Borobudur 婆羅浮屠 ( Part I)

Dr. Law Chi Lim

Borobudur(婆羅浮屠), situated in central Java 40 kilometres northwest of Yogyakarta( 日 惹 ),is said to be one of the most spectacular Buddhist monument seen anywhere. Surrounded by paddy fields and swaying palm trees, this enigmatic Buddhist monument has survived numerous earthquakes and volcanic eruptions throughout the centuries and a terrorist bombing in 1985. The last eruption (at the end of 2010) of the nearby Mount Merapi ended up with Borobudur covered in 2.5cm of volcanic ash, requiring a massive clean-up afterward. When I visited the place in August this year, the upper most sections were still closed to visitors.

History of Buddhism in Indonesian Java has been on the sea trade route between China/India/Europe since around 400 AD. Naturally the seafarers were instrumental in the spread of cultural and religious ideas among the three places. In 414 AD The Chinese monk, Faxian(法顯) who visited Java on his way back to China from India wrote afterwards that there was flourishing Brahmanism ( Hinduism) in Java at the time but no Buddhism.

By the 7th century, a powerful Malay Kingdom called Srivijava which was based in Southern Sumatra(蘇門答臘) had been established in Southeast Asia. More and more Buddhist pilgrims from China went to visit India and returned via the sea route and therefore had increased contact with the islands that made up modern Indonesia. Srivijava also began to attract many Buddhist teachers from various parts of India, Vietnam and China. In AD 671, a Chinese monk called Yi-Ching (義淨)arrived at Srivijava and spent 6 months studying Sanskrit before going to India for 15 years to study scripture. He then returned in AD 686 to live for 5 more years in Srivijava before returning to China. His writings suggested unusual practice of Buddhist monks like praying to Naga ( serpent deities).

During the Tang Dynasty in China, there was a very powerful and influential ( with the Emperor Tang Daizong)Buddhist monk called Amoghavajra ( 灌顶大师不空，梵 名阿目伽跋折罗) who had spent some time in Srivijava to further his study in Tantric Buddhism (密 宗). He was the teacher of Hui-kuo (惠果) who in turn was the teacher of the famous Japanese monk called KuKai ( 空 海 大 師 ). Kukai subsequently returned to Japan to set up the very important and influential Buddhist sect called Shingon Buddhism (真言宗) which has persisted in Japan to this date. Probably because they have both come from the same founding teachers, Javanese Buddhism and Shingon Buddhism share a close affinity. Interestingly, the development of Tibetan Buddhism (which is also a form of Tantric Buddhism) around the 11th century was very much influenced by a monk called Atisha ( 980-1054). Atisha was originally born in Bengal (modern day Bangladesh) who spent 20 years of his youth in Srivijava studying Tantric Buddhism. Thus, Javanese Buddhism, Shingon Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism all share a lot of common practices. One of them is the use of the “mandala”.

The word “mandala” literally means a “circle”. In Buddhism, it refers to a diagram with pictures/status of deities in special posture and locations which may or may not be circular. It can be in the form of fresco painted on a wall, or pictures or even temporarily painted on the ground or sand. It can also take various forms with different content. It can be used as an object of meditation, even of worship, or to delineate sacred spaces and to keep out evil. Many scholars think that Borobudur was built like a giant mandala.

The history of Borobudur There is no written record as to who built Borobudur. Scholars, however, now think that it was built between 750-850 by the Buddhist elite rulers in Java at the time called Sailendra------from the Sanskrit word which means “Lord of the Mountain” ( Note 1). For all practical purposes, it was an enormous undertaking. The builders must have had abundant resources at their disposal------efficient agriculture to provide spare manpower and skilled craftsmen, and there must have been an organized and stable political/social structure.

Borobudur was built by no less than 2 million block stones. The square base is 118 X 118 metres on top of which are 9 levels with 6 square and 3 circular terraces . Pilgrims can climb to the top via 4 staircases , one on each side of the square, but if one has to walk around all levels ( traditionally clockwise) , it would be about a 5 km walk.

However, almost as soon as Borobudur was finished, it went into decline probably due to earthquakes or volcanic eruptions initially, and by the 14th century , with the Javanese conversion to Islam, Borobudur was left to the jungle vegetation and largely forgotten except by the local people. There was hardly any mention of it in the official and unofficial chronicles. It was not until 1814, when the British governor Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles took an interest in this ancient ruin that it was brought to the world’s attention. The Dutch that followed the short period of British rule( 1811-1815) also did some restoration work, but it was not until 1975 that a colossal restoration project ( costing over U S $ 6 million) was undertaken by the Indonesian government with the help of the UNESCO. In 1991, the UNESCO listed Borobudur as a World Heritage Site.

The meaning of Borobudur There has been a lot of debate as to what Borubudur was built for. It has the look of a temple, but it is probably not one. It certainly looks like a giant mandala, but what is it for? What is the meaning of the 2672 carved reliefs on the wall of the corridors on the various levels? What about the Buddha statues inside the stupas on the top of the monument? More about these mysteries in next month’s article.

( Note 1. John See John Miksic ( ed), Indonesian Heritage: Ancient History , ( Archipelgo Press: Jakarta, 1996) , page 62.