Buddhist
stupa in the Indian sense. Each of the square terraces is enclosed in a high wall with pavilions
and niches along the whole perimeter, which prevents the visitor on one level from seeing
into any of the other levels. All of these terraces are lined with relief sculptures, and the
niches contain Buddha figures. The top three circular terraces are open and unwalled, and the
72 lesser bell-shaped stupas they support are of open stone latticework; inside each was a
huge stone Buddha figure. The convex contour of the whole monument is steepest near the
ground, flattening as it reaches the summit. The bottom plinth, the processional path, was the
major afterthought. It consists of a massive heap of stone pressed up against the original
bottom story of the designed structure so that it obscures an entire series of reliefs—a few of
which have been uncovered in modern times. It was probably added to hold together the
bottom story, which began to spread under the pressure of the immense weight of earth and
stone accumulated above.

The Borobodur complex is an open monument; there are no chambers ; it has no roof and no
vaults, (like Candi Sewu). The complex is built in the form of a giant pyramid shaped
mandala with 10 ascending layers: the 10 Buddhist worlds represented by the 10 layers.

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Ascending from the base, there are six square terraces and a courtyard and then, at the top 3
round terraces and at the top, a central main stupa measuring 35 meters from the base or 42
meters tall.

A complex of stupas – a gigantic Buddhist monument – at 42 meters or 100 feet tall and a
total of 504 stupas in its 123 square meter grounds, it is the largest Buddhist monument in the
world. The hundreds of stupas are not just a mass of stones ( laval andesite rocks ) but carved
and built ( and all laid without mortar ) on top of a natural hillock, where using the terraces of
the natural hills, the builders stacked stones to make these monumental stupas in perfect
symmetry and total harmony.

A map of India in the 2nd century AD showing the extent of the Kushan Empire (in yellow) during the reign
of Kanishka. Most historians consider the empire to have variously extended as far east as the middle Ganges
plain, to Varanasi on the confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna, or probably even Pataliputra.

The mandala is a diagram representing a spiritual practice of attainment in the Tibetan school
of Vajrayana and also in the Sri Vijayan school as well. What type of mandala is Borobodur ?
This is difficult to say. There are as many as 3,500 types of mandalas and we cannot precisely
fix Borobodur as a particular type of mandala.

Each side of the Borobodur complex is 120 feet long and decreases as it goes up. If we were
to circumambulate each level, it would encompass a total of 5 km.The entrance to
Borobodur is at the east and the Buddhas face east.

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Borobodur took about 70 years to be built by the architect Gunadharma .There is a small hill
directly facing Borobodur and folklore says that this hill is said to represent the sleeping body
profile of Gunadvara.

There are a total of 504 stupas in the entire complex, each stupa enclosing a life size stone
Buddha. However, many are now empty due to pillage. Remarkably, no Buddha image is the
same, each Buddha image faces all various directions and with various hand mudras with all
the 6 types of mudras all represented. The 3 upper terraces have 72 Buddhas; the lower
terraces have 432 with total of 504. All the numbers add up to the number 9 ( the largest
single digit indiger ). All the stupas have the stocky bulbous Central Java shape. Each stupa
consists of the top or harmuca which holds holy relics relic holding top and the main body or
anda sitting on a lotus base. But, not all stupas in Borobodur look the same. The stupas in the
upper and lower terraces are differentiated by the harmuca and the anda. The stupas of the
lower terraces have octogonal shaped harmuca and the anda enclosing the Buddha have many
tiny square shaped openings or holes. However, the stupas of the upper terraces have a square
shaped harmuca and diamond shaped openings in the anda.

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 PERFECT SYMMETRY

The base of each stupa equals the height of the stupa. Absolutely perfect symmetry! In fact,
all measurements from every corner and the height of all stupas of Borobodur are governed
by this perfect symmetry.

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The main central stupa at the top which measures 42 meters is still in the process of
restoration – the top has not yet been restored – and is missing the 3 layers of the parasol or
‘chatra’ as can be seen at the Sarnath temple in India.Mahayana bas relief panels cover each
of the 10 layers of terraced carvings. Each gallery is a masterpieces of Sri Vijayan or
Gandaran art. No one panel is the same, each gallery in each layer representing different
Jataka stories and as one goes further up the galleries, the Jataka stories brought to life by the
panels get from the ordinary to the more conceptual.and.spiritual. As the Borobodur complex
was being built from 830 CE to 938CE, it was archaeologists discovered that it could have
been revised by as much as three times from the original plan. In any event, there were no
blueprints then and restorers can only surmise by taking apart the stones and putting them
back again. It was abandoned in 938 CE. No one quite knows why except that, the
champions of Buddhism, the Shailendra dynasty were chased out of Java in 825 CE and this
meant that for the next 30 to 40 years thereafter, the royal patronage for Buddhist temples in
java was lost. After the Shailendras were removed, the Sanjayan family which was a Hindu
princely family still continued to support Buddhism but it began to wane.

The whole building symbolizes a Buddhist transition from the lowest manifestations of
reality at the base, through a series of regions representing psychological states, toward the
ultimate condition of spiritual enlightenment at the summit. The unity of the monument
effectively proclaims the unity of the cosmos permeated by the light of truth. The visitor was
meant to be transformed while climbing through the levels of Borobudur, encountering
illustrations of progressively more profound doctrines nearer to the summit. The topmost
terrace, whose main stupa contained an unfinished image of Buddha that was hidden from the
spectator’s view, symbolized the indefinable ultimate spiritual state. The 72 openwork stupas
on the circular terraces, with their barely visible internal Buddhas, symbolize incomplete
states of enlightenment on the borders of manifestation. The usual way for a pilgrim to pay
reverence to a Buddhist stupa is to walk around it, keeping it on his right hand. The vast
series of reliefs about three feet (one metre) high on the exterior walls of the terraces would
thus be read by the visitor in series from right to left. Between the reliefs are decorative scroll
panels, and a hundred monster-head waterspouts carry off the tropical rainwater. The gates on
the stairways between terraces are of the standard Indonesian type, with the face of the Kala
monster at the apex spouting his scrolls.

IMPACT OF THE TRADITIONAL INDONESIAN STEP

PYRAMID DESIGN
Punden terraces or terraces are a building layout structure in the form of multiple terraces
or traps that lead to one point with each terrace getting higher in position. This structure is
often found on archaeological sites in the archipelago , so it is considered one of the
characteristics of the original culture of the archipelago.

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Ceto Temple, a Hindu-style temple with a staircase punden structure.

The basic structure of the terraced punden is found in archaeological sites from the pre-
Hindu-Buddhist Megalithic - Neolithic culture of the Austronesian people , although it was
also used in buildings from the later period, even until the Islamic period entered the
archipelago. Its distribution is recorded in the archipelago to Polynesia , [1] although in the
Polynesian region it is not always in the form of steps, in a structure known as marae by the
Maori. The entry of religions from outside could fade manufacturing practices punden at
several places in the archipelago, but there is a hint of the adoption of the original elements of
this in the buildings of the next period of history, as seen in Borobudur , Candi Ceto , and
Complex Funeral Kings Mataram in Imogiri .

The word "pundèn" (or pundian ) comes from the Javanese language . Said pepund è n which
means "cult objects" similar understanding with the concept kabuyutan the Sundanese
people. In punden terraces, the basic concept held is that the ancestors or those who are
worshiped are in high places (usually mountain peaks ). The term punden
terraces emphasizes the function of worshiping/respecting ancestors, not just the basic
structure of the spatial layout.

Prasat Thom of Koh Ker temple site Cambodia

The archaeological site of Koh Ker in northern Cambodia contains a seven-tiered pyramid
called Prang which was probably the state temple of Jayavarman IV. Construction of the
sanctuary was started in 928 AD. At ground level one, side of the square building measures
62 m (203 ft). The height is 36 m (118 ft). Originally on the top platform stood a huge lingam
probably more than 4 m (13 ft) high and having a weight of several tons. Inscriptions say that
it was the tallest and most beautiful Shiva-ling-am. The ling-am probably stood in a shrine
which some researchers say could have been about 15 m (49 ft) high. On the north side of the
pyramid is a steep staircase leading to the top. Concerning the seventh tier some scientists

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say, this was the platform of the shrine because on its sides beautiful reliefs of Garudas were
made.

The main pyramid of Sukuh temple

As well as menhirs, stone tables, and stone statues Austronesian megalithic culture
in Indonesia also featured earth and stone step pyramid structure, referred to as punden
berundak as discovered in Pangguyangan site near Cisolok [n and in Cipari near
Kuningan. The construction of stone pyramids is based on the native beliefs that mountains
and high places are the abode for the spirit of the ancestors.
The step pyramid is the basic design of 8th century Borobudur Buddhist monument
in Central Java. However the later temples built in Java were influenced by Indian Hindu
architecture, as displayed by the towering spires of Prambanan temple. In the 15th century
Java during the late Majapahit period saw the revival of Austronesian indigenous elements as
displayed by Sukuh temple that somewhat resembles a Mesoamerican pyramid, and also
stepped pyramids of Mount Penanggungan.Borobudur carries with it elements of both the
Pundan terraces and Te Gupta architecture of the sanchi Type.

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Post-Borobudur candis

Impact on Post-Borobudur candis illustrate the Buddhist doctrine in different

ways. Kalasan, for example, built in the second half of the 8th century, was a large square
shrine on a plinth, with projecting porticoes at the centre of each face. The roof was
surmounted by a high circular stupa mounted on an octagonal drum, the faces of which bear
reliefs of divinities. Topping each portico was a group of five small stupas, and another large
stupa stood at each disengaged corner of the main shrine. The moldings were restrained and
elegantly profiled. Each section of the exterior wall contains a niche meant for a
figure sculpture. The decorative scroll carving is especially fine.

Another shrine from this period, Candi Sewu, consisted of a large cruciform shrine
surrounded by smaller temples, only one of which has been restored. All of the temples seem
to have had roofs in the form of tiered stupas, compressing the overall Borobudur scheme
into the scope of a storied shrine tower. From Candi Plaosan came many beautiful sculptures,
donor figures, and iconic images of bodhisattvasPerhaps the most interesting of the post-
Borobudur Buddhist shrines of the 9th century is Candi Sari. It is an outstanding architectural
invention. From the outside it appears as a large rectangular three-storied block, with the
main entrance piercing the centre of one of the longer sides. The third story stands above a
substantial architrave with horizontal moldings and antefixes. Two windows on each short
side, three on each long, open into each story, though at the rear they are blind. The windows
are crowned by large antefix-like cartouches of ornamental carving based on curvilinear
pavilions hung with strings of gems. The uppermost windows are hooded with the Kala-
monster motif. The roof bears rows of small stupas, and perhaps there was once a large
central stupa. Inside, Candi Sari contains a processional corridor around three interior shrines
that were possibly intended for images of the garbha-dhatu deities, as at Candi Mendut.

21
The Sewu temple complex is the largest Buddhist compound in the Prambanan area, with
rectangular grounds that measure 185 meters north-south and 165 meters east-west. There is
an entrance on all four cardinal points, but the main entrance is located on the east side. Each
of the entrances is guarded by twin Dvarapala statues. These large guardian statues have been
better preserved, and replicas can be found at Jogja Kraton. There are 249 buildings in the
complex are arranged in a Mandala pattern around the main central hall. This configuration
expresses the Mahayana Buddhist view of the universe. There are 240 smaller temples,
called Perwara (guardian) temples, with similar designs that are arranged in four rectangular
concentric rows. Two outer rows are arranged closer and consist of 168 smaller temples,
while two inner rows, arranged at certain intervals, consist of 72 temples. The 249 temples
located in the second precinct were all made with a square frame but varied by different
statues and orientations. Many of the statues are now gone, and the arrangements on the
current site are not in the original orientations. The statues are comparable to the statues
of Borobudur and were likely made of bronze.

Candi Sewu Layout

Along the north-south and east-west central axis at a distance of about 200 meters, between
the second and third rows of the smaller temple are located the apit (flank) temples, a couple
on each cardinal point facing each other. The apit temples are the second largest temples after
the main temple, however only eastern twin apit and a northern one still remain today. These
smaller temples encompass a larger sanctuary that has been heavily looted. Behind the fourth
row of smaller temples lies the stone paved courtyard where the main temple stood on the
center.
The nearby temples, Gana temple in the east and Bubrah temple in the south, are suggested as
the part of greater Manjusrigrha vajradhatu mandala complex. Both temples are located
around 300 metres from the Sewu main temple. There are northern and western ruins
discovered around the same distance from the main temple, however the stones was too
scarce for reconstruction. These temples suggested that indeed the Sewu temple compound
was completed with four additional temples, located 300 metres from the main temple, which
is corresponds with the mandala and the guardians of the directions concept.

22
The main temple measures 29 meters in diameter and soars up to 30 meters high. The ground
plan of the main temple is a cross-shaped 20-sided polygon. On each of the four cardinal
points of the main temple, there are four structures projected outward, each with its own
stairs, entrances and rooms, crowned with stupas, which form a cross-like layout. All of the
structures are made from andesite stones.
The main temple has five rooms, one large garbhagriha in the center and four smaller rooms
in each cardinal direction. These four rooms are all connected with outer corner galleries with
balustrades bordered by rows of small stupas. From the findings during the reconstruction
process, it was suggested that the original design of central sanctuary only consisted of a
central roomed temple surrounded by four additional structures with open portals. Doorways
were added later. The portals were narrowed to create door frames on which to attach wooden
doors. Some of the holes to attach doors are still visible. The doorways join the temples
together into one main building with five rooms.
The central chamber can be reached from the eastern room. The central chamber is larger
than other rooms with a higher ceiling and a taller roof. Now all the five rooms are empty.
However the lotus carved stone pedestal in the central chamber suggests that the temple once
contained a large bronze Buddhist statue (possible the bronze statue of Manjusri), probably
reaching a height of four meters. The statue is missing, probably looted for scrap metal over
the centuries. However another theory suggested that the main statue was probably
constructed from several stone blocks coated with vajralepa plaster.

23
 Sewu
Layout
According to literary tradition, Nalanda, 10 kilometres north of Rajgir and a suburb of the
ancient city, was visited by Buddha and Mahavira. Ashoka is said to have worshipped at the
chaitya-niches of Sariputra, Buddha's disciple, and erected a temple. By the time of Harsha
A.D. 606-648, Nalanda had become the principal centre of Mahayana learning and a famed
University town with numerous shrines and monasteries which attracted scholars from far
and near. The Chinese Pilgrims Huien Tsang and Fa-hien studied at Nalanda and have left
account of the settlement and its life.
Temple 3 was more than 31 m. high and consisted of seven successive accumulations of
which the two latest belonged to the 11th and 12th centuries and the fifth one, dating from
circa 6th century, was notable for its sculptural wealth. The monasteries were imposing
rectangular buildings, each with an open courtyard, enclosed by a covered verandah which
leads into cells, arranged on the four sides. The cell facing the entrance served as a shrine.
Nalanda was an important centre of Pala sculptures and bronzes and has also yielded seals
and sealings of great historical significance.

