World's largest Buddhist temple of superlatives - Borobudur Temple Compounds 592; Gamelan 01607
What and Why
Borobudur is simply a world wonder and no other words better suit this! To me one of those mouth-opening moments when one sees it with your own eyes!
Dating from the 7th century CE, this is one of world's truly great ancient monuments. Borobudur is the single largest Buddhist structure anywhere on Earth, and the temple shows some of the most remarkable and detailed religious reliefs, carvings and sculptures. In fact, Borobudur has one of the largest and most complete ensembles of Buddhist reliefs in the world. Simply another unbelievable landmark you could only believe when you see it yourself.
The temple itself forms a journey on its own: The monument is a shrine (Indonesian: candi) to the Buddha (Sanskrit: बुद्ध, né Siddhattha Gotama (Pali)) and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The 5-km pilgrim journey begins at the base of the monument and follows a circumambulatory path around the monument, ascending to the top through three levels symbolic of Buddhist cosmology: kāmadhātu (Sanskrit: कामधातु), meaning realm of desire, rūpadhātu (Sanskrit: रूपधातुः), meaning realm of forms and arūpadhātu (Sanskrit: आरूप्यधातु), meaning realm 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.
Toponymy
Magelang is derived from the Indonesian word 'lima gelang' meaning 'five bracelets' which refers to the five mountains hat circles the town like a bracelet. In Javanese it is customary to use shortforms in communications. 'Lima' is often abbreviated as 'ma' in Indonesian Malay.
Borobudur is suggested to derive from corrupted simplified local Javanese pronunciation of 'biara beduhur (Sanskrit: विहार बुद्ध उ, vihara-Buddha-uhr)'. The term 'Buddha-Uhr' could mean a high place for Buddha, and suggests that Borobudur may mean vihāra of Buddha located on a high place.
See
There is no proper record regarding the construction of Borobudur, but unlike other monuments in the region, it was at least not entirely covered under sand or volcanic ash. It was rediscovered in the early 19th century CE when Indonesia was under the British Empire short administration, and the then governor Stamford Raffles who took great interest in Southeast Asian history and culture ordered to explore its legendary site, and later on brought the monument to the world's attention. Even before that, locals were aware of a massive abandoned monument hidden behind a rainforest, only that rumours visitation would bring bad luck. A major restoration project then commenced to restore the entire temple which literally lasted 100 years and the temple was fully open only in 1991 CE!
We took the early trip to watch the sunrise from Borobudur, which one has to gather at the nearby Manohara Borobudur Hotel. The trip started at 4:30 am and we climbed the stupa with torchlights! One is then led to the top of the monument and wait for the early fog to settle. In spite of the extra cost, Borobodur was very crowded! To be frank, not totally impressed with the sunrise.
The massive construction is built as a single stupa (Sanskrit: स्तूप) and shaped like a stepped pyramid. Looking from above, the temple is squarish in shape, consistent with the use of maṇḍala (Sanskrit: मण्डल) form in various faiths like Hinduism and Buddhism.
As mentioned above, the temple itself is a journey of its own, when the reliefs are designed and sculptured in a way that shows the story of Buddhism, especially the path from kāmadhātu, rūpadhātu and arūpadhātu, following a clockwise circumambulatory path around the the stupa, slowly ascending to the summit, reaching enlightenment, one loop and one platform after another. The monument was designed such that the pilgrimage starts from the East and the reliefs are always on your right, known as parikramā (Sanskrit: परिक्रम). Each platform, altogether ten of them, represents one stage of enlightenment and nirvāṇa (Sanskrit: निर्वाण). The path that guides pilgrims was designed to symbolise Buddhist cosmology.
We faithless non-Buddhist tourists, started from the top with the opposite direction because we tried to see the sunrise. The top are dominated by the iconic square-holed and rhombus-holed stupas. The lowest stupas in the arūpadhātu platform has a Buddha statue hidden inside the small stupa.
Some of the these small stupas were either destroyed or uncovered to reveal the sitting Buddha inside. Not sure if this is done in purpose...
The staircase connecting the various platforms are very steep. Note the Kāla (Sanskrit: काल) on the staircase portal, the symbolism of time in Javanese culture.
The various reliefs of the temple, but it probably takes an expert, and lots of time to get the full story. These bas-reliefs are considered some of the most impressive and exquisite in the world in ancient Buddhist architectures.
This one shows the birth of Buddha.
Part of the reliefs, especially at the base, reveals scenes of daily Indonesian life in the street and market.
Archaeologists have discovered colour pigments of blue, red, green, black, as well as bits of gold foil, but even with the naked eye one could see that there were various colours on the facade. There are altogether 2,700 reliefs, remarkable of its quantity but also the very consistent high quality.
The construction of the temple is more sophisticated than it looks. Many of the stones are chiselled in such a way they interlock themselves rigidly, without the need for plastering. Moreover the entire shrine has a very complex and efficient water drainage system.
The guide also explained that the mystic ratio 4:6:9 is found in the entire temple, and archaeologists have conjectured that this ratio have astronomical and cosmological significance. One would have also easily notice that there is standard unit of measurement in the entire construction. This unit is referred to as the tala, defined as the length of a human face from the forehead's hairline to the tip of the chin. All these show the advanced technology of the area during the time of construction.
Smaller stupas near the bottom.
...and a group tourist photograph at the top stupa. For your information, the guide asked us to pose with the proper order of mudrā (Sanskrit: मुद्रा), starting from the left (cardinal East): bhūmisparśa (symbolising calling the Earth to witness), vara (benevolence), dhyāna (Pali: jhāna) (concentration and meditation), abhaya (courage), vitarka (Pali: vitakka) (reasoning and virtue) and dharmachakra (Pali: dhammacakka) (turning the wheel of dharma) respectively.
By the way, the summit stupa contains two empty chambers and it is explained that the uppermost level represents formlessness and nothingness, according to nirvāṇa. Although it could have easily been a relic stolen away.
After such a very early morning hike, we were taken back to the hotel after three hours and had a simple breakfast.
Buy and Do
Gamelan
When we descended from Borobudur back to the hotel, we were treated with a fantastic performance of gamelan. Gamelan