Borobudur
Borobudur
Borobudur
BOROBUDUR
authored by World No. #1 in maximum
writings on Borobudur
Dr Uday Dokras
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Borobudur as Mount Meru ?
Uday Dokras
At the end of his life, the Buddha's disciples asked him what kind of monument he'd
like built in his memory. The Buddha replied, "A stupa." The disciples were
mystified. "What is a stupa?" one asked. In answer, the Buddha overturned his alms
bowl and stood his walking stick on top of it. (a story told in the panels of Borobudur)
https://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/borobudur/blevel_2/blevel2_terraces.html
AMITABHA BUDDHA AT BOROBUDUR
DR UDAY DOKRAS
“Greater in battle than the man who would conquer a thousand-
thousand men, is he who would conquer just one – himself” – Gautama
Buddha
Historical monuments in the East preserve the past and are a source of
inspiration. The same is true in the west, except some monuments are also believed
to hold the ashes and powers of the dead. Monuments for a man once named
Siddhartha are one example.
Siddhartha Gautama was born to a wealthy ruler, yet he relinquished his fortune to
lead a simple life of meditation in pursuit of enlightenment. He became Buddha, and
his teachings on the pursuit and achievement of enlightenment are the basis for
Buddhism. His words live on past his death, and Buddhists believe his physical
remains still hold protective powers for mankind, imbue his living presence, and
contain his energy. Though thousands of years separate Buddha’s life on earth from
the present, Buddhists today travel to special monuments called stupas to experience
and be affected by his lasting energy.
Stupas (stoop-ahs) were originally traditional burial mounds for everyday people in
ancient India. They had no religious significance; they were simply memorials that
were less elaborate and conspicuous than they are today. Buddha’s death changed all
that.
The Mahaparinirvana Sutra, an ancient Buddhist text, details Buddha’s last days on
earth. It claims that Buddha’s followers divided his remains into eight parts and
distributed them among the eight kingdoms Buddha lived in during his lifetime. In
keeping with traditional burial practices in India, his devotees built burial mounds,
which developed architecturally into stupas, to house his remains.
Stupas today are semispherical monuments that house cremated remains or belongings
of Buddha or Buddhist monks or nuns. There are generally five types of stupas, each
with a purpose to house relics or remains, or to commemorate Buddha’s life and
teachings.
It’s thought that the original eight stupas were built in northern India after Buddha’s
death in 483 or 400 BC. Some sources claim that Emperor Ashoka of India’s Mauryan
Empire later opened the sealed stupas and further divided Buddha’s remains into
eighty-four thousand portions so more stupas could be built around the world.
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Original 8 Stupas: The original eight stupas housing Buddha’s remains are in India.
The Sanchi stupa, located in central India, is referred to as “ Stupa 1” because it may
have been the first commissioned by Emperor Ashoka. Tourists from as far west as
America and Buddhists from East Asia visit Sanchi to pay respects to Buddha and
admire the stupa as one of the oldest stone buildings in India.Monks carrying out
Ashoka’s orders to spread the message of Buddha set out from his kingdom, splitting
company from one another and traveling far and wide to Asian nations.
Borobudur Temple of Indonesia
As a bestower of longevity, Amitabha is called Amitayus, or “Infinite Life.” In China and
Japan the two names are often used interchangeably, but in Tibet the two forms are
never confounded, and Amitayus is worshiped in a special ceremony for obtaining long life.
He is depicted wearing ornaments and a crown and holding the ambrosia vase from which
spill the jewels of eternal life.
Historical monuments in the East preserve the past and are a source of inspiration.
The same is true in the west, except some monuments are also believed to hold the ashes
and powers of the dead. Monuments for a man once named Siddhartha are one example.
Siddhartha Gautama was born to a wealthy ruler, yet he relinquished his fortune to lead a
simple life of meditation in pursuit of enlightenment. He became Buddha, and his
teachings on the pursuit and achievement of enlightenment are the basis for Buddhism.