24
Nalanda University; Conjectural Reconstruction from Excavated Remains of Temple no. 3 or
5th Stupa (Sariputra Stupa), c. 6th century CE

Temple no. 3 (also termed Sariputta Stupa) is the most iconic of Nalanda's structures with its
multiple flights of stairs that lead all the way to the top. The temple was originally a small
structure which was built upon and enlarged by later constructions. Archaeological evidence
shows that the final structure was a result of at least seven successive such accumulations of
construction. The fifth of these layered temples is the most interesting and the best preserved
with four corner towers of which three have been exposed. The towers as well as the sides of
the stairs are decorated with exquisite panels of Gupta-era art depicting a variety of stucco
figures including Buddha and the Bodhisattvas, scenes from the Jataka tales. The temple is
surrounded by numerous votive stupas some of which have been built with bricks inscribed
with passages from sacred Buddhist texts. The apex of Temple no. 3 features a shrine
chamber which now only contains the pedestal upon which an immense statue of Buddha
must have once rested. According to Win Maung, the stupa was influenced by Gupta
architecture, which itself had Kushana era influences. In a shrine near the bottom of the
staircase, a large image of Avalotiteshvar was found which was eventually moved to the
Museum.

25
Map of Nalanda by Alexander Cunningham, 1861-62

When a building is tapered, the exterior surface area where the wind load is applied is
reduced at higher levels, and increased at lower levels. The convex contour of the whole
monument is steepest near the ground, flattening as it reaches the summit. The bottom plinth,
the processional path, was the major afterthought. It consists of a massive heap of stone
pressed up against the original bottom story of the designed structure so that it obscures an
entire series of reliefs—a few of which have been uncovered in modern times. It was
probably added to hold together the bottom story, which began to spread under the pressure
of the immense weight of earth and stone accumulated above.

26
The stupa complex at Borobudur in Java, Indonesia.
Robert Harding Picture Li

27
 Sanchi
Stupa

Kalasan also known as Candi Kalibening, is an 8th-century Buddhist temple

in Java, Indonesia. It is located 13 kilometers (8.1 mi) east of Yogyakarta on the way
to Prambanan temple, on the south side of the main road Jalan Solo between Yogyakarta

28
and Surakarta. Administratively, it is located in the Kalasan District (kapanewon) of Sleman
Regency.

According to the Kalasan inscription dated 778 AD, written in Sanskrit using Pranagari
script, the temple was erected by the will of Guru Sang Raja Sailendravamçatilaka (the Jewel
of Sailendra family) who succeeded in persuading Maharaja Tejapurnapana Panangkaran (in
another part of the inscription also called Kariyana Panangkaran) to construct Tarabhavanam,
a holy building for the goddess (boddhisattvadevi) Tara.
In addition, a vihara (monastery) was built for buddhist monks from the Sailendra family's
realm. Panangkaran awarded the Kalaça village to sangha (buddhist monastic
community). According to the date of this inscription, Kalasan temple is the oldest of the
temples built in the Prambanan Plain.

Despite being renovated and partially rebuilt during the Dutch colonial era, the temple
currently is in poor condition. Compared to other temples nearby such as Prambanan, Sewu,
and Sambisari the temple is not well maintained.
The temple stands on a square 14.20 meters sub-basement. The temple plan is cross-shaped,
and designed as a twelve-cornered polygon. Each of four cardinal points has stairs and gates
adorned with Kala-Makara and rooms measuring 3,5 square meters. No statue is to be found
in the smaller rooms facing north, west, and south; but the lotus pedestals suggest that the
rooms once contains statues of Bodhisattvas. The temple is richly decorated with buddhist
figures such as the Bodhisattva and gana. The Kala Face above the southern door has been
photographed and used by a number of foreign academics in their books to give an idea of the
artistry in stone by Central Javanese artists of a millennia ago. Niches where the statues
would have been placed are found inside and outside the temple. The niches adorned an outer
wall intricately carved with Kala, gods and divinities in scenes depicting the svargaloka, the
celestial palace of the gods, apsaras, and gandharvas.

29
 One of the niches on the wall of Kalasan temple
The giant Kala's head on the southern door/
adorned with carvings of Kala giant and scene of deities in svargaloka

The roof of the temple is designed in three sections. The lower one are still according to the
polygonal shape of the body and contains small niches with statues of boddhisatvas seated on
lotus. Each of this niches is crowned with stupas. The middle part of the roof is
in octagonal (eight-sided) shape. Each of this eight sides adorned with niches contains statue
of a Dhyani Buddha flanked by two standing boddhisatvas. The top part of the roof is almost
circular and also have 8 niches crowned with single large dagoba. The octagonal aspect of the
structure has led to speculation of non-buddhist elements in the temple, similar to some
interpretations of the early Borobudur structure.

The temple is facing east, with the eastern room also served as access to main central room.
In the larger main room there is lotus pedestal and throne carved with makara, lion, and
elephant figure, similar to the Buddha Vairocana throne founds in Mendut temple. According
to the Kalasan inscription, the temple once houses the large (probably reaching 4 meters tall)
statue of the Boddhisattvadevi Tara. By the design of the throne, most probably the statue of
the goddess was in seated position and made from bronze. Now the statue is missing,
probably the same fate as bronze Buddha statue in Sewu temple, being looted for scrap metal
over centuries.
On the outer wall of the temple found the traces of plaster called vajralepa (lit: diamond
plaster). The same substance also founds in nearby Sari temple. The white-yellowish plaster
was applied to protect the temple wall, but now the plaster has worn off.

The temple is located on archaeologically rich Prambanan plain. Just a few hundred meters
north east from Kalasan temple is located Sari temple. Candi Sari most probably was the
monastery mentioned in Kalasan inscription. Further east lies the Prambanan complex, Sewu
temple, and Plaosan temple.

30
Jordaan, R. E. (1998). The Tārā temple of Kalasan in Central Java. Bulletin de l’École Française
d’Extrême-Orient, 85, 163–183. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43733871

3 pre-Angkorean architectural styles :

1. Sambor Prei Kuk style (610–650): were built in rounded, plain colonettes with capitals
that include a bulb.
2. Prei Khmeng style (635–700): Colonettes are larger than those of previous styles.
Buildings were more heavily decorated but had general decline in standards.
3. Kompong Preah style (700–800): Having decorative rings on colonettes which remain
cylindrical. Brick constructions were being continued.

The following periods and styles may be distinguished

1. Kulen style (825–875): Tower is mainly square and relatively high as well as
brick with laterite walls and stone door surrounds but square and octagonal
colonettes begin to appear.
2. Preah Ko style (877–886): small brick towers and for the great beauty and
delicacy of their lintels.
3. Bakheng Style (889–923): Bakheng was the first temple mountain constructed
in the area of Angkor proper north of Siem Reap.
4. Koh Ker Style (921–944): Scale of buildings diminishes toward center. Brick
still main material but sandstone also used.
5. Pre Rup Style (944–968): Under King Rajendravarman, the Angkorian Khmer
built the temples of Pre Rup, East Mebon and Phimeanakas. Their common
style is named after the state temple mountain of Pre Rup.
6. Banteay Srei Style (967–1000): Banteay Srei is the only major Angkorian
temple constructed not by a monarch, but by a courtier. It is known for its
small scale and the extreme refinement of its decorative carvings, including
several famous narrative bas-reliefs dealing with scenes from Indian
mythology.

31
 7. Khleang Style (968–1010): First to use galleries. Cruciform gopuras.
Octagonal colonettes. Restrained decorative carving. A few temples that were
built in this style are Ta Keo, Phimeanakas.
8. Baphuon Style (1050–1080): Baphuon, the massive temple mountain of
King Udayadityavarman II
9. Classical or Angkor Wat Style (1080–1175: come to be known as the
classical style of Angkorian architecture. Other temples in this style
are Banteay Samre and Thommanon in the area of Angkor, and Phimai in
modern Thailand.
10. Bayon Style (1181–1243) exhibit a hurriedness of construction that contrasts
with the perfection of Angkor Wat.
11. Post Bayon Style (1243–1431): Following the period of frantic construction
under Jayavarman VII, Angkorian architecture entered the period of its
decline.

1. In the past, the ancestors of the Indonesian people learned that carving techniques
indeed originated from India. This can be compared to the results of the two places
that show similarities, although on the other hand in Indonesia there has been a
Megalithic era which is closely related to stone processing and an older era namely
Neolithic that is closely related to metal processing.

2. Without the knowledge of metal processing, it is certain that it will be difficult to

create metal chisels to process hard stones like andesite.

3. Indonesia has a different technique from South India, especially in forming roof
cavities, with the technique of stacking rooms, while in India a flat ceiling was used
as a consequence of the post-and-lintel technique.
4. It was only in the 10th century that new cavity stacking techniques were used in South
India, which is identical to Java.

5. In Java itself this technique had already been known since the early 7th century or
even before that, in the Old Classical era. This technique then developed rapidly in the
Middle Classical era and reached its peak when Prambanan was built. Prambanan is
the first tallest building in Southeast Asia.

6. In addition, in the era of the Prambanan and Borobudur Temples, the construction
technique of the connection between the stone and certain keys that support the
building to be made larger and taller was known.

7. In South India there were no large and tall temples in this particular era, as it was not
until the 10th century that high buildings were recognized in the remains of the Chola.

8. By looking at the phenomena above it can be estimated that the architecture of large
temples in India cannot be ruled out to have been influenced by Javanese tradition,

32
 especially starting in the 10th century considering that on the island of Java many
large temple buildings had been built at the end of the 8th-9th century.

9. This can indicate the existence of backflow from Indonesia to India. On the other
hand, relations with India were actually quite close, as demonstrated in the 9th
century by Balaputradewa, King of Sriwijaya in the Ancient Mataram Era.

A Reinterpretation of the Relationship between the Architecture of Ancient Mataram

Era Temples in Indonesia and of 7th-10th century Temples in South India,Rahadhian
Prajudi Herwindo',Basuki Dwisusanto,Indri A-International Journal of Engineering
Research and Technology. ISSN 0974-3154, Volume 13, Number 2 (2020), p

The Borobudur temple: the Buddhist architecture in Indonesia ,the author Katarzyna Kowal
presents the genesis of the temple, the facts concerning its rediscovery after centuries of
oblivion, and Buddhist cosmology embodied in the form of a three-dimensional mandala on
which the architectural form of Borobudur is based. The author studies Buddhist symbolism
of the architectural form, reliefs and sculptures created on the basis of regional patterns and
local Javanese culture of everyday life. This temple is one of the most perfect examples of
translation of Buddhist cosmology and symbolism into an architectural form. Being the oldest
temple in Indonesia, Borobudur Temple has survived over 1200 years of volcanic eruptions,
terrorist bombs and earthquakes. The Borobudur Temple has a base of 1200 square metre
terrace topped with 6 tiers and has the majority of this monument walls adorned with
numerous Buddha statues. Its’ foundation hints to hold more indigenous Javanese traits than
Hindu or Buddhist. The monument is large and given if one were to place the galleries end to
end, it spans at least 5 kilometres. The monument also took the form of a step pyramid and
followed a mandala plan.
In 1885, a group of buddha reliefs was found hidden at the back of the line stones at the base.
Words inscribed in ancient Javanese script were also found there describing how the earthly
world is dominated and led by greed. The real base is hidden by an encasement base which
till today no one knows why.

However, a theory stands to say that it was built because the original footing goes against the
Indian ancient book about architecture and town planning.

Buddhist Cosmology
After much research on the Borobudur Temple, there is no found evidence as to the purpose
of the construction of the temple. However, given a theory, it states that the monument
represents Buddhist cosmology and symbolises some sort of Buddhist mandala. Borobudur
Temple pushes to represent the 3 realms of Buddhist cosmology. The base represents the
world of desire followed by the world of form and lastly the world of formlessness which is
the highest level of enlightenment and located at the top of the temple.

33
The experience walking through the gallery and entering the world of form shows engraved
people that seem to be trying to achieve excellence over worldly desires. There is evidence of
women trying to seduce buddha where he is seen to be meditating and ignoring the seduction
of the women.

COMPOSITION

Borobudur Temple is made with andesite stones taken from neighbouring stone quarries. The
stones were all cut to size and then brought over and stacked onto one another. Instead of
using mortar, knobs, indentations and dovetails were used to join the stones. As for the roof
of stupas, niches and arched gateways, they were all built with the corbelling method.
The reliefs of the monument are all done on-site. The drainage system was also in mind when
the monument was built. Borobudur temple catered to its region’s high stormwater run-off by
installing 100 spouts each with a unique carved gargoyle that looks like a Makara. The spouts
are all installed at the corners of the monument.

As for the Borobudur Temple foundation, it was built on a natural hill and due to its pyramid
shape, it was first thought to be a stupa that was intended as a Buddha shrine, not a temple.
Stupas are typically constructed as a sign of devotion towards Buddhism whereas a temple is
made to be a place of worship towards a religion. After much study and excavation,
Borobudur is settled to be a temple due to its meticulous details and structure.

Interestingly, in the past, they did not use the metric or imperial system. Instead, they used
tala, a basic unit of measurement used during that time. Tala is the length of a human face,
starting from the forehead’s hairline to the tip of the chin or the length of the tip of the thumb

34
to the tip of the middle finger when the hand is fully stretched out. Tala is relative from one
individual to another.

Furthermore, the Borobudur Temple also holds a 4:6:9 ratio around the monument.
Gunadharma, the architect, used the 4:6:9 ratio to layout the accurate and precise dimensions
of the fractal and self-similar geometry that the Borobudur Temple holds. This same ratio can
also be found in neighbouring Buddhist temples.

To add on, the ratio also possesses calendrical, astronomical and cosmological significance
which seems appropriate in the design of the Borobudur Temple.
All in all, the Borobudur Temple has attracted many tourists alike to visit and further indulge
in this 9th century-built temple. As much as research goes, the true meaning as to why it was
built is unknown, but this structure still stands to fascinate and allow anyone who visits to
feel calm and captivated by this form of architecture.

Reference
Borobudur: Golden Tales of Buddhas by John N. Miksic and Marcello Tranchini.

35
36
37
38
Buddhist Stupa Monograph

39
40
 Architecture

Borobudur ground plan took form of a Mandala

Borobudur is built as a single large stupa, and when viewed from above takes the form of a
giant tantric Buddhist mandala, simultaneously representing the Buddhist cosmology and the
nature of mind. The foundation is a square, approximately 118 meters (387 ft) on each side. It
has nine platforms, of which the lower six are square and the upper three are circular. The
upper platform features seventy-two small stupas surrounding one large central stupa. Each
stupa is bell-shaped and pierced by numerous decorative openings. Statues of the Buddha sit
inside the pierced enclosures.

Approximately 55,000 cubic metres (72,000 cu yd) of stones were taken from neighbouring
rivers to build the monument. The stone was cut to size, transported to the site and laid
without mortar. Knobs, indentations and dovetails were used to form joints between
stones. Reliefs were created in-situ after the building had been completed. The monument is
equipped with a good drainage system to cater for the area's high stormwater run-off. To
avoid inundation, 100 spouts are provided at each corner with a unique carved gargoyles in
the shape of giants or makaras.

Half cross-section with 4:6:9 height ratio for foot, body and head, respectively.
Borobudur differs markedly with the general design of other structures built for this purpose.
Instead of building on a flat surface, Borobudur is built on a natural hill. The building
technique is, however, similar to other temples in Java. With no inner space as in other
temples and its general design similar to the shape of pyramid, 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 Lord Buddha. Sometimes stupas were built only as devotional symbols of Buddhism. A
temple, on the other hand, is used as a house of deity and has inner spaces for worship. The
complexity of the monument's meticulous design suggests Borobudur is in fact a temple.
Congregational worship in Borobudur is performed by means of pilgrimage. Pilgrims were
guided by the system of staircases and corridors ascending to the top platform. Each platform

41
represents one stage of enlightenment. The path that guides pilgrims was designed with the
symbolism of sacred knowledge according to the Buddhist cosmology.

