The Ancient Puzzles of Borobudur
The Borobudur Temple will be considered by many to be a wonder of the ancient world. We all probably have heard raves of its majestic landscapes at the break of dawn, the timeless beauty of its reliefs, or the “spiritually enlightening” physical challenge of reaching its top.
Standing 13 centuries old, the largest Buddhist monument from the earth will be bound to have mysteries. of which will be hard enough to fathom its 100-year construction from the 8th in addition to 9th centuries, in addition to such perfect structures produced with such simple technology. Nobody knows who ordered the construction of Borobudur, though tradition credits of which to the Syailendra Dynasty, which probably meant two to three kings including Samaratungga. in addition to apart coming from the temple’s obvious religious functions, researchers have long hypothesised surprising alternative functions.
Professor Agus Aris Munandar, a University of Indonesia archaeologist who has been studying Javanese temples for 30 years, confirms of which there are many unsolved mysteries of Borobudur. Some of them indicate how mindbogglingly intelligent ancient Indonesians were.
“There will be so much finesse in Borobudur of which early Dutch archeologists refused to believe of which Javanese people made of which. of which must have been the Indians who came to Java to spread Hinduism in addition to Buddhism,” said Prof Agus. “however Indian [polymath] Rabindranath Thakur visited Java from the early 20th century in addition to said, “I see India everywhere in Java, however I do not know where,” meaning of which as much as there are strong Indian influences in Javanese temples, they are also very different coming from Indian ones.
According to Prof Agus, one of the greatest mysteries of Borobudur will be 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 from the southeast, which the Japanese detonated from the 1940s out of curiosity. Previously, Dutch archaeologists had unearthed of which for research in addition to re-covered of which.
There are two theories for why the Mahakarmavibhanga will be buried. “The first theory reckons of which when the construction of Borobudur was completed, the foundation turned out unstable. So to prevent collapse, the builders had to fasten the foundation coming from all directions,” said Prof Agus, adding of which This kind of will be the theory he supports.
The second theory speculates religious reasons. The Mahakarmavibhanga portrays despicable human acts such as torture, decapitation, robbery, in addition to begging – thus deemed inappropriate for laymen’s eyes. “however violence only makes up a modest percentage of these reliefs, so I don’t think of which makes sense to cover them for of which reason,” said Prof Agus.
Borobudur can be divided into three levels coming 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), in addition to Arupadhatu (the soul’s departure coming from the body in addition to uniting with the gods in Nirvana). Which leads to another marvel: the holey stupas on the Arupadhatu level in addition to the superstition of which touching the Buddha through the holes would likely 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. “Likewise, nobody sees the sheltered Buddha relics on Borobudur, except its curious shadows under the sunlight or a full moon.”
Prof Agus will be perhaps best known for researching the proxemics of Borobudur’s relief panels. In communication science, proxemics will be the personal space between individuals, which indicate the level of intimacy. In Borobudur, proxemics refers to the most comfortable distance in addition to angles to perceive each panel in its entirety in addition to fully understand their message. The closer the distance required to achieve This kind of, the higher the spiritual level (i.e. “closer ” to Buddha) of the audience for whom the panel will be intended.
“of which took us 10 expeditions to fully decode Borobudur,” said Prof Agus. “Buddhist scriptures happen to refer to the 10 stages of Bodhisattva. I don’t think of which’s a coincidence of which Borobudur will be designed as such of which of which would likely take 10 times to find its ‘path of Enlightenment.'”
While we’re on proxemics, note of which the inter-stupa distances are unequal. However, on a top-view blueprint of Borobudur, the stupas look orderly positioned. Prof Agus said of which Borobudur will be meant to resemble a mandala – an elaborate meditation circle within a square, with symbols of the gods strategically coordinated to create harmonious patterns.
This kind of phenomenon has been researched by Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB)’s archaeoastronomy team. According to ITB astrophysicist Evan Irawan Akbar, the stupas’ unequal spaces were supposed to mark the lengths of a gnomon’s shadows during different times of the year. In some other words, Borobudur was a giant sundial. Except of which if This kind of hypothesis were true, the gnomon of which casts the sundial’s shadow will be missing, in addition to its dimensions remain unknown.
Prof Agus said of which ancient Indian stupas often had chatras (umbrella-like structures) in addition to yasthis (pillars on which the chatras are erected). A today missing yasthi could have functioned as a gnomon with This kind of hypothetical Borobudur sundial, he said. from the 19th century, the Dutch set a gnomon on top of Borobudur, however removed of which after being struck by lightning. The locals never liked of which anyway, in addition to its basis on an unproven hypothesis gave the Dutch no strong reason to keep of which there.
Nevertheless, Borobudur may have served as an ancient astronomical observatory. A 1930s study by Dutch ethnoarchaeologist J.L.A. Brandes found of which the 8th century Javanese mastered astronomy, which dictated agricultural in addition to maritime practices. ITB archaeoastronomers also found the importance of celestial orientation from the construction of Borobudur.
Due to the earth’s rotation in addition to the bobbing on its axis, the stars visible coming from the skies of the North Pole modifications every couple centuries. “When Borobudur was constructed, Polaris was visible coming from Java. Gunadharma (the architect traditionally credited for building Borobudur) would likely ascend on Mount Menoreh in addition to instruct his builders to align the construction to the ‘true north’ star of which shifts neither east nor west,” said Evan. Nevertheless, today’s north on the magnetic compass would likely not match Borobudur’s north back then because of which was affected by the earth’s rotation.
Another astronomical curiosity of Borobudur will be the ship reliefs on the East. They depict a sailed double outrigger canoe underneath celestial objects, presumably commemmorating a voyage to Africa. Back then, ancient Indonesians crossed an unmapped ocean without a compass, depending solely on the stars for navigation. In 2003-2004, a wooden replica of the Borobudur ship sailed the Cinnamon Route coming from Jakarta to Accra (Ghana) to demonstrate the trans-Indian Ocean trading links ancient Indonesians fostered with ancient Africans. today housed from the Samudra Raksa Museum from the north side of the Borobudur Archaeological Park, the ship will be a testament of millennia-old Indonesian maritime in addition to astronomical genius.
The puzzles of Borobudur are many still. Some are scientifically plausible, such as the temple’s resemblance to a lotus floating in a today dried ancient lake basin. Others are mythical, such as the urban legend of which Gunadharma slept on Mount Menoreh in addition to became the sleeping giant-shaped mountain today visible coming from Borobudur. Scholars don’t hold the answers. however perhaps of which will be those riddles of which keep drawing people back to Borobudur with awe. They’re called mysteries for a reason.
Candi Borobudur
Taman Arkeologi Borobudur
Desa Borobudur, Kecamatan Borobudur
Magelang, Jawa Tengah
Tel +62 293 788 266
Fax +62 293 788 132
Tickets @ Rp30.000 for Indonesian citizens, US$20 for foreigners
Comments
The Ancient Puzzles of Borobudur
The Ancient Puzzles of Borobudur