His words live on past his death, and Buddhists believe his physical remains still hold
protective powers for mankind, imbue his living presence, and contain his energy.
Though thousands
BOROBUDUR’s Educational Reliefs
DR UDAY DOKRAS
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.
Dr Uday Dokras
Bas-relief panels
Viewed from the top, the complex looks like one single stupa. The geometric design can be
interpreted as resembling a Buddhist mandala or Hindu Shri Yantra. It can also be looked like
a stepped pyramid. Incidentally, the structure follows a uniform ratio of 4:6:9 throughout the
rising pyramid. It was also found that the basic unit of measurement is Tala – that is roughly
the length of the human face or the length of the extent of an extended hand. In Hindi /
Punjabi, this is called Gith. Even though it varies for every person, it can be quite a uniform
measure.
Buddhist transition in Borobudur-Dr Uday Dokras
Transformations to Buddhists, their beliefs, and practices throughout the nineteenth, twentieth, and
twenty-first centuries was a journey of over the centuries, whereby Buddhism changed with
modernity. These changes accelerated in diverse manners during the colonial and postcolonial
periods. As each tradition offers its own distinctive historical and cultural context, Part I in the
Handbook reviews the development of specific traditions. There are seven subsections that demarcate
the regions from which various traditions emerged: South Asia, East Asia, Central Asia, Southeast
Asia, Europe/Americas, Southern, and Global. Part II tracks patterns and themes that relate to the
diverse Buddhist traditions. In this section, chapters address the modes or manners in which Buddhist
traditions manifest in the contemporary age. Jerryson, Michael, 'Introduction: The Buddhist System in
Transition', in Michael Jerryson (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism, Oxford
Handbooks , https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199362387.013.22, For the most part, we are
creatures of habit. Our lives often follow some type of routine with expected everyday norms.
Sometimes it’s the people we see, the type of work we do, or the kinds of interactions we have that we
become accustomed to over time. Even though we all know the common phrase, “The only
constant is change,” most of us assume, usually without consciously thinking about it, that
our lives will always look a certain way. This way of thinking may lead to suffering.
When our lives change in a way that seems positive, like getting a great new job, it’s natural
to conjure up gratitude. Inevitably, life throws a curveball, and without warning, the entire
landscape of our lives can change. An unexpected and unwanted change may be especially
unsettling, as the unpredictability removes illusions of control. It’s far more difficult to feel
blessed and grateful during an unwanted relationship, career change, or even some larger
upending of the life we thought we had. Chinese Buddhism retains several holidays that
demonstrate the connection of Buddhist tradition to its ancient Indian origins, including
celebrations for the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha and the end of the summer retreat. These
liturgies, which differ from most Chinese Buddhist rituals, were directly taught by the
Buddha and revealed in the sutras. Notably, the rite for bathing the statue of the Buddha is
used for celebrating the Buddha’s birthday, while the rite of Ullambana (or avalambana) is
held on the last day of the summer retreat. Recently in Taiwan, while almost all Buddhist
rituals remain liturgically consistent, the celebrations for these two core holidays generate
diverse forms of worship representing a variety of religious and moral themes. These
liturgical variations transform not only the long-term established practice and meaning of
such festivals but also the understanding and roles of these specific religious settings for
the savgha and lay Buddhists. Chen, Pi-yen, 'Variations for New Themes: Liturgical
Transitions in the Major Buddhist Festivals in Taiwan', in Jeffers Engelhardt, and Philip
Bohlman (eds), Resounding Transcendence: Transitions in Music, Religion, and Ritual (New
York, 2016; online edn, Oxford Academic, 21 Apr.
2016), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199737642.003.0004
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. A yantra or Mechanism in 3D.
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
DR UDAY DOKRAS
The construction of stupas were considered acts of great merit. The purpose of stupas were
mainly to enshrine relics of Buddha. The design specifications are consistent within most of
the stupas, entrances to stupas are laid out so that their centre lines point to the relic
chambers. It is therefore no surprise that the Shailendra Dynesty not only gave asent to
Temple but also Stupa construction.