A narrow corridor with reliefs on the wall.

Lion gate guardian.

Little is known about the architect Gunadharma. His name is actually recounted from
Javanese legendary folk tales rather than written in old inscriptions. The basic unit
measurement he used during the construction was called tala, defined as the length of a
human face from the forehead's hairline to the tip of the chin or the distance from the tip of
the thumb to the tip of the middle finger when both fingers are stretched at their maximum
distance.] The unit metrics is then obviously relative between persons, but the monument has
exact measurements. A survey conducted in 1977 revealed frequent findings of a ratio of
4:6:9 around the monument. The architect had used the formula to lay out the precise
dimensions of Borobudur. The identical ratio formula was further found in the nearby
Buddhist temples of Pawon and Mendhut. Archeologists conjectured the purpose of the ratio
formula and the tala dimension has calendrical, astronomical and cosmological themes, as of
the case in other Hindu and Buddhist temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

A carved gargoyle-shaped water spout for water drainage.

The main vertical structure can be divided into three groups: base (or foot), body, and top,
which resembles the three major division of a human body. The base is a 123x123 m
(403.5x403.5 ft) square in size and 4 meters (13 ft) high of walls. The body is composed of
five square platforms each with diminishing heights. The first terrace is set back 7 meters
(23 ft) from the edge of the base. The other terraces are set back by 2 meters (7 ft), leaving a
narrow corridor at each stage. The top consists of 3 circular platforms, with each stage
supporting a row of perforated stupas, arranged in concentric circles. There is one main dome
at the center; the top of which is the highest point of the monument (35 meters (115 ft) above
ground level). Access to the upper part is through stairways at the centre of each 4 sides with

42
a number of arched gates, watched by a total of 32 lion statues. The gates is adorned
with Kala's head carved on top center of each portals with Makaras projecting from each
sides. This Kala-Makara style is commonly found in Javanese temples portal. The main
entrance is at the eastern side, the location of the first narrative reliefs. On the slopes of the
hill, there are also stairways linking the monument to the low-lying plain.

The monument's three divisions symbolize three stages of mental preparation towards the
ultimate goal according to the Buddhist cosmology, namely Kāmadhātu (the world of
desires), Rupadhatu (the world of forms), and finally Arupadhatu (the formless
world).] Kāmadhātu is represented by the base, Rupadhatu by the five square platforms (the
body), and Arupadhatu by the three circular platforms and the large topmost stupa. The
architectural features between three stages have metaphorical differences. For instance,
square and detailed decorations in the Rupadhatu disappear into plain circular platforms in
the Arupadhatu to represent how the world of forms – where men are still attached with
forms and names – changes into the world of the formless.

In 1885, a hidden structure under the base was accidentally discovered. The "hidden foot"
contains reliefs, 160 of which are narrative describing the real Kāmadhātu. The remaining
reliefs are panels with short inscriptions that apparently describe instruction for the sculptors,
illustrating the scene to be carved. The real base is hidden by an encasement base, the
purpose of which remains a mystery. It was first thought that the real base had to be covered
to prevent a disastrous subsidence of the monument through the hill. There is another theory
that the encasement base was added because the original hidden foot was incorrectly
designed, according to Vastu Shastra, the Indian ancient book about architecture and town
planning. Regardless of its intention, the encasement base was built with detailed and
meticulous design with aesthetics and religious compensation.Reliefs

43
 Narrative Panels Distribution

Borobudur contains approximately section location story #panels

2,670 individual bas reliefs (1,460

narrative and 1,212 decorative panels), hidden foot wall Karmavibhangga 160
which cover
Lalitavistara 120
the façades and balustrades. The total main wall
relief surface is 2,500 square meters Jataka/Avadana 120
(26,909.8 sq ft) and they are distributed first gallery
at the hidden foot (Kāmadhātu) and the Jataka/Avadana 372
five square platforms (Rupadhatu). balustrade
Jataka/Avadana 128
The narrative panels, which tell the
story of Sudhana and Manohara. are balustrade Jataka/Avadana 100
grouped into 11 series encircled the second gallery
monument with the total length of main wall Gandavyuha 128
3,000 meters (9,843 ft). The hidden foot
contains the first series with 160 main wall Gandavyuha 88
third gallery
narrative panels and the remaining 10
balustrade Gandavyuha 88
series are distributed throughout walls
and balustrades in four galleries starting main wall Gandavyuha 84
from the eastern entrance stairway to fourth gallery
the left. Narrative panels on the wall balustrade Gandavyuha 72
read from right to left, while on the
Total 1,460
balustrade read from left to right. This
conforms with pradaksina, the ritual of
circumambulation performed by pilgrims who move in a clockwise direction while keeping
the sanctuary to their right.

The hidden foot depicts the workings of karmic law. The walls of the first gallery have two
superimposed series of reliefs; each consists of 120 panels. The upper part depicts
the biography of the Buddha, while the lower part of the wall and also balustrades in the first
and the second galleries tell the story of the Buddha's former lives. The remaining panels are
devoted to Sudhana's further wandering about his search, terminated by his attainment of
the Perfect Wisdom.

The law of karma (Karmavibhangga)

The 160 hidden panels do not form a continuous story, but each panel provides one complete
illustration of cause and effect. There are depictions of blameworthy activities, from gossip to
murder, with their corresponding punishments. There are also praiseworthy activities, that
include charity and pilgrimage to sanctuaries, and their subsequent rewards. The pains of hell
and the pleasure of heaven are also illustrated. There are scenes of daily life, complete with
the full panorama of samsara (the endless cycle of birth and death).
The birth of Buddha (Lalitavistara)

44
Queen Maya riding horse carriage retreating to Lumbini to give birth to Prince Siddhartha Gautama.

The story starts from the glorious descent of the Lord Buddha from the Tushita heaven, and
ends with his first sermon in the Deer Park near Benares.[48] The relief shows the birth of the
Buddha as Prince Siddhartha, son of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya of Kapilavastu (in
present-day Nepal).

The story is preceded by 27 panels showing various preparations, in heavens and on earth, to
welcome the final incarnation of the Bodhisattva.[48] Before descending from Tushita
heaven, the Bodhisattva entrusted his crown to his successor, the future Buddha Maitreya. He
descended on earth in the shape of white elephants with six tusks, penetrated to Queen
Maya's right womb. Queen Maya had a dream of this event, which was interpreted that his
son would become either a sovereign or a Buddha.
While Queen Maya felt that it was the time to give birth, she went to the Lumbini park
outside the Kapilavastu city. She stood under a plaksa tree, holding one branch with her right
hand and she gave birth to a son, Prince Siddhartha. The story on the panels continues until
the prince becomes the Buddha.

Prince Siddhartha Gautama become an ascetic hermit.

Prince Siddhartha story (Jataka) and other legendary persons (Avadana)

Jatakas are stories about the Buddha before he was born as Prince Siddhartha. Avadanas are
similar to jatakas, but the main figure is not the Bodhisattva himself. The saintly deeds in
avadanas are attributed to other legendary persons. Jatakas and avadanas are treated in one
and the same series in the reliefs of Borobudur.
The first 20 lower panels in the first gallery on the wall depict the Sudhanakumaravadana or
the saintly deeds of Sudhana. The first 135 upper panels in the same gallery on the

45
balustrades are devoted to the 34 legends of the Jatakamala.[50] The remaining 237 panels
depict stories from other sources, as do for the lower series and panels in the second gallery.
Some jatakas stories are depicted twice, for example the story of King Sibhi (Rama's
forefather).

Sudhana's search for the Ultimate Truth (Gandavyuha)

Gandavyuha is the story told in the final chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra about Sudhana's
tireless wandering in search of the Highest Perfect Wisdom. It covers two galleries (third and
fourth) and also half of the second gallery; comprising in total of 460 panels. The principal
figure of the story, the youth Sudhana, son of an extremely rich merchant, appears on the
16th panel. The preceding 15 panels form a prologue to the story of the miracles during
Buddha's samadhi in the Garden of Jeta at Sravasti.

During his search, Sudhana visited no less than 30 teachers but none of them had satisfied
him completely. He was then instructed by Manjusri to meet the monk Megasri, where he
was given the first doctrine. As his journey continues, Sudhana meets (in the following order)
Supratisthita, the physician Megha (Spirit of Knowledge), the banker Muktaka, the monk
Saradhvaja, the upasika Asa (Spirit of Supreme Enlightenment), Bhismottaranirghosa,

the Brahmin Jayosmayatna, Princess Maitrayani, the monk Sudarsana, a boy called
Indriyesvara, the upasika Prabhuta, the banker Ratnachuda, King Anala, the god Siva
Mahadeva, Queen Maya, Bodhisattva Maitreya and then back to Manjusri. Each meeting has
given Sudhana a specific doctrine, knowledge and wisdom. These meetings are shown in the
third gallery.

After the last meeting with Manjusri, Sudhana went to the residence of
Bodhisattva Samantabhadra; depicted in the fourth gallery. The entire series of the fourth
gallery is devoted to the teaching of Samantabhadra. The narrative panels finally end with
Sudhana's achievement of the Supreme Knowledge and the Ultimate Truth.
Buddha statues

A headless Buddha statue inside a stupa./ A Buddha statue with the hand position of dharmachakra
mudra (turning the Wheels of the Law).

46
Apart from the story of Buddhist cosmology carved in stone, Borobudur has many statues of
various Buddhas. The cross-legged statues are seated in a lotus position and distributed on the
five square platforms (the Rupadhatu level) as well as on the top platform
(the Arupadhatu level).

The Buddha statues are in niches at the Rupadhatu level, arranged in rows on the outer sides
of the balustrades, the number of statues decreasing as platforms progressively diminish to
the upper level. The first balustrades have 104 niches, the second 104, the third 88, the fourth
72 and the fifth 64. In total, there are 432 Buddha statues at the Rupadhatu level. At
the Arupadhatu level (or the three circular platforms), Buddha statues are placed inside
perforated stupas. The first circular platform has 32 stupas, the second 24 and the third 16,
that add up to 72 stupas. Of the original 504 Buddha statues, over 300 are damaged (mostly
headless) and 43 are missing (since the monument's discovery, heads have been stolen as
collector's items, mostly by Western museums).

At glance, all the Buddha statues appear similar, but there is a subtle difference between them
in the mudras or the position of the hands. There are five groups of mudra: North, East,
South, West and Zenith, which represent the five cardinal compass points according
to Mahayana. The first four balustrades have the first four mudras: North, East, South and
West, of which the Buddha statues that face one compass direction have the
corresponding mudra. Buddha statues at the fifth balustrades and inside the 72 stupas on the
top platform have the same mudra: Zenith. Each mudra represents one of the Five Dhyani
Buddhas; each has its own symbolism. They are Abhaya
mudra for Amoghasiddhi (north), Vara mudra for Ratnasambhava (south), Dhyana
mudra for Amitabha (west), Bhumisparsa mudra for Aksobhya (east) and Dharmachakra
mudra for Vairochana (zenith).

BIOMIMICRY as a Inspiration for the Borobudur

Architects and painters of Borobudur before starting that new project, must have had an
have an empty canvas in front of them. The cleanness of the canvas or white parchment
opened infinite possibilities of design ideas for a future project.

But how should an architect start his/her projects? How do architects get inspired? Some
architects find inspiration by the historical context of the site, others prefer to retake
materials’ qualities, and finally, some architects prefer to observe their surroundings and the
environmental typologies.

47
The latter design approach is what characterizes some projects that are the result of forms
inspired by nature. Architects have long been inspired by nature. ... New technologies are
now helping architects recreate complex structures found in the nature by using modern
construction methods and materials. Biomimetic architecture draws its influence from the
Earth.

Nature has been one of the most evident influences in architecture and in various forms over
the years. The humbleness and the beauty of nature have been one of the most inspirational
idea for the humans. Small dwellings and the pattern of their arrangement have been inspired
by nature.

What is architecture inspired by nature called?

Organic architecture uses nature-inspired geometrical forms in design and seeks to reconnect
the human with his or her surroundings. These strategies, which are introduced in this paper
as 'nature-inspired design strategies', provide pathways and principles aimed at developing
designs that are in natural balance with their environment. Common principles include the
use of materials in closed loops and using solar driven energy systems.

Why is nature important in design?

Nature has an endless palette to call on for inspiration, a library of textures, patterns, and
motifs. Nature informs the moods of interior spaces; their qualities of light, their warmth,
their tactility and their familiarity to human hands
Why are we inspired by nature?

Nature has a way of removing distractions, of commanding our deepest attention. ...
Following this kind of thinking, nature is full of lessons we can draw from, lessons which can
inform and inspire our daily lives.

48
Ancient as well as modern buildings have been inspired by nature. So, why not the
Borobudur? It is quiet possible that apart from the many design influences upon it due to
Buddhism and/or its predecessors in Stupa building, nature too may have had an effect.

49
50
ni Gaudí | Info-graphic - Design by nature | Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família:

Detail of the roof in the nave. Gaudí designed the columns to mirror trees and branches.
SBA73 from Sabadell, Catalunya - Tot conflueix / All's conected
La Sagrada Família per fí té un interior acabat: és una meravella, el fruit del geni únic d'Antoni
Gaudí. Falten les paraules per descriure- This is the crossing and dome of the Sagrada Família
basilica, Barcelona, Catalonia. The catalan basilica of La Sagrada Família (The Holy Family) is
a major icon of Barcelona. After more than a century of construction, in 2011 the interior was
finished and consecrated by the pope Benedict XVI. Work began in 1882 and is scheduled to
be completed in 2026.

51
 TITOBOWL is a
vessel specially designed for tasting different varieties and dressings olives with pit,
although it has been adapted for tasting pitted olives and other snacks because
turning the top cap of the container, it becomes a toothpick holder

52
BOROBUDUR resembles the structural concept and entity of Petronas Twin Towers

Petronas Twin Towers, pair of skyscraper office buildings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that
are among the world’s tallest buildings. What type of structure are the Petronas Towers?

The plan for each tower is identical: an eight-lobed circular structure that contains 88 stories
of occupiable space and a pyramid-shaped pinnacle surmounted by a slender steel spire. Both
rise to a height of 1,483 feet (451.9 metres), which includes 242 feet (73.6 metres) for
pinnacle and spire – much like the borobudur.It is the The 7th Tallest Building In The
World Today. When it was built in 1998, the 88-storey Petronas Towers held the top record
for the tallest building in the world at a staggering height of 1,483 feet! ... As such, the
Petronas Towers still stands today as the tallest twin towers in the world.Just like the
Borobudur, the Petronas twin towers built to represent Malaysia's increasing wealth and the
nation's desire to feature more prominently on the international stage, it was decided to build
a pair of landmark 88-storey towers to house the offices of the national oil and gas company,
Petronas.