The stupas were covered with a coating of lime plaster, plaster combinations changed with
the requirements of the design, items used included lime, clay, sand, pebbles, crushed
seashells, sugar syrup, white of egg, coconut water, plant resin, drying oil, glues and saliva of
white ants. The fine plaster at Kiri Vehera used small pebbles, crushed seashells mixed with
lime and sand were used in the stupas from the fifth to twelfth centuries.
Borobudur is one of the most impressive monuments ever created by humans. 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 (see above Cambodia and Vietnam), 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. 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 striking similarity of the Bakong and Borobudur in Java, going into
architectural details such as the gateways and stairs to the upper terraces, strongly
suggests that Borobudur might have served as the prototype of Bakong. The
enclosures represented the mountain chains surrounding Mount Meru, while a
moat represented the ocean. The temple itself took shape as a pyramid of several
levels, and the home of the gods was represented by the elevated sanctuary at the
center of the temple.
Etymologically, the proper name of the mountain is Meru, to which is added the
approbatory prefix su-, resulting in the meaning "excellent Meru" or "wonderful
Meru".Meru is also the name of the central bead in a mālā.
The dimensions attributed to Mount Meru — which all refer to it as a part of the
Cosmic Ocean, along with several other statements that describe it in geographically
vague terms (e.g., "the Sun along with all the planets circle the mountain") — make
the determination of its location most difficult, according to most scholars.
Some researchers identify Mount Meru or Sumeru with the Pamirs, northwest
of Kashmir.
The Suryasiddhanta mentions that Mt. Meru lies in the middle of the
Earth ("bhuva-madhya") in the land of the Jambunad
(Jampudvīpa). Narapatijayacharyasvarodaya, a ninth-century text, based on
mostly unpublished texts of Yāmal Tantra, mentions:
Ever since its discovery by Raffles in 1814, Borobudur has been an object of mystery. Its
imposing size and the magnificence of its conception and carving aside, the uniqueness both
of its structural design and its iconography among religious monuments, not only in its
temporal and spatial proximity, but anywhere in the Indic world, has heightened its aspect of
enigma, inviting conjecture on its intention.
MANDALA
Site and plan- of Borobudur – Dr Uday Dokras
The mandala is likened by some to a "floor plan of the universe." The type most familiar in
the West is an intricately patterned painting on cloth or paper that often takes the general
form of a circle within a square.
The word "mandala" comes from the Sanskrit verbal root "mand" (meaning to mark off,
decorate, set off) and the Sanskrit suffix "la" (meaning circle, essence, sacred center).
The mandala's symbolic power can be traced back to millennia-old roots in Indian temple
architecture, which created sacred spaces linking the worshiper to the larger cosmos. In these temples,
time and space were represented in a vocabulary of circles and squares. Similarly, a mandala helps
believers visualize the universe and their place in it, often in relation to a specific deity found in the
center of the image.
Buddhist\
Western Major Events World Figures and Events
Calender
• Persian Empire founded by
• Life of Siddhartha Guatama, the historical
Cyrus the Great (550 B.C.E.)
6th Century Buddha: conventional dates: 566-486 B.C.E.
- 120* • Confucius (551-479)
B.C.E. * (According to more recent research, revised • Zarathustra (630-553)
dates are: 490-410 BCE). • Birth of Mahavira (550)
• First Buddhist Council at Rajagaha (486) after
• Socrates (469-399)
the Parinirvana*, under the patronage of King
• Plato (427-347)
Ajatasattu.
- 20 5th Century • Battle of Marathon (490)
• The Buddhist Canon as it exist today was • Greek-Persian Wars (490-479)
settled at this Council and preserved as an oral • Partheon Built (438)
tradition.
• Second Buddhist Council at Vesali (386) about
100 year after the Parinirvana. • Aristotle (384-322)
• First schism of the Sangha occurs in which the
144 4th Century Mahasanghika school parts ways with the
Sthaviravadins and the Theravadins. • Alexander the Great (356-323)
• Non-canonical Buddhist Council at Pataliputra invaded India (327)
(367)
244 3rd Century • Reign of Indian Emperor Asoka (272-231) who • Great Wall of China (250)
converts and establishes the Buddha's Dharma
on a national level for the first time. • Hadrian's Wall circa 3rd
• Third Buddhist Council at Pataliputra Century AD
(250) under the patronage of Emperor Asoka
about 200 years after the Parinirvana. • The
modern Pali Tipitaka now essentially complete.
• Asoka's son and
missionary Mahinda established Buddhism in Sri • Hannibal Barca (247?-183?)
Lanka (247)
• Beginnings of Mahayana Buddhism (20O).
• Composition of Prajnaparamita literature. • Buddhist monuments: Sanchi,
• Historical record has it that two Buddhist Amaravati, Bodhi Gaya, India.
missionaries from India in 68 AD, arrived at the (185-175)
344 2nd Century court of Emperor Ming (58-75) of Han Dynasty.
They enjoyed imperial favour and stayed on to
• Han Dynasty in China
translate various Buddhist Texts, one of which,
(206-220)
The 'Sutra of Forty-two Sections' continues to be
popular even today.
Why Borobudur?
Dr Uday Dokras
We as human have struggled to find ways to conceptualize the relation between historicism
and forms of the built environment. Ever since its discovery, Borobudur has been an object of
mystery. Its imposing size and the magnificence; the uniqueness of its structural design and
iconography; its conception and carving and its temporal and spatial proximity to the Indic
world, has added to its enigmatic existence inviting conjecture on its intention.
Whatever it was the construction must have been a complex and intricate process
involving many participations ans contributions:
Architectural
Procedural
Royal consent
Royal scrutiny and approval
Discussions on the Project
Constructional
Raw material procurement
Human resources
Stores
Engineering
Quarrying & Mining
Procurement of skilled manpower
One can only speculate on how things were carried out.
Here is that story-
Borobudur is said to have been built by King Samaratungga, one of the kings of the old
Mataram Kingdom, the descendants of the Sailendra dynasty. Based on Kayumwungan
inscription, an Indonesian named Hudaya Kandahjaya had a revelation in which he was told
that Borobudur had once been a place for prayer that was supposed to be completed on 26
May 824, almost one hundred years after the construction had started. The name of
Borobudur, as some people say, means a mountain having terraces (budhara), while other
says that Borobudur means monastery on a high place.
Borubudur is a movie in stone. Gunadharma its architect is the director, Sudana is the main
character and Buddha is the real hero. As one walks through each narrow passage in
Borobudur with a competent guide one canl come to know much of the philosophy of
Buddhism. Atisha, a Buddhist monk from India in the tenth century once visited this temple
that was built 3 centuries before Angkor Wat in Cambodia and 4 centuries before the Grand
Cathedrals in Europe. After gathering a lot of information from these reliefs he returned to
India and started another sect known as Vikramashila Buddhism. Later he became the leader
of the Vikramashila monastery and became a teacher in Tibet. Six scripts from Serlingpa
were then summarized as the core of the teaching called "The Lamp for the Path to
Enlightenment" known as Bodhipathapradipa. The function of arts to their culture of
Borobudur Temple is that it blends 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.
3 MANDALAs
The 3 circular platforms & the big stupa of
Borobudur
Dr Uday Dokras Phd Stockholm
Sanchi
The first photograph by Isidore van Kinsbergen (1873) after the monument had been cleared up.
With over 17,000 islands, Indonesia is the world's largest island country and boasts of
mesmerising history and culture but did You Know Indonesia Houses The World's Largest
Buddha Temple, With 504 Buddha Statues and Covering a Vast Area of 56,600 Cubic
Metres?
Borobudur is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage.