The Twin Towers, built to house the headquarters of Petronas, the national petroleum
company of Malaysia, were designed by the Argentine-born American architect Cesar Pelli;

53
they were completed in 1998. The plan for each tower is identical: an eight-lobed circular
structure that contains 88 stories of occupiable space and a pyramid-
shaped pinnacle surmounted by a slender steel spire. Both rise to a height of 1,483 feet (451.9
metres), which includes 242 feet (73.6 metres) for pinnacle and spire. Each building is
supported by 16 large columns around its perimeter, which, along with the rest of the frame,
are made of high-strength, steel-reinforced concrete rather than of structural steel; the exterior
sheathing consists of stainless steel and glass. A skybridge two stories tall links the two
towers between the 41st and 42nd stories.1

In 1996, after the spires had been attached to the buildings (and each had thus reached its full
height), the Petronas Twin Towers were declared the world’s tallest buildings, eclipsing the
former record holder, the 110-story Sears (now Willis) Tower in Chicago. The roof of
the Sears Tower was actually more than 200 feet (60 metres) higher than those of the Twin
Towers, but the spires on the towers’ pinnacles were regarded as integral parts of the overall
architectural structure. The Twin Towers, in turn, lost their preeminent status in 2003 after a
spire was put in place atop the Taipei 101 (Taipei Financial Center) building, in Taipei,
Taiwan, and that structure reached a height of 1,667 feet (508 metres).

54
55
Development of the Petronas Towers Tower 1 level 43 floor plan from a Rub el Hizb symbol.

The cross section of the Petronas Towers is based on a Rub el Hizb, albeit with circular
sectors similar to the bottom part of the Qutub Minar.

56
Base of the Christ steeple under construction (2009)Etan J. Tal - Own work-Rebars of Sagrada
Familia roof in construction Note rust and corrosion of rebar and different materials used for
the rebar in different areas

Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates.
J. Apicella/Cesar Pelli & Associates

Seashell Architectures,Kamon Jirapong,Robert J.

Krawczykhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/239537510_Seashell_Architectures/stats

57
 II
Tech of The BOROBUDUR STUPA as a STEP
PYRAMID
Featuring comparison with the stepped pyramid of Prambhanan

The Buddha says:—“

They who speak much are blamed. They who speak a little
are blamed. They who are silent are also blamed. In this
world there is none who is not blamed.”

Indianization: Like the rest of Southeast Asia, Indonesia seems to have been most strongly
influenced by India from the 1st century CE. The islands of Sumatra and Java in western
Indonesia were the seat of the empire of Sri Vijaya (8th-13th century), which came to
dominate most of the area around the Southeast Asian peninsula through maritime power.
The Sri Vijayan Empire had adopted Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, under a line of
rulers named the Sailendra. The Sailendras was the ardent temple builder and the devoted
patron of Buddhism in Java. Sri Vijaya spread Mahayana Buddhist art during its expansion
into the Southeast Asian peninsula. Numerous statues of Mahayana Bodhisattvas from this
period are characterized by a very strong refinement and technical sophistication, and are
found throughout the region. One of the earliest Buddhist inscription in Java, the Kalasan
inscription dated 778, mentioned about the construction of a temple for the goddess Tara.

The statue of Prajñāpāramitā from Singhasari, East Java, on a lotus throne.

Extremely rich and refined architectural remains are found in Java and Sumatra. The temple
of Borobudur is modelled after the Buddhist concept of universe, the Mandala which counts
505 images of the seated Buddha and unique bell-shaped stupa that contains the statue of
Buddha.

Borobudur is adorned with long series of bas-reliefs narrated the holy Buddhist scriptures.
The oldest Buddhist structure in Indonesia probably is the Batujaya stupas at Karawang, West
Java, dated from around the 4th century which is a plastered brick stupas.

58
 Borobudur, on the other hand, is located in an elevated area 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. During the restoration
in the early 20th century, it was discovered that three Buddhist temples in the region,
Borobudur, Pawon and Mendut, are positioned along a straight line. A ritual relationship
between the three temples must have existed, although the exact ritual process is unknown.

However, Buddhist art in Indonesia reach the golden era during the Sailendra dynasty rule in
Java. The bas-reliefs and statues of Boddhisatva, Tara, and Kinnara found
in Kalasan, Sewu, Sari, and Plaosan temple is very graceful with serene expression,
While Mendut temple near Borobudur, houses the giant statue of Vairocana, Avalokitesvara,
and Vajrapani.

A Buddhist religious architectuare developed in the Indian subcontinent. Three types of

structures are associated with the religious architecture of early Buddhism: monasteries
(viharas), places to venerate relics (stupas), and shrines or prayer halls (chaityas, also
called chaitya grihas), which later came to be called temples in some places.
The initial function of a stupa was the veneration and safe-guarding of the relics of Gautama
Buddha. The earliest surviving example of a stupa is in Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh).
In accordance with changes in religious practice, stupas were gradually incorporated into
chaitya-grihas (prayer halls). These are exemplified by the complexes of the Ajanta
Caves and the Ellora Caves (Maharashtra). The Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya in Bihar is
another well-

Based on inscriptions found on some of the stones of the monument, archaeologists agree
that construction of Borobudur was probably begun around 760 AD and completed by about
830, the Golden Age of the Sailendra dynasty, under the reign of King Samaratunga.
Sailendras were of foreign origin, either from South India or from Indo-China, and ruled
Sumatra and Java from the 8th through the 13th centuries. Under their rule, the islands were
major centers of Buddhist scholarship. The Javanese had been carving stone statues and
inscriptions since about 400 AD, but between 700 and 900 AD, many of the Island's greatest
shrines were erected.

Javanese society of that time must have been healthy and wealthy enough to support an
endeavor such as the building of Borobudur. It would have required plentiful manpower to
haul the stone – as much as 45,700 cubic yards taken from nearby streams and rivers, all
fitted perfectly together without mortar. Skilled craftsmen would have been needed to carve
the images, which were completed after the stones were in place, and abundant agricultural
resources to provide food.

By the middle of the 9th century, Borobudur was completed with a large monastery at the
southwest foot of the hill. "Today it takes a trained eye to see Borobudur from a distance,"
says Asian art historian, Jan Fontein. "But we know that, in ancient times, this stone was covered
with a kind of white plaster – called "plaster as hard as diamond" or "vajalaypa" – which may have
been a base for colors and just as the pilgrim who went to Chartres saw the cathedral rise up from
miles away, so the pilgrim who came to Borobudur may have seen the monument in ancient times,
hours before he reached.it."

59
Center of Pilgrimage:
Records from the 9th and 10th centuries show that Borobudur was a center of pilgrimage for
about 150 years during a short but intense period of Buddhism. Chinese coins and
ceramics found at Borobudur from the 11th to the 15th centuries suggest that pilgrims
continued to visit Borobudur during that time. nearby village of Bore; most candi are named
after a nearby village.

If it followed Javanese language, the monument should have been named “BudurBoro”.
Raffles also suggested that Budur might correspond to the modern Javanese
word Buda (“ancient”)—i.e., “ancient Boro”. However, another archaeologist suggests the
second component of the name (Budur) comes from Javanese term bhudhara (“mountain”).

The construction and inauguration of a sacred Buddhist building—possibly a reference to

Borobudur—was mentioned in two inscriptions, both discovered in Kedu, Temanggung
Regency. The Karangtengah inscription, dated 824, mentioned a sacred building
named Jinalaya (the realm of those who have conquered worldly desire and reached
enlightenment), inaugurated by Pramodhawardhani, daughter of Samaratungga. The Tri
Tepusan inscription, dated 842, is mentioned in the sima, the (tax-free) lands awarded by Çrī
Kahulunnan (Pramodhawardhani) to ensure the funding and maintenance of
a Kamūlān called Bhūmisambhāra. Kamūlān is from the word mula, which means “the place
of origin”, a sacred building to honor the ancestors, probably those of the Sailendras.
Casparis suggested that Bhūmi Sambhāra Bhudhāra, which in Sanskrit means “the mountain
of combined virtues of the ten stages of Boddhisattvahood”, was the original name of
Borobudur.

The Karangtengah inscription, dated 824 The emblem of Central Java province and Magelang
Regency bears the image of Borobudur. It has become the symbol of Central Java, and also
Indonesia on a wider scale

Borobudur, is not far from the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indonesia. The temple
consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome. It
is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The central dome is surrounded
by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated stupa.

Javanese Buddhist architecture design: It follows the design of Javanese Buddhist

architecture, which blends the Indonesian indigenous cult of ancestor worship and the
60
Buddhist concept of attaining Nirvana. The temple demonstrates the influences of Gupta art
that reflects India's influence on the region, yet there are enough indigenous scenes and
elements incorporated to make Borobudur uniquely Indonesian.

Pilgrimage: The monument is a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist
pilgrimage. The pilgrim journey begins at the base of the monument and follows a path
around the monument, ascending to the top through three levels symbolic of Buddhist
cosmology: Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rūpadhātu (the world of forms)
and Arūpadhātu (the world of formlessness). The monument guides pilgrims through an
extensive system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls
and the balustrades. Borobudur has one of the largest and most complete ensembles of
Buddhist reliefs in the world.

14th-century decline: Evidence suggests that after it was constructed, it was 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 ruler of Java, who was advised of its
location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through several
restorations. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by
the Indonesian government and UNESCO, followed by the monument's listing as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As the largest Buddhist temple in the world, it ranks with Bagan in Myanmar and Angkor
Wat in Cambodia as one of the great archeological sites of Southeast Asia. Borobudur
remains popular for pilgrimage, with Buddhists in Indonesia celebrating Vesak Day at the
monument. Borobudur is Indonesia's single most visited tourist attraction.

The pagoda is an evolution of the Indian stupas.

A characteristic new development at Buddhist religious sites was the stupa. Stupas were
originally more sculpture than building, essentially markers of some holy site or
commemorating a holy man who lived there. Later forms are more elaborate and also in
many cases refer back to the Mount Meru model.
One of the earliest Buddhist sites still in existence is at Sanchi, India, and this is centred on a
stupa said to have been built by King Ashoka (273–236 BCE). The original simple structure
is encased in a later, more decorative one, and over two centuries the whole site was
elaborated upon. The four cardinal points are marked by elaborate stone gateways.

As with Buddhist art, architecture followed the spread of Buddhism throughout south and
east Asia and it was the early Indian models that served as a first reference point, even though
Buddhism virtually disappeared from India itself in the 10th century.
Decoration of Buddhist sites became steadily more elaborate through the last two centuries
BCE, with the introduction of tablets and friezes, including human figures, particularly on
stupas. However, the Buddha was not represented in human form until the 1st century CE.
Instead, aniconic symbols were used. This is treated in more detail in Buddhist art, Aniconic
phase. It influenced the development of temples, which eventually became a backdrop for
Buddha images in most cases.

61
As Buddhism spread, Buddhist architecture diverged in style, reflecting the similar trends in
Buddhist art. Building form was also influenced to some extent by the different forms of
Buddhism in the northern countries, practising Mahayana Buddhism in the main and in the
south where Theravada Buddhism prevailed.
Ancient lake hypothesis
Speculation about a surrounding lake's existence was the subject of intense discussion among
archaeologists in the 20th century. In 1931, a Dutch artist and scholar of Hindu and Buddhist
architecture, W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp, developed a hypothesis that the Kedu Plain was once a
lake and Borobudur initially represented a lotus flower floating on the lake.[15] It has been
claimed that Borobudur was built on a bedrock hill, 265 m (869 ft) above sea level and 15 m
(49 ft) above the floor of a dried-out paleolake.

Dumarçay together with Professor Thanikaimoni took soil samples in 1974 and again in 1977
from trial trenches that had been dug into the hill, as well as from the plain immediately to
the south. These samples were later analysed by Thanikaimoni, who examined their pollen
and spore content to identify the type of vegetation that had grown in the area around the time
of Borobudur's construction. They were unable to discover any pollen or spore samples that
were characteristic of any vegetation known to grow in an aquatic environment such as a
lake, pond or marsh. The area surrounding Borobudur appears to have been surrounded by
agricultural land and palm trees at the time of the monument's construction, as is still the case
today. Caesar Voûte and the geomorphologist Dr J.J. Nossin in 1985–86 field studies re-
examined the Borobudur lake hypothesis and confirmed the absence of a lake around
Borobudur at the time of its construction and active use as a sanctuary. These findings A New
Perspective on Some Old Questions Pertaining to Borobudur were published in the 2005
UNESCO publication titled "The Restoration of Borobudur".

Architect: Built in the 9th century during the reign of the Sailendra Dynasty, the temple was
designed in Javanese Buddhist architecture, which blends the Indonesian indigenous cult of
ancestor worship and the Buddhist concept of attaining Nirvana.The temple also
demonstrates the influences of Gupta art that reflects India’s influence on the region, yet
there are enough indigenous scenes and elements incorporated to make Borobudur uniquely
Indonesian. The architect Gunadharma, considered by many today to be a man of great vision
and devotion. Gunadharma or Gunadarma is claimed as the name of
the architect of Borobudur, the ninth-century Buddhist monument in Central Java, Indonesia.
Many sources say that he came from Nepal , and was born in the province of Lalitpur, Patan
of Nepal in the 16th century. His art style included Javanese Buddhism architecture. His most
fmaous creation, Borobudur, is the largest Buddhist temple in the world

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.

Construction:

62
A painting by G.B. Hooijer (c. 1916—1919) reconstructing the scene of Borobudur during its heyday

Borobudur was likely founded around 800 CE. But there is no written record of who built it
or of its intended purpose. The construction time has been estimated by comparison between
carved reliefs on the temple’s hidden foot and the inscriptions commonly used in royal
charters during the 8th and 9th centuries. This corresponds to the period between 760 and
830 CE, the peak of the Sailendra dynasty in central Java, when it was under the influence of
the Srivijayan Empire. The construction has been estimated to have taken 75 years and been
completed during the reign of Samaratungga in 825.

There is confusion between Hindu and Buddhist rulers in Java around that time. The
Sailendras were known as ardent followers of Buddhism, though stone inscriptions found at
Sojomerto suggest they may have been Hindus. It was during this time that many Hindu and
Buddhist monuments were built on the plains and mountains around the Kedu Plain. The
Buddhist monuments, including Borobudur, were erected around the same time as the Hindu
Shiva Prambanan temple compound. In 732 CE, the Shivaite King Sanjaya commissioned a
Shivalinga sanctuary to be built on the Wukir hill, only 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Borobudur.
Construction of Buddhist temples, including Borobudur, at that time was possible because
Sanjaya’s immediate successor, Rakai Panangkaran, granted his permission to the Buddhist
followers to build such temples. In fact, to show his respect, Panangkaran gave the village of
Kalasan to the Buddhist community, as is written in the Kalasan Charter dated 778 CE. This
has led some archaeologists to believe that there was never serious conflict concerning
religion in Java as it was possible for a Hindu king to patronize the establishment of a
Buddhist monument; or for a Buddhist king to act

63
likewise. However, it is likely that there were two rival royal dynasties in Java at the time—
the Buddhist Sailendra and the Saivite Sanjaya—in which the latter triumphed over their rival
in the 856 battle on the Ratubaka plateau. This confusion also exists regarding the Lara
Jonggrang temple at the Prambanan complex, which was believed to have been erected by the
victor Rakai Pikatan as the Sanjaya dynasty’s reply to Borobudur, but others suggest that
there was a climate of peaceful coexistence where Sailendra involvement exists in Lara
Jonggrang.
Some 1,200 years ago builders carted two million stones from local rivers and streams and
fit them tightly together without the aid of mortar to create a 95-foot-high (29-meter-high)
step pyramid. More than 500 Buddha statues are perched around the temple. Its lower
terraces include a balustrade that blocks out views of the outside world and replaces them
with nearly 3,000 bas-relief sculptures illustrating the life and teachings of the Buddha.
Together they make up the greatest assemblage of such Buddhist sculpture in the world.
Climbing Borobudur is a pilgrimage in itself, meant to be experienced physically and
spiritually according to the tenets of Mahayana Buddhism. As the faithful climb upward
from level to level, they are guided by the stories and wisdom of the bas-reliefs from one
symbolic plane of consciousness to the next, higher level on the journey to enlightenment.
But Borobudur was mysteriously abandoned by the 1500s, when the center of Javan life
shifted to the East and Islam arrived on the island in the 13th and 14th centuries. Eruptions
deposited volcanic ash on the site and the lush vegetation of Java took root on the largely
forgotten site.

Architecture: From Darkness to Light: 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

64
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.

Borobudur and the concept of path in Buddhism

Paths have been pervasive in human civilization. We are all familiar with the streets, trails,
and lanes along which we routinely travel. Ancient Roman roads are utilized in some places
even today. In contemporary computer culture we follow “paths” on webpages as we find our
way to the information or experience we are searching for or find unexpectedly. There are
simulated paths in complex first-person virtual reality video environments, where role-
playing games formulate their content around the path to be conquered. The idea of path is an
important concept in Buddhism, and is essential in understanding the meaning and purpose of
one of the most remarkable and impressive monuments in the world: Borobudur.

65
Borobudur, as a stepped structure

Located on the island of Java in Indonesia, the rulers of the Śailendra Dynasty built the
Temple of Borobudur around 800 C.E. as a monument to the Buddha (exact dates vary
among scholars). The temple (or candi in Javanese, pronounced “chandi”) fell into disuse
roughly one hundred years after its completion when, for still unknown reasons, the rulers of
Java relocated the governing center to another part of the island. The British Lieutenant
Governor on Java, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, only rediscovered the site in 1814 upon
hearing reports from islanders of an incredible sanctuary deep within the island’s interior.

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 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.
The archaeological excavation into Borobudur during reconstruction suggests that adherents
of Hinduism or a pre-Indic faith had already begun to erect a large structure on Borobudur's
hill before the site was appropriated by Buddhists. The foundations are unlike any Hindu or
Buddhist shrine structures, and therefore, the initial structure is considered more indigenous
Javanese than Hindu or Buddhist.

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 Design Elements

ELEVATION Hilly Construction: Borobudur differs markedly from the general design of
other structures built for this purpose. Instead of being built on a flat surface, Borobudur is
built on a natural hill. However, construction technique is similar to other temples in Java.
Without the inner spaces seen in other temples, and with a general design similar to the shape
of pyramid, 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.
The meticulous complexity of the monument's design suggests that Borobudur is in fact a
temple.
The basic unit of measurement used during construction was the tala, defined as the length of
a human face from the forehead's hairline to the tip of the chin or the distance from the tip of
the thumb to the tip of the middle finger when both fingers are stretched at their maximum
distance. The unit is thus relative from one individual to the next, but the monument has exact
measurements. A survey conducted in 1977 revealed frequent findings of a ratio of 4:6:9
around the monument. The architect had used the formula to lay out the precise dimensions
of the fractal and self-similar geometry in Borobudur's design. This ratio is also found in the
designs of Pawon and Mendut, nearby Buddhist temples. Archeologists have conjectured that
the 4:6:9 ratio and the tala have calendrical, astronomical and cosmological significance, as
is the case with the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.The main structure can be divided
into three components: base, body, and top. The base is 123 m × 123 m (404 ft × 404 ft) in
size with 4 metres (13 ft) walls.

The body is composed of five square platforms, each of diminishing height. The first terrace
is set back 7 metres (23 ft) from the edge of the base. Each subsequent terrace is set back 2
metres (6.6 ft), leaving a narrow corridor at each stage. The top consists of three circular
platforms, with each stage supporting a row of perforated stupas, arranged in concentric
circles. There is one main dome at the center, the top of which is the highest point of the
monument, 35 metres (115 ft) above ground level. Stairways at the center of each of the four
sides give access to the top, with a number of arched gates overlooked by 32 lion statues. The
gates are adorned with Kala's head carved on top of each and Makaras projecting from each
side. This Kala-Makara motif is commonly found on the gates of Javanese temples. The main
entrance is on the eastern side, the location of the first narrative reliefs. Stairways on the
slopes of the hill also link the monument to the low-lying plain.

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Borobudur ground plan taking the form of a Mandala

The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage.The
journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path around the
monument and ascends to the top through three levels symbolic of Buddhist cosmology:
Design Concepts emanating from The existential Lake Borobudur

The existential Lake Borobudur is an ancient lake that has been suggested once existed
surrounding Borobudur Buddhist monument in Kedu Plain, Central Java, Indonesia.
Unlike other temples, which were built on a flat surface, Borobudur was built on a bedrock
hill, 265 m (869 ft) above sea level and 15 m (49 ft) above the floor of the dried-out
paleolake. The lake's existence had been the subject of intense discussion among
archaeologists in the 20th century; Borobudur was thought to have been built on a lake shore
or even surrounded by a lake.
In 1931, a Dutch artist and scholar of Hindu and Buddhist architecture, W.O.J.
Nieuwenkamp, developed a theory that Kedu Plain was once a lake and Borobudur initially
represented a lotus flower floating on the lake. Lotus flowers are found in almost
every Buddhist work of art, often serving as a throne for buddhas and base for stupas. The
architecture of Borobudur itself suggests a lotus depiction, in which Buddha postures in
Borobudur symbolize the Lotus Sutra, mostly found in many Mahayana Buddhism (a school
of Buddhism widely spread in the east Asia region) texts. Three circular platforms on the top
are also thought to represent a lotus petals.[1]
Nieuwenkamp has suggested that the landscape near Borobudur included lakes, and that the
temples were arranged around these lakes in form of flowers and mathematical patterns
considered to be auspicious, and that the temples were connected by paved brick roads lined
by walls. These lakes and roads were later filled with metres of volcanic ash from the
multiple eruptions of Mount Merapi, which lies very closely to the east of the area.

68
Nieuwenkamp's theory, however, was contested by many archaeologists, such as Dumarçay
and Soekmono, arguing the natural environment surrounding the monument was dry land.
This theory is controversial, but recent geological evidence supports Nieuwenkamp proposal.

Palynological investigation and geomorphology analysis

Dumarçay together with Professor Thanikaimoni had taken soil samples in 1974 and again in
1977 from trial trenches that had been dug into the hill, as well as from the plain immediately
to the south. These samples were later analysed by Professor Thanikaimoni, who examined
their pollen and spore content in order to identify the type of vegetation that had grown in the
area around the time of Borobudur’s construction. They were unable to discover any pollen
or spore samples that were characteristic of any vegetation known to grow in an aquatic
environment. The area surrounding Borobudur appears to have been surrounded by
agricultural land and palm trees at the time of the monument’s construction, as is still the case
today.
Caesar Voûte and the geomorphologist Dr J.J. Nossin in 1985–86 field studies re-examined
the Borobudur lake hypothesis and concluded the absence of a lake around Borobudur at the
time of its construction and active use as a sanctuary.
These findings were endorsed by UNESCO in A New Perspective on Some Old Questions
Pertaining to Borobudur compiled within the 2005 UNESCO publication titled "The
Restoration of Borobudur".
In 2000s, geologists, on the other hand, support Nieuwenkamp's view, pointing
out clay sediments found near the site. A study of stratigraphy, sediment and pollen samples
conducted in 2000 supports the existence of a paleolake environment near Borobudur, which
tends to confirm Nieuwenkamp's theory.
The lake area fluctuated with time and the study also proves that Borobudur was near the lake
shore c. 13th and 14th centuries. River flows and volcanic activities shape the surrounding
landscape, including the lake. One of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, Mount Merapi's
has been very active since the Pleistocene.

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The location Borobudur surroundings, the ancient lake as suggested once located in south-
southeast from Borobudur, and probably south from Mendut temple on Progo and Elo rivers
confluence.
To reconcile among these findings, it seems that there was once a lake near Borobudur during
its construction and at the time of its initial active use in the 9th century. However contrary to
Nieuwenkamp's theory — of Borobudur as a blossoming lotus in the center of the pond —
the lake was not surrounding the whole Borobudur of the bedrock hill completely, but just
some small sections of it.
It might be possible that the lower parts of the Kedu plains surrounding Borobudur near the
river, was once naturally flooded and created a small shallow lake for at least until 13th to
14th century. The nearest portion of this elongated lake was estimated to be located around
500 metres south from Borobudur along the small river that drained to the southeast where it
joins the Progo river. The lake just flooded the lower portion of the valley located in south
and southeast from the temple, while the east, west and northern sides are dry lands probably
cultivated as rice paddies, orchards and palm trees just like today. There were probably other
lakes located several hundred metres south from Mendut temple on Progo and Elo rivers
confluence, and north from Pawon temple along Progo river. These lakes existed until the
13th to 14th centuries, when Merapi's volcanic activity, collapsed the natural dam barrier and
finally drained the lake.

Kāmadhātu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the
world of formlessness).
Zone 1: Kamadhatu (The phenomenal world, the world inhabited by common people)
Borobudur’s hidden Kamadhatu level consists of 160 reliefs depicting scenes of
Karmawibhangga Sutra, the law of cause and effect. Illustrating the human behavior of
desire, the reliefs depict robbing, killing, rape, torture and defamation. A corner of the
covering base has been permanently removed to allow visitors to see the hidden foot, and
some of the reliefs.
Zone 2: Rapudhatu (The transitional sphere, humans are released from worldly matters)

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The four square levels of Rapadhatu contain galleries of carved stone reliefs, as well as a
chain of niches containing statues of Buddha. In total there are 328 Buddha on these
balustrade levels which also have a great deal of purely ornate reliefs. The Sanskrit
manuscripts that are depicted on this level over 1300 reliefs are Gandhawyuha, Lalitawistara,
Jataka and Awadana. They stretch for 2.5km. In addition there are 1212 decorative panels.
Zone 3: Arupadhatu (The highest sphere, the abode of the gods) The three circular terraces
leading to a central dome or stupa represent the rising above the world, and these terraces are
a great deal less ornate, the purity of form is paramount.
The terraces contain circles of perforated stupas, an inverted bell shape, containing sculptures
of Buddha, who face outward from the temple. There are 72 of these stupas in total. The
impressive central stupa is currently not as high as the original version,
which rose 42m above ground level, the base is 9.9m in diameter. Unlike the stupas
surrounding it, the central stupa is empty and conflicting reports suggest that the central void
contained relics, and other reports suggest it has always been empty.
The monument guides pilgrims through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with
1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades. Borobudur has the largest and
most complete ensemble of Buddhist reliefs in the world.
Borobudur is built as a single large stupa and, when viewed from above, takes the form of a
giant tantric Buddhist mandala, simultaneously representing the Buddhist cosmology and the
nature of mind. The original foundation is a square, approximately 118 metres (387 ft) on
each side. It has nine platforms, of which the lower six are square and the upper three
are circular. The upper platform features seventy-two small stupas surrounding one large
central stupa. Each stupa is bell-shaped and pierced by numerous decorative openings.
Statues of the Buddha sit inside the pierced enclosures.

STEP PYRAMID
The design of Borobudur took the form of a step pyramid. Previously,
the prehistoric Austronesian megalithic culture in Indonesia had constructed several earth
mounds and stone step pyramid structures called punden berundak as discovered in
Pangguyangan site near Cisolokand in Cipari near Kuningan. The construction of stone
pyramids is based on native beliefs that mountains and high places are the abode of ancestral
spirits or hyangs. The punden berundak step pyramid is the basic design in
Borobudur, believed to be the continuation of older megalithic tradition incorporated with
Mahayana Buddhist ideas and symbolism.
As mentioned earlier the monument's three divisions symbolize the three "realms" of
Buddhist cosmology, namely Kamadhatu (the world of desires), Rupadhatu (the world of
forms), and finally Arupadhatu (the formless world). Ordinary sentient beings live out their
lives on the lowest level, the realm of desire. Those who have burnt out all desire for
continued existence leave the world of desire and live in the world on the level of form alone:
they see forms but are not drawn to them. Finally, full Buddhas go beyond even form and
experience reality at its purest, most fundamental level, the formless ocean of nirvana. The
liberation from the cycle of Saṃsāra where the enlightened soul had no longer attached to
worldly form corresponds to the concept of Śūnyatā, the complete voidness or the

71
nonexistence of the self. Kāmadhātu is

Bahai Lotus Temple and Borobudur(to RIGHT)

represented by the base, Rupadhatu by the five square platforms (the body),
and Arupadhatu by the three circular platforms and the large topmost stupa. The architectural
features between the three stages have metaphorical differences. For instance, square and
detailed decorations in the Rupadhatu disappear into plain circular platforms in
the Arupadhatu to represent how the world of forms—where men are still attached with
forms and names—changes into the world of the formless.

72
 Comparison with Djoser Pyramid,EGYPT
Djoser was the first or second king of the 3rd Dynasty (c. 2670–2650 BC) of the Egyptian Old
Kingdom (c. 2686–2125 BC). He is believed to have ruled for 19 years or, if the 19 years were
biennial taxation years, 38 years.[8] He reigned long enough to allow the grandiose plan for his
pyramid to be realized in his lifetime.
Djoser is best known for his innovative tomb, which dominates the Saqqara landscape. [8] In this tomb
he is referred to by his Horus name Netjerikhet; Djoser is a name given by New Kingdom visitors
thousands of years later. Djoser's step pyramid is astounding in its departure from previous
architecture. It sets several important precedents, perhaps the most important of which is its status as
the first monumental structure made of stone.
The social implications of such a large and carefully sculpted stone structure are staggering. The
process of building such a structure would be far more labor-intensive than previous monuments of
mud-brick. This suggests that the state, and therefore the royal government had a new level of control
of resources, both material and human. Also, from this point on, kings of the Old Kingdom are buried
in the North, rather than at Abydos.
Although the plan of Djoser's pyramid complex is different from later complexes, many elements
persist and the step pyramid sets the stage for later pyramids of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Dynasties,
including the great pyramids of Giza. Though the Dynastic Egyptians themselves did not credit him as
such, most Egyptologists attribute Djoser's vizier Imhotep with the design and construction of the
complex.

73
 Complex layout: 1) step pyramid, 2) south tomb and chapel, 3) Sed festival complex, 4) 'T'
temple, 5) south court, 6) south pavilion, 7) north pavilion, 8) mortuary temple, 9) western
mounds, 10) colonnaded entrance, 11) north court, 12) north galleries, 13) step tombs, 14) serdab,
and 15) north altar
The crowning feature of the complex is the Step Pyramid which rises from the Saqqara plateau in six
steps to a height between 60 m (200 ft; 110 cu) and 62.5 m (205 ft; 119.3 cu). This element was
revised repeatedly in construction, going through a series of developmental phases that culminated in
its step pyramidal form
Like Borobudur much of the rock for the pyramid was likely quarried from the construction of the
great trench. It is widely accepted that ramps would have been used to raise heavy stone to construct
the pyramid, and many plausible models have been suggested. For transport, apparatuses like rollers
were used in which the heavy stone could be placed and then rolled
Under the step pyramid is a labyrinth of tunneled chambers and galleries that total nearly
6 km in length and connect to a central shaft 7 m square and 28 m deep.[40] These spaces
provide room for the king's burial, the burial of family members, and the storage of goods
and offerings. The entrance to the 28 m shaft was built on the north side of the pyramid, a
trend that would remain throughout the Old Kingdom. The sides of the underground passages
are limestone inlaid with blue faience tile to replicate reed matting. These "palace façade"
walls are further decorated by panels decorated in low relief that show the king participating
in the Heb-sed.[36] Together these chambers constitute the funerary apartment that mimicked
the palace and would serve as the living place of the royal ka. On the east side of the
pyramid, eleven shafts 32 m deep were constructed and annexed to horizontal tunnels for
royal family members. These were incorporated into the pre-existing substructure as it
expanded eastward. In the storerooms along here over 40,000 stone vessels were found, many
of which predate Djoser. These would have served Djoser's visceral needs in the afterlife. An

74
extensive network of underground galleries was located to the north, west and south of the
central burial chamber and crude horizontal magazines were carved into these.[
Congregational worship in Borobudur is performed in a walking pilgrimage. Pilgrims are
guided by the system of staircases and corridors ascending to the top platform. Each platform
represents one stage of enlightenment. The path that guides pilgrims was designed to
symbolize Buddhist cosmology.
In 1885, a hidden structure under the base was accidentally discovered. The "hidden footing"
contains reliefs, 160 of which are narratives describing the real Kāmadhātu. The remaining
reliefs are panels with short inscriptions that apparently provide instructions for the sculptors,
illustrating the scenes to be carved. The real base is hidden by an encasement base, the
purpose of which remains a mystery. It was first thought that the real base had to be covered
to prevent a disastrous subsidence of the monument into the hill. There is another theory that
the encasement base was added because the original hidden footing was incorrectly designed,
according to Vastu Shastra, the Indian ancient book about architecture and town planning.
Regardless of why it was commissioned, the encasement base was built with detailed and
meticulous design and with aesthetic and religious consideration.

Building structure
Approximately 55,000 cubic metres (72,000 cu yd) of andesite stones were taken from
neighbouring stone quarries to build the monument. The stone was cut to size, transported to
the site and laid without mortar. Knobs, indentations and dovetails were used to form joints
between stones. The roof of stupas, niches and arched gateways were constructed
in corbelling method. Reliefs were created in situ after the building had been completed.
The monument is equipped with a good drainage system to cater to the area's
high stormwater run-off. To prevent flooding, 100 spouts are installed at each corner, each
with a unique carved gargoyle in the shape of a giant or makara.

75
76
A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or
steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric
pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several cultures throughout
history, in several locations throughout the world. These pyramids typically are large and
made of several layers of stone. The term refers to pyramids of similar design that emerged
separately from one another, as there are no firmly established connections between the
different civilizations that built them.

Cambodia
The archaeological site of Koh Ker in northern Cambodia contains a seven-tiered pyramid
called Prang which was probably the state temple of Jayavarman IV. Construction of the
sanctuary was started in 928 AD. At ground level one, side of the square building measures
62 m (203 ft). The height is 36 m (118 ft). Originally on the top platform stood a huge lingam
probably more than 4 m (13 ft) high and having a weight of several tons. Inscriptions say that
it was the tallest and most beautiful Shiva-ling-am. The ling-am probably stood in a shrine
which some researchers say could have been about 15 m (49 ft) high. On the north side of the
pyramid is a steep staircase leading to the top. Concerning the seventh tier some scientists
say, this was the platform of the shrine because on its sides beautiful reliefs of Garudas were
made.

77
As well as menhirs, stone tables, and stone statues Austronesian megalithic culture
in Indonesia also featured earth and stone step pyramid structure, referred to as punden
berundak as discovered in Pangguyangan site near Cisolok [12] and in Cipari near Kuningan.
The construction of stone pyramids is based on the native beliefs that mountains and high
places are the abode for the spirit of the ancestors.
The step pyramid is the basic design of 8th century Borobudur Buddhist monument in Central
Java. However the later temples built in Java were influenced by Indian Hindu architecture,
as displayed by the towering spires of Prambanan temple. In the 15th century Java during the
late Majapahit period saw the revival of Austronesian indigenous elements as displayed
by Sukuh temple that somewhat resembles a Mesoamerican pyramid, and also stepped
pyramids of Mount Penanggungan.
Stepped pyramid of Cambodia and Indonesia

Comparison between left: Borobudur of Java (825) and right: Bakong of Cambodia (881),
both temples had similar basic design of stepped pyramid and similar corbelling method,
which suggest there was a connection of technical and cultural influence between ancient
Java and Cambodia. Central Javanese temples were not built anywhere and anyhow, quite the
contrary: their position within the landscape and their architectural design was determined by
a series of socio-cultural, religious and economical factors

A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or
steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric
pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several cultures throughout
history, in several locations throughout the world. These pyramids typically are large and
made of several layers of stone. The term refers to pyramids of similar design that emerged
separately from one another, as there are no firmly established connections between the
different civilizations that built them.

As well as menhirs, stone tables, and stone statues Austronesian megalithic culture
in Indonesia also featured earth and stone step pyramid structure, referred to as punden
berundak as discovered in Pangguyangan site near Cisolok and in Cipari near Kuningan. are
the abode for the spirit of the ancestors. The step pyramid is the basic design of 8th
century Borobudur Buddhist monument in Central Java. However the later temples built in

78
Java were influenced by Indian Hindu architecture, as displayed by the towering spires
of Prambanan temple. In the 15th century Java during the late Majapahit period saw the
revival of Austronesian indigenous elements as displayed by Sukuh temple that somewhat
resembles a Mesoamerican pyramid, and also stepped pyramids of Mount Penanggungan.
Architecture of Borobudur
Borobudur design as a stepped pyramid: 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. This
ancient pyramid temple is unique. Unlike other ancient temples built on a flat
surface, Borobudur was constructed on a hill, 265 meters above sea level and 15 meters
above the dry lake surrounding it.

The lake’s existence was cause for intense discussions between archaeologists during the
twentieth century since it was thought that Borobudur was built on the banks of the lake or
even floated on it.

Architecture. Design.

Borobudur is built as a single large stupa, and when viewed from above, has the form of a
giant tantric Buddhist mandala, simultaneously representing the Buddhist cosmology and
nature of mind. The original Foundation is a square, approximately 118 m 387 ft on each
side. It has nine platforms, of which the lower six square and three circular. The upper
platform features seventy-two small stupas surrounding one large Central stupa. Each stupa is
bell-shaped and pierced by numerous decorative openings. Buddha statues sitting inside a
hollow shell.
The design of Borobudur which was in the form of a stepped pyramid. Earlier, in the
prehistoric Austronesian megalithic culture in Indonesia was built several earthen mounds
and stone step pyramid structure called punden berundak as discovered on the website
Pangguyangan near attractions and Cipari in the district of Kuningan. The construction of
stone pyramids is based on their own beliefs that mountains and high places are the abode of
spirits or ancestors hyangs. In punden berundak step pyramid is the basic design of
Borobudur, which is a continuation of older megalithic tradition Incorporated with Mahayana
Buddhist ideas and symbolism.

The monuments of the three divisions symbolize the three "spheres" of Buddhist cosmology,
namely Kamadhatu the world of desires, Rupadhatu the world of forms, and finally
Arupadhatu formless world. Ordinary sentient beings live their lives at a low level, the realm
of desire. Those who burned out all desire for continued existence to leave the world and the
desire to live in peace on the level of form: they see the form, but not drawn to them. Finally,
full Buddhas go beyond even form and experience reality at its purest, most fundamental
level, the formless ocean of Nirvana. Liberation from the cycle of Samsāra, where
enlightened souls are not attached to worldly form corresponds to the concept of Sūnyatā, the
complete voidness or absence of the self. Kāmadhātu is represented base Rupadhatu on the

79
five square platforms of the body, and Arupadhatu with three circular platforms and the large
top of the stupa. The architectural features between three stages of metaphorical differences.
For instance, square and detailed decorations in Rupadhatu disappear in a simple circular
platforms in the Arupadhatu to represent how the world of forms, where people with forms
and names - changes into the world of the formless.
Joint worship in Borobudur is performed in the walking pilgrimage. The pilgrims guided by a
system of staircases and corridors, climbing to the upper platform. Each platform represents
one stage of enlightenment. The path that leads pilgrims was designed to symbolize Buddhist
cosmology.

Archaeological site of Borobudur during the reconstruction suggests that the adherents of
Hinduism and Indian Faith have begun to build large buildings on Borobudurs of the hill
before the site was awarded the Buddhists. Foundations unlike a Hindu or Buddhist Shrine
structures, and therefore, the original structure is more indigenous Javanese than a Hindu or a
Buddhist.

In 1885, a hidden structure under the base was accidentally discovered. "Hidden level"
contains reliefs, 160 of which are narratives describing the real Kāmadhātu. The remaining
reliefs are panels with short inscriptions that apparently provide instructions for the sculptors,
illustrating the scene to be cut. The real base is hidden in the shell base, the purpose of which

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remains a mystery. It was first thought that the real base should be covered to prevent a
disastrous subsidence of the monument on the hill. There is another theory, in the shell of the
base was added because the original hidden Foundation was incorrectly designed, according
to Vastu Shastra, the Indian ancient book about architecture and town planning. Regardless of
why it was commissioned, housing the base was built with detailed and meticulous design
and aesthetic and religious considerations.

Architecture. The structure of the building

Approximately 55.000 cubic meters of 72.000 cubic meters of andesite stones were taken
from neighbouring stone quarries to the construction of the monument. The stone was cut to
size on site and laid without mortar. Knobs, indentations and dovetails were used to form
joints between stones. The roof of the stupa, niches and arched gate was built into the eaves.
The reliefs were created on the spot after the building was completed.
The monument is equipped with a good drainage system to meet the high drains. To prevent
flooding, 100 spouts are installed at each corner, each with a unique carved Gargoyle in the
shape of a giant or Makara.

Borobudur differs markedly from the overall design of other structures built for this purpose.
Instead of built on a flat surface, Borobudur was built on a natural hill. However, the
construction technology is similar to other temples in Java. Without the inner spaces seen in
other temples, and the overall design resembles the shape of pyramid, Borobudur was first
thought more likely to have served as a stupa, instead of a temple. Stupa is intended as a
temple for Buddha. Sometimes stupas were built only as devotional symbols of Buddhism.
The temple, on the other hand, is used as a prayer house. The meticulous complexity of the
monuments suggests that Borobudur is actually a temple.
Little is known about Gunadharma, the architect of the complex. His name is repeated from
Javanese folk tales, not from written inscriptions.

Basic unit of measurement in the construction was in Paphos, defined as the length of a
human face from the forehead hairline to tip of chin and tip of the thumb to the tip of the
middle finger when both fingers are stretched at the maximum distance. Thus, the block is
relative from one individual to another, but the monument has exact measurements. A survey
conducted in 1977 revealed frequent findings of a ratio of 4:6:9 around the monument. The
architect used the formula to lay out the exact dimensions of fractals and self-similar
geometry in the design Borobudurs. This ratio is also found in the designs of pawon temple
and mendut temple, near Buddhist temples. Archaeologists have suggested that 4:6:9 ratio
and the Tala have been a calendar, astronomical and cosmological significance, as is the case
with the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

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The basic structure can be divided into three components: base, body and top. The base 123 m x 123
m 404 m × 404 ft. in size with 4 m 13 ft wall. The body is composed of five square platforms, each of
diminishing height. The first terrace is located at 7 meters 23 feet from the edge of the base. Each
subsequent terrace is situated in a depth of 2 m 6.6 feet, leaving a narrow corridor at each stage.
The top consists of three circular platforms, with each stage supporting a row of perforated stupas,
arranged in concentric circles. There is one main dome at the center, the top of which is the highest
point of the monument, 35 m 115 feet above ground level. The stairs in the center of each of the
four sides give access to the top, with several arched gates overlooked a 32 lion statues. The gate is
decorated with Kalass head carved on the top of each and Makaras projecting from each side. This
Kala-Makara motif is often found on the gates of the Javanese temples. The main entrance is located
on the East side, in place of the first narrative reliefs. Stairs on the hillside and connects the
1
monument to the lowland plain. Built from nearly two million stone blocks of andesite, a
bluish-gray volcanic stone, Borobudur is shaped like a stepped pyramid, the base of which is
402 feet long from north to south and 383 feet long from east to west; the height is now 95
feet above ground level. The colossal monument consists of six rectangular terraces topped
by three concentric circular terraces.

Four of the terraces are galleries, each enclosed by a balustrade and an inner wall, open to the
sky and carved with sculptures.

1.https://amp.ww.google-wiki.info/233717/1/borobudur.html

At first sight, the square galleries are an overwhelming mass of

images depicting the activities of gods and mortals carved in the
dark volcanic stone along the wide processional paths. There
are more than 1,300 narrative panels illustrating the life of
Buddha and Buddhist texts, the largest and most complete
collection of Buddhist reliefs in the world. Originally, there
were over 500 statues of the Buddha,* 432 seated in lotus
position on the square terraces and 72 meditating inside the
bell-shaped stupas on the top terraces. There are no elaborate carvings on these three upper
levels.

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Monks from the nearby monastery would have led pilgrims along the galleries, using the
carved panels to illustrate the stories of their faith and the way of the Buddha as they circled
their way to the top of the monument.

Lacking further historical information, Raffles was unable to determine the exact date of
Borobudur's construction. But he knew that in the 13th and 14th centuries, Islam had replaced

Sir Thomas Raffles, the British governor of Indonesia responsible for the excavation of
Borobudur in 1814, speculated that Borobudur may have originally been a holy place of
pilgrimage for believers of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism.
Buddhism as the island's religion, and he thought it unlikely that Borobudur would have been
built since then. Also, ancient records showed that in the 10th century, the region around
Borobudur had been mysteriously deserted, and all construction in central Java had stopped
then. From the detailed carvings, Raffles concluded that Borobudur had been built sometime
between the eighth and tenth centuries, during a period of relative peace in East Asia, after
the nomadic and religious invasions had run out of steam.

No one knows what happened to the culture that built the monument. Perhaps Merapi had
erupted, choking the rice lands with layers of volcanic ash. Whatever the cause, the
population moved to East Java in a mass exodus, and Borobudur was left behind, its meaning
lost in time.

The Golden age of Cambodia

The École Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) began restoration work at Angkor Wat in
1908. Between 1986 and 1992, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) carried out
restoration work on the temple. Bayon was restored by EFCO followed by Japanese
Government Team for the Safeguarding of Angkor (JSA). Ta Prohm is being restored
by Archaeological Survey of India.
Throughout Cambodia's long history, religion has been a major source of cultural inspiration.
Over nearly two millennia, Cambodians have developed a unique Cambodian culture and
belief system from the syncreticism of indigenous animistic beliefs and the Indian religions
of Buddhism and Hinduism. Indian culture and civilization, including its languages and arts
reached mainland Southeast Asia around the 1st century AD. It is generally believed that
seafaring merchants brought Indian customs and culture to ports along the Gulf
of Thailand and the Pacific en route to trade with China. The Kingdom of Funan was most
probably the first Cambodian state to benefit from this influx of Indian ideas. There is also
French influence as well.

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Angkor Wat, the most famous Cambodian heritage site.//Traditional Khmer house from
1800's

The Golden age of Cambodia was between the 9th and 14th century, during the Angkor
period, during which it was a powerful and prosperous empire that flourished and dominated
almost all of inland Southeast Asia. However, Angkor would eventually collapse after much
in-fighting between royalty and constant warring with its increasingly powerful neighbors,
notably Siam and Dai Viet. Many temples from this period however, like Bayon and Angkor
Wat still remain today, scattered throughout Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam as a
reminder of the grandeur of Khmer arts and culture. Cambodia's unparalleled achievements in
art, architectures, music, and dance during this period have had a great influence on many
neighboring kingdoms, namely Thailand and Laos. The effect of Angkorian culture can still
be seen today in those countries, as they share many close characteristics with current-day
Cambodia.
Khmer architecture.

The Angkorian architects and sculptors created temples that mapped the cosmic world in
stone. Khmer decorations drew inspiration from religion, and mythical creatures
from Hinduism and Buddhism were carved on walls. Temples were built in accordance to the
rule of ancient Khmer architecture that dictated that a basic temple layout include a central
shrine, a courtyard, an enclosing wall, and a moat. Khmer motifs use many creatures from
Buddhist and Hindu mythology, like the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, use motifs such as
the garuda, a mythical bird in Hinduism. The architecture of Cambodia developed in stages
under the Khmer empire from the 9th to the 15th century, preserved in many buildings of
the Angkor temple. The remains of secular architecture from this time are rare, as only
religious buildings were made of stone. The architecture of the Angkor period used specific
structural features and styles, which are one of the main methods used to date the temples,
along with inscriptions.

In n modern rural Cambodia, the nuclear family typically lives in a rectangular house that
may vary in size from four by six meters to six by ten meters. It is constructed of a wooden
frame with gabled thatch roof and walls of woven bamboo. Khmer houses are typically raised
as much as three meters on stilts for protection from annual floods. Two ladders or
wooden staircases provide access to the house. The steep thatch roof overhanging the house
walls protects the interior from rain. Typically a house contains three rooms separated by
partitions of woven bamboo. The front room serves as a living room used to receive visitors,

84
the next room is the parents' bedroom, and the third is for unmarried daughters. Sons sleep
anywhere they can find space. Family members and neighbors work together to build the
house, and a house-raising ceremony is held upon its completion. The houses of poorer
persons may contain only a single large room. Food is prepared in a separate kitchen located
near the house but usually behind it. Toilet facilities consist of simple pits in the
ground, located away from the house, that are covered up when filled. Any livestock is kept
below the house. Chinese and Vietnamese houses in Cambodian towns and villages are
typically built directly on the ground and have earthen, cement, or tile floors, depending upon
the economic status of the owner. Urban housing and commercial buildings may be of brick,
masonry, or wood.
Religion in Cambodia.

Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist with 80% of the population being Theravada Buddhist,
1% Christian and the majority of the remaining population follow Islam, atheism,
or animism.

Buddhist nun at Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia.//Pchum Ben, also known as "Ancestors'
Day

Buddhism has existed in Cambodia since at least the 5th century CE. Theravada Buddhism
has been the Cambodian state religion since the 13th century CE (excepting the Khmer
Rouge period), and is currently estimated to be the faith of 90% of the population. [3] A
smaller number of Cambodians, mostly of Vietnamese and Chinese descent,
practice Mahayana Buddhism. The main orders of Buddhism practiced in Cambodia
are Dhammayuttika Nikaya and Maha Nikaya.

Bakong in Cambodia is the first temple mountain of sandstone constructed by rulers of

the Khmer empire at Angkor near modern Siem Reap in Cambodia. In the final decades of
the 9th century AD, it served as the official state temple of King Indravarman I in the ancient
city of Hariharalaya, located in an area that today is called Roluos.
The structure of Bakong took shape of stepped pyramid, popularly identified as temple
mountain of early Khmer temple architecture. The striking similarity of the Bakong
and Borobudur temple in Java, going into architectural details such as the gateways and stairs
to the upper terraces, suggests strongly that Borobudur was served as the prototype of

85
Bakong. There must have been exchanges of travelers, if not mission, between Khmer
kingdom and the Sailendras in Java. Transmitting to Cambodia not only ideas, but also
technical and architectural details of Borobudur, including arched gateways in corbelling
method.

Other than examining bas-reliefs carved on the temple's walls, the study of ancient Javanese
society is also conducted through archaeological relics. The Wonoboyo hoard golden
artefacts attest to the wealth, art, and culture as well as the aesthetic achievement of the
Medang Kingdom. The artefacts show the intricate artwork and technical mastery of the
ancient Javanese goldsmith. The hoard was estimated to date from the reign of King Balitung.
The treasure has been identified as belonging to a noble or a member of the royal family. [
The earliest temple in the Southern Central Java Mataram region was the Hindu
Shivaist Gunung Wukir temple, linked to Canggal inscription (732 CE) built by King
Sanjaya. Almost 50 years later the oldest Buddhist temple was built in Prambanan region, the
Buddhist Kalasan temple, linked to Kalasan inscription (778 CE) and King Panangkaran.
From this time, the kingdom saw exuberant temple construction projects, such
as Sari, Manjusrigrha, Lumbung, Ngawen, Mendut, Pawon and peaked in the construction
of Borobudur, the massive stone mandala, that took shape of a mountain temple pinnacled
with stupas that completed c. 825 CE.

The monumental Hindu temple of Prambanan in the vicinity of Yogyakarta — initially

built during the reign of King Pikatan (838–850), and expanded continuously through the
reign of Lokapala (850–890) to Balitung (899–911) — is a fine example of ancient Medang
Mataram art and architecture. The description of a grand temple compound dedicated for lord
Shiva, and the public project to shift the course of the river near the temple (Opak river) to
run straight along western wall of temple compound was also mentioned in Shivagrha
inscription. The grand temple complex was dedicated to the Trimurti, the three highest gods
in the Hindu pantheon (Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu). It was the largest Hindu temple ever built
in Indonesia, evidence of the immense wealth and cultural achievement of the kingdom.
Other Hindu temples dated from Medang Mataram Kingdom era are: Sambisari, Gebang,
Barong, Ijo, and Morangan. Although the Shivaist regain the favour, Buddhist remain under
royal patronage. The Sewu temple dedicated for Manjusri according to Kelurak
inscription was probably initially built by Panangkaran, but later expanded and completed

86
during Rakai Pikatan's rule, whom married to a Buddhist princess Pramodhawardhani,
daughter of Samaratungga. Most of their subjects retained their old religion; Shivaists and
Buddhists seemed to co-exist in harmony. The Buddhist temple
of Plaosan, Banyunibo and Sajiwan were built during the reign of King Pikatan and Queen
Pramodhawardhani, probably in the spirit of religious reconciliation after the succession
disputes between Pikatan-Pramodhawardhani against Balaputra.

Medang kingdom had an exceptionally intense relations with the regional

hegemon Srivijaya of Sumatra. In earlier period, the relations was close and intimate, as
Sailendran kings of Java has formed an alliance with Maharaja of Srivijaya and the two royal
houses seems to be merged. In later period however, the relations was deteriorated to warfare,
as Dharmawangsa launched failed attempt to capture Palembang, and Srivijaya well-crafted
retaliation ensued. In its eastern boundary, the Medang kingdom seems to subjugate the
neighboring Bali, and pulled the island into its sphere of influence.

The Khmer art and architecture during the formative early Angkor era also believed to
being influenced by Javanese art and architecture; the striking similarity of
the Bakong temple in Cambodia to Borobudur, strongly suggests that Bakong was inspired by
Borobudur's design. There must had been exchanges of travellers, if not mission,
between Kambuja and Java. Transmitting to Cambodia not only ideas, but also technical and
architectural details, including arched gateways in corbelling method.

The Kaladi inscription (c. 909 CE), mentioned Kmir (Khmer people of the Khmer Empire)
together with Campa (Champa) and Rman (Mon) as foreigners from mainland Southeast Asia
that frequently came to Java to trade. The inscription suggests a maritime trade network has
been established between kingdoms in mainland Southeast Asia and Java.

The name of the Medang Kingdom was mentioned in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription of
the Philippines' Tondo, dated 822 saka (c. 900 CE), discovered in Lumban,
Laguna, Philippines. The discovery of the inscriptions, written in the Kawi script in a variety
of Old Malay containing numerous loanwords from Sanskrit and a few non-Malay
vocabulary elements whose origin is ambiguous between Old Javanese and Old Tagalog,
suggests that the people or officials of the Medang Kingdom had embarked on inter-insular
trade and foreign relations in regions as far away as the Philippines, and that connections
between ancient kingdoms in Indonesia and the Philippines existed.

In 802 AD, the first king of Angkor Jayavarman II declared the sovereignty of Cambodia.
After ups and downs, he established his capital at Hariharalaya. A few decades later, his
successors constructed Bakong in stages as the first temple mountain of sandstone
at Angkor.[3] The inscription on its stele (classified K.826) says that in 881 King Indravarman
I dedicated the temple to the god Shiva and consecrated its central religious image,
a lingam whose name Sri Indresvara was a combination of the king's own and the suffix "-
esvara" which stood for Shiva ("Iśvara").According to George Coedès, the devarāja cult
consisted in the idea of divine kingship as a legitimacy of royal powerbut later authors stated
that it doesn't necessarily involve the cult of physical persona of the ruler himself.

Bakong enjoyed its status as the state temple of Angkor for only a few years, but later
additions from the 12th or 13th centuries testify that it was not abandoned. Toward the end of
the 9th century, Indravarman's son and successor Yasovarman I moved the capital from

87
Hariharalaya to the area north of Siem Reap now known as Angkor, where he founded the
new city of Yaśodharapura around a new temple mountain called Bakheng.

SITE:

A statue of a lion guards the stairs on the central pyramid./Step Pyramid in South America
The site of Bakong measures 900 metres by 700 metres, and consists of three
concentric enclosures separated by two moats, the main axis going from east to west. The
outer enclosure has neither a wall nor gopuram and its boundary is the outer moat, today only
partially visible. The current access road from NH6 leads at the edge of the second enclosure.
The inner moat delimits a 400 by 300 metres area, with remains of a laterite wall and four
cruciform gopuram, and it is crossed by a wide earthen causeway, flanked by seven-
headed nāgas, such as a draft of nāga bridge . Between the two moats there are the remains of
22 satellite temples of brick. The innermost enclosure, bounded by a laterite wall, measures
88
160 metres by 120 metres and contains the central temple pyramid and eight brick temple
towers, two on each side. A number of other smaller buildings are also located within the
enclosure. Just outside the eastern gopura there is a modern buddhist temple.

The pyramid itself has five levels and its base is 65 by 67 metres. It was reconstructed by
Maurice Glaize at the end of the 1930s according to methods of anastylosis. On the top there
is a single tower that is much later in provenance, and the architectural style of which is not
that of the 9th century foundations of Hariharalaya, but that of the 12th-century temple
city Angkor Wat.
Though the pyramid at one time must have been covered with bas relief carvings in stucco,
today only fragments remain. A dramatic scene-fragment involving what appear to
be asuras in battle gives a sense of the likely high quality of the carvings. Large stone statues
of elephants are positioned as guardians at the corners of the three lower levels of the
pyramid. Statues of lions guard the stairways.

Anastylosis (from the Ancient Greek: , ana = "again", and = "to erect [a stela or building]")
is an archaeological term for a reconstruction technique whereby a ruined building or
monument is restored using the original architectural elements to the greatest degree possible.
It is also sometimes used to refer to a similar technique for restoring broken pottery and other
small objects.

COMPARISON of STPPED PYRAMID of Prambanan and Borodudur

Indonesia

One of the earlier examples of anastylosis: the Borobudur in Java, Indonesia

Early in the 20th century, Dutch archaeologists carried out anastylosis of the stupa at
the Buddhist temple complex at Borobudur in Java, Indonesia between 1907 and 1911.
The Prambanan Hindu temple complex was excavated and was partially reconstructed
between 1911 and 1953, also reconstructed using anastylosis method. The recent practice of
anastylosis in Indonesia is the reconstruction of Kedulan temple, built in 869, the temple was
buried under volcanic layers for centuries, until was discovered in 1993. The restoration of
the entire Kedulan Temple complex is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

89
The temple—essentially a variation of a step pyramid—is a sanctuary and Buddhist
pilgrimage place. The pilgrims’ journey starts at the base of the monument and proceeds
along a path that surrounds it while climbing to the top through the three levels of Buddhist
cosmology; Kamadhatu (the world of desires), Rupadhatu (the world of forms), and
finally Arupadhatu (the formless world).
During the trip, the monument guides pilgrims through a system of stairs and corridors.

Prambanan (Javanese: Rara Jonggrang) is a Hindu temple complex dating from the 9th
century CE located near Bokoharjo, on the island of Java in Indonesia. Prambanan is the
largest Hindu temple in Indonesia and one of the largest Hindu temples in Southeast Asia.
Dedicated to the Trimurti of Hinduism — Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva —
Prambanan's architecture conforms to Hindu architectural traditions based on the Vastu
Shastra, and the temple thus reflects the Hindu conceptions of the cosmos in its design and
layout. Despite its grandeur and rich exterior ornamentation, the Javanese abandoned
Prambanan within 100 years of its completion around c. 950 CE. Although the ravages of
time and natural disasters took their toll on Prambanan, the Javanese never forgot the ruins,
and Prambanan continued to play a part in Javanese folklore. Research and the restoration of
Prambanan began in earnest in the early 20th century CE, and the temple complex was
declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 CE. It is today one of the most visited
historical sites in Indonesia.

History & Geography

Prambanan is located some 17 km (11 miles) northeast of the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta,
near the border between the two provinces of Yogyakarta and Central Java, on the island of
Java. The ruins themselves lie 0.5 km south of the village of Prambanan.
The period in which the Javanese constructed Prambanan and neighboring temples is
shrouded in legend and mystery. Strong cultural and religious influence arrived in what is
now present-day Indonesia from the Indian subcontinent, beginning around the 1st century
CE. This influence grew rapidly from c. 400 CE onwards. Hindu and Buddhist merchants and
traders, settled in the region, intermarried with the local population, and facilitated long-
distance trade relations between the indigenous Javanese, ancient India, and the rest of
Southeast Asia. Over the centuries, the Javanese blended the culture and religions of ancient
India with their own.

90
Some historians contend that Prambanan's construction began under the orders of King Rakai
Pikatan (r. 830-860 CE?) at some point between c. 840-850 CE. Rakai Pikatan oversaw the
construction and design of the main temple complex, while other structures were built soon
thereafter by later kings, including Rakai Kayuwangi (r. 850-898 CE), Balitung (r. 899-911
CE), Daksa (r. 910-919 CE), and Tulodong (r. 919-924 CE). At some point, locals diverted a
nearby river to flow past the temple complex as well. Rakai Pikatan and his successors
belonged to the Hindu Sanjaya dynasty, which was the rival of the Buddhist Sailendra
dynasty for power in the “Medang” or Mataram kingdom in central Java. It is worth noting
that the Sailendra dynasty oversaw the construction of the Buddhist temple of Borobudur. As
Borobudur is located only 19 km (12 miles) from Prambanan, some scholars interpret
Prambanan's genesis as a direct artistic, political, and religious response to that of Borobudur
and in turn the competitive Sailendra dynasty. It is even said that Rakai Pikatan's wife,
Princess Pramodhawardhani (fl. 820-860 CE), was the daughter of King Samaratungga (r.
812-833 CE) who may have overseen Borobudur's construction. (Despite all this, other
Javanese historians see the “Sailendra” and “Sanjaya” dynasties as one and the same family,
interpreting the religious patronage of Buddhism or Hinduism as the result of a ruler's
personal belief.)

Prambanan is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Central Java, Indonesia, dedicated to

the Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the
Destroyer (Shiva). A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is the largest Hindu temple site in
Indonesia, and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia. It is characterized by its tall and pointed
architecture, typical of Hindu temple architecture, and by the towering 47-metre-high (154 ft)
central building inside a large complex of individual temples. Prambanan attracts many
visitors from around the world. The temple compound is located approximately 17 kilometres
northeast of the city of Yogyakarta on the boundary between Central Java and Yogyakarta
provinces. Others believe that the term "candi" itself is believed was derived from Candika,
one of the manifestations of the goddess Durga as the goddess of death. This suggests that in
ancient Indonesia the "candi" had mortuary functions as well as connections with the
afterlife. Historians suggest that the temples of ancient Java were also used to store the ashes
of cremated deceased kings. The statue of god stored inside the garbhagriha of the temple is
often modeled after the deceased king and considered to be the deified person of the king
portrayed as Vishnu or Shiva according to the concept of devaraja. The example is the statue
of king Airlangga from Belahan temple portrayed as Vishnu riding Garuda. 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
All temples contained in Prambanan temple consist of three parts. These parts, among
others, consists of the base of the temple, the body of the temple, and the roof of the
temple. This division of building structures is in harmony with the traditions that exist
in the ancient Hindu-Buddhist.world.

In Shiva Temple, the base is equipped with a nice decorated ledge. This kind of shape
reminds anyone who sees it going like to the Borobudur Temple. Each of the four steps
leading up to the gates of the monument that has a large Kala head.
This Kala is a monster like a lion very loyalty to God Shiva. In Java, Kala became the
most popular protective figure and can be seen in every door and niche.

91
At Shiva Temple, its east gate is surrounded by two large niches containing the statues
of Shiva’s gatekeepers, the good Nandhishvara and the ruthless Mahakala. The body of
the temple is divided into two by a corridor, a pattern that shows the architecture of
East Java. Above and below the corridor, the wall is interspersed with a series of
niches with kala and reliefs that bear the roof of the temple above. This architectural
figurine, which is quite common in India, is also used as a Buddhist temple niche
decoration near this area, Kalasan Temple.

The upper part of Shiva Temple consists of a series of smaller levels that repeat the
temple’s body shape with a smaller scale. The roof is also decorated by a dome with
moon-shaped parts on it and decorated with fake doors, pillars, and motifs of kala.
Each dome is a miniature of the temple that holds the basic principle of Hindu-
Buddhist thought, the balance between the macro cosmos, which is represented by its
temple, and the micro cosmos, represented by its dome.

In Java, Hindu temples usually have box-shaped ornaments on it, while Buddhist
temples are usually crowned with stupas. Striped ball ornaments in Prambanan Temple
may have prompted the confusion of the first western visitor, so they often regard the
Prambanan Temple complex as a Buddhist monument.Thus, parts of the temples that
exist in Prambanan not only a mere architectural process. Moreover, the parts that are
divided into three contain symbolic meanings that make Prambanan Temple as
evidence of cultural life that existed in the past.

Prambanan Complex Model-by Gunawan Kartapranata (CC BY-SA)

Prambanan, an Hindu temple in Indonesia-general architectural and morphological
analysis-Srishti Dokras.Uday Vasant
Dokrashttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/342662695_Prambanan_an_Hindu_te
mple_in_Indonesia-general_architectural_and_morphological_analysis

92
Cooperation between Khemer and Javanese? According to ancient Khmer sources, King
Jayavarman II (r. 802-835 CE), the founder of the Khmer Empire (802-1431 CE), spent much
of his life in Java, and was appointed by Samaratungga as the governor of Indrapura, which
later became the capital city of Champa around c. 875 CE. It is said that Jayavarman visited
both Borobidur as well as Prambanan, which inspired him to build the city of Angkor Wat on
a grand scale. This is quite possible as the Sailendra and Sanjaya dynasties exerted much
political and cultural influence through their thalassocracies in what is present-day Java,
Sumatra, Malaya, and southern Cambodia in the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries CE.

ABANDONEMENT: VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS FROM MOUNT MERAPI IN THE

10TH CENTURY CE & COUNTLESS EARTHQUAKES MAY HAVE IMPACTED
PRAMBANAN'S APPEAL AS A PLACE OF WORSHIP & PILGRIMAGE.

Prambanan's abandonment mirrors that of nearby Borobudur. As the center of political

power shifted from central to eastern Java under the reign of King Mpu Sindok (fl. 928 CE),
Prambanan became less important politically and culturally to the ancient Javanese. The
Sanjaya dynasty had successfully usurped power from the Sailendra dynasty, leaving the
island of Java under their near complete suzerainty. Volcanic eruptions from Mount Merapi
in the 10th century CE and countless earthquakes may have impacted Prambanan's appeal as
a place of worship and pilgrimage as well among the Hindu faithful.

Over time, Prambanan deteriorated and became surrounded by a dense jungle. The Dutch
explorer C. A. Lons reported his “rediscovery” of Prambanan in 1733 CE to Dutch colonial
officials, but the temple was never completely forgotten by the Javanese in their histories,
myths, and legends. A very popular Javanese legend is that of Rara Jonggrang, which is set in
Prambanan and its neighboring temples. In the legend, a Javanese princess is turned to stone
by her cruel husband. The princess is said to be beautiful image of the Hindu goddess Durga
located within the north wing of Shiva's temple at Prambanan. Restoration work began in
1885 CE, but accelerated in 1918 CE. These efforts were halted when Indonesia was invaded
in 1941 CE by the Japanese during World War II. In 1953 CE, the Temple of Shiva was
reconsecrated to Hindu believers, and Prambanan was restored once again following the 2006
CE Yogyakarta earthquake. Intermittent archaeological excavation and restoration continue
in and around Prambanan today.

Set in the fertile Prambanan Plain, Prambanan is but one of 30 temples built between c.
750-950 CE in a 30 square km (11.5 square miles) area. Lying just a few kilometers to
Prambanan's north are three ancient Buddhist Temples built in the 8th century CE —
Lumbung, Bubrah, and Sewu — while 2.5 km to Prambanan's south and southeast lie the
ruins of the 9th-century CE Buddhist temples of Ratu Boko and Sojiwan, respectively. Some
3 km to Prambanan's west are also the 8th-century CE Buddhist Sari Temple, the Kalasan
Temple, which dates to c. 778 CE, and the Sambisari Temple, which dates from the 9th
century CE and is dedicated to Shiva.

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Prambanan consists of six temples all situated in an elevated courtyard, which is in turn
encompassed by 224 minor temples now ruined. The greater the distance a temple is from the
main complex, the smaller it is in height and space. A small wall surrounds the smaller
temples, just as a large wall encompasses the main complex. Prambanan has a 47 m (154 ft)
tall central temple — dedicated to Shiva — which sits inside a complex of other temple
structures in a concentric mandala layout. Prambanan, in ways similar to Borobudur,
delineates the celestial hierarchy and transposes them to three distinct temple zones.
Horizontally and vertically, Prambanan exudes Hindu conceptions of heaven.

The largest three temples, the holiest sites within the main complex, are dedicated to the triad
of Hindu gods. Shiva's temple is the most prominent with Brahma's temple lying to the south
of Shiva's temple, and Vishnu's temple lying to the north of Shiva's temple. Directly parallel
to these magnificent temples are three smaller temples, each dedicated to mythological
animal figures that provide protection, companionship, and transportation to the
aforementioned gods: Garuda, a mythical winged creature, Hamsa the swan, and Nandi the
bull.

The Temple of Shiva is the most ornate of the three massive temples, containing a series of
elegant carvings along the inner wall, which depict the scenes from the ancient Indian
epic The Ramayana. This temple contains four rooms, including an inner sanctuary with a
statue of Shiva, while another chamber near the inner sanctuary contains a large statue of
Shiva's son, Ganesha. The southern room of Shiva's temple is dedicated to Batara Guru
who, according adherents of Javanese Hinduism, is an avatar of Shiva that gives prophecy,
presents, and other human abilities. There is also a statue of the sacred bull calf, gatekeeper,
and vehicle (vahana) of Shiva, Nandi, which sits in front of the Temple of Shiva. The walls
in the Temple of Brahma continue the narration of The Ramayana, while the Temple of
Vishnu is decorated with carvings retelling the epic battles of Krishna along its terrace.

Image Courtesy: Temple Purohit

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Did You Know The Prambanan Temple Is The Largest Hindu Temple Site In Indonesia
With 240 Temples?

Image Courtesy: World Travel Bug-by Gizel Menezes April 30, 2020 1018
Indonesia is known to be a melting pot of ancient traditions, cultures, and history and is home
to some of the world’s most marvellous architectural structures. One of these is the
Prambanan Temple.Built in the 9th century, it is the largest Hindu temple complex in
Indonesia, housing about 240 temples structures.The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage
site and is dedicated to the Trimurti – Shiva (the Transformer), Vishnu (the Preserver), and
Brahma (the Creator). The highlight of the temple lies in the central compound, where eight
major and eight minor temples are assembled on a raised platform, creating an architectural
crescendo, the highest of which is Candi Shiva Mahadeva. ‘Candi’ means temple or shrine.
History Of The Prambanan Temple
The building of Prambanan commenced in the middle of the 9th century, around 50 years
after Borobudur, which is the largest Buddha temple in the world. While little is known about
the early history of the temple, it is thought to have built by Rakai Pikatan to commemorate
the return of the Hindu dynasty in Java.However, in the mid-16th century, a great earthquake
toppled many of the temples, and Prambanan remained in ruins for years. While efforts were
made to clear the site in 1855, it was only in 1937 that reconstruction was first attempted. In
1953, the reconstruction of the main Shiva temple was completed and inaugurated by an
Indonesian politician Sukarno.Prambanan again suffered extensive damage in the 2006
earthquake. Although the main temples survived, hundreds of stone blocks collapsed. Today,
the main structures have been restored, but a lot of work remains to be done.
Architecture Of The Prambanan Temple
The temple follows the typical Hindu architectural traditions based on the Vastu Shastra and
has incorporated the Mandal temple plan arrangements.The whole complex contains 240
individual stone temples, many of which are scattered in ruins. The temple complex is
divided into three zones. The outer zone is an open space, which serves as a yard for priests
or worshippers, whereas the middle zone has 224 small shrines arranged into four concentric

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rows around the central compound. These shrines are called Candi Perwara, meaning
‘guardian temples’.

Image Courtesy: All Indonesia Tourism

The Candi Shiva Mahadeva is centrally located and is one of the finest temples in the
complex. Lavishly carved, the main spire of the temple soars as high as 47m high. The inner
wall of the gallery encircling the temple contains vibrant scenes from the Ramayana.The
impressive Candi Vishnu touches 33m and sits north of Candi Shiva Mahadeva. It houses a
four-armed image of Vishnu inside the inner sanctum. Candi Brahma is Candi Vishnu’s twin
temple. Located south of Candi Shiva Mahadeva, it is again adorned with the final scenes of
the Ramayana. In the inner chamber, a four-headed statue of Brahma is beautifully
crowned.The Prambanan Temple, on the whole, attracts many visitors from around all the
world all year round! You too must visit this architectural brilliance once in your life and
experience divinity and calm like no other!

Last Word:

Architectural temples of the middle classical era such as Prambanan and Borobudur temples
are thought to have inspired the temples in Indochina. It has become a common guess both
among the tour guides in Cambodia or the researchers who reviewed the Khemer Kingdom
Architecture. The existence of the relationship between the temple in Java and the temple in
Cambodia is possible because Jayawarman II, who later build the kingdom of Khemer, once
lived in Java when large middle classical temple style architecture was built. To find out the
architectural connections of temples in Java and in Cambodia then the first thing to do is to
know all the architectural unsurts in both temples. So the purpose of this study is to know the
unsurts of spatial, plan, figures and temple ornaments of the middle classical era of Java and
pre-Angkor temple era.
This research is done by qualitative method of comparative. Qualitative research is applied
by visiting and observing physical objects, then discussed using theories relating to research
topics. While the object is selected using purposive sampling method, with the basic object of

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research is closely related to the style, wholeness and scale. Of the 80 points used in
identifying architectural unsurts in the mass structure, floor plan, figures, and ornaments, the
authors found 13 very similar points, 50 points to Bakong but not similar, and 17 points
missing from Bakong. Based on these results the allegation that the temple of the middle
.1
classical era of Java has a relationship with the transitional era are becoming stronger

________________________________________________________________
1. THE IDENTIFICATION OF CENTRAL JAVA CLASSIC ERA’S ARCHITECTURE (BOROBUDUR AND PRAMBANAN,
(9TH CENTURY) ON THE TEMPLE IN THE CAMBODIA’S TRASITIONAL ERA (BAKONG, 9TH CENTURY)
MORPHOLOGICAL TYPOLOGY STUDIES (MASS ORGANIZATION, FLOOR PLAN, FIGURE AND ORNAMENTS).
Galih Andika Pratomo ; Rahadhian Prajudi Herwindo

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Consecration of bakong: Bakong on the other hand was consecrated in 881, during the
reign of Indravarman (877-889).This is the first of the temple-pyramids, which later became
standard for all Khmer kings. It is a temple as well as a symbol of the king’s reign and the
magnitude of his power.On the walls of the three decreasing rectangular terraces we can
identify the series of reliefs which has already pleased our eyes in Angkor Wat and
Bayon. Unfortunately, in Bakong galleries do not protect the reliefs, thus the ornaments on
the are hardly distinguishable on the few centimeters of intact, adjoining surfaces. On the
corners of the terraces we can see battle elephants; the stairway leading to the main sanctuary,

like in all the later Khmer temples, is

Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta is a well-known city in Java Island, Indonesia. Yogya (as it is
usually called) has a unique charm, which is felt on every visit. Every one who goes there
returns with wonderful memories, making Yogya a good site for tourism. Prambanan
Temple is the product of phenomenal artistic labour in Yogya, built on Kingdom of Mataram
Kuno in the nineth – tenth century. It was in Sanjaya Dynasty (when Rakai Pikatan and Rakai
Balitung are governing the Kingdom).

Prambanan Temple has 1,000 statues, three main temples in front center (primary yard) with
bigger then others, namely Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva Temples. Those three temples are
symbols of ‘Trimurti’ (Tri = tiga = three; Murti = dewa = God in Hindu belief; (English:

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‘three forms’; Sanskrit: trimurti) is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of
creation (dewa Brahma), maintenance (dewa Vishnu), and destruction (dewa Shiva). These
three deities have been called “the Hindu triad” or the “Great Trinity,”. All of the temples
face the east. Besides, there are 2 flank temples, 4 kelir temples, 4 corner temples and other
smaller temples are around of the three main temples. See Map below.
decorated with stylized lions.

Bako
ng

According to the legend, Prambanan temple was built due to a love affair legend. When
Prince Bandung Bondowoso asked for Roro Jonggrang to marriage him, she doesn’t want,
because he killed King Ratu Boko (Jonggrang fathers), so Jonggrang asked to Bondowoso an
impossible task: build temple with 1,000 statues in one night. If he fulfilled the task, he could
marry her. The request was nearly fulfilled when Jonggrang asked the villagers to pound rice
and to set a fire in order to look like morning had broken. Feeling cheated, Bondowoso,
having only completed 999 statues, and cursed Jonggrang to be the thousandth statue.

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Through the intervention of Shiva, the petrified body became the idol or mascot that now
stands in the north of the “Shiva Temple” at Candi Prambanan.

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