The ten levels of the temple symbolize the three divisions of the religion's cosmic system. As
visitors begin their journey at the base of the temple, they make their way to the top of the
monument through the three levels of Budhist cosmology, Kamadhatu (the world of desire),
Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). As visitors walk
to the top the monument guides the pilgrims past 1,460 narrative relief panels on the wall and
the balustrades.
This design is a mix of Javanese style and Gupta dynasty architecture, reflecting the blend of
indigenous and Indian aesthetics in ancient Java. Over 500 statues of Buddha are positioned
around Borobudur, and Borobudur contains roughly 3,000 bas-relief sculptures.The design of
Borobudur, a temple-mountain symbolizing the structure of universe, influenced temple built
as Angkor, Cambodia.
Created as a structure used by tantric Buddhists to aid in meditation, the goal; to join one’s
mind with the universe-the word for a Hindu or Buddhist temple in Indonesian is "candi,"
hence the common name is "Candi Sewu."; Borobudur is the largest. Sewu predates nearby
"Loro Jonggrang" temple at Prambanan. Although the complex consists of 249 temples,
this Javanese name translates to 'a thousand temples,' which originated from popular
local folklore (The Legend of Loro Jonggrang). Archaeologists believe the original name for
the temple compound to be Manjusrigrha.
According to Prof Agus, one of the greatest mysteries of Borobudur is the hidden base, also
known as the Mahakarmavibhanga. Hundreds of beautifully carved relief panels are
completely covered a couple of metres underground, except for a section in the southeast,
which the Japanese detonated in the 1940s out of curiosity. Previously, Dutch archaeologists
had unearthed it for research and re-covered it.
There are two theories for why the Mahakarmavibhanga is buried. “The first theory reckons
that when the construction of Borobudur was completed, the foundation turned out unstable.
So to prevent collapse, the builders had to fasten the foundation from all directions,” said
Prof Agus, adding that this is the theory he supports.
The second theory speculates religious reasons. The Mahakarmavibhanga portrays despicable
human acts such as torture, decapitation, robbery, and begging – thus deemed inappropriate
for laymen’s eyes. “But violence only makes up a small percentage of these reliefs, so I don’t
think it makes sense to cover them for that reason,” said Prof Agus.
Borobudur can be divided into three levels from the bottom to the top: Kamadhatu (realm of
desire-filled common people), Rupadhatu (life on earth in which the soul has been purged of
all desires), and Arupadhatu (the soul’s departure from the body and uniting with the gods in
Nirvana). Which leads to another marvel: the holey stupas on the Arupadhatu level and the
superstition that touching the Buddha through the holes would make wishes come true.
“Buddhist scholars philosophise the shadows of the form. Only Buddha’s shadows are
visible, because Buddha exists in another realm, like a relic housed in a stupa,” said Prof
Agus.
1. https://www.academia.edu/96314496/Ancient_Indonesia_and_Indian_Tantra
I have pointed out how Tantric science came over to Indonesia by boats of traders.
2. In https://www.academia.edu/96334414/The_5_of_Borobudur_LONG_VERSION I
have underlined the B|Uddhist need for education leading to enlightenment and how
Borobudur fulfilled that function.
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
Since the time of Sailendra and Mataram Kingdom, Indonesian Buddhists have the same
belief in the existence of the Adi-Buddha as the Buddhists in Tibet, Nepal, and the northern
schools. Nepalese uses the term Adinata, which means "main protector"
and Swayambhulokanatta, which means "the unborn protector of the universe". The Tibetan
familiar with terms such as Vajradhara (Tibet= Dorjechang; lit. "ruler of all the mysteries").
Namasangiti Text of Candrakīrti (a monk who was staying in Indonesia), and the symbolism
of Borobudur's mandala stupa, provided evidence that the Buddhism embraced by Indonesian
people since the days of Srivijaya, Ancient Mataram, Sailendra, and Majapahit is
the Buddhism which honors the Primordial Buddha.
Some Indonesian sacred texts which contains the name of Sanghyang Adi Buddha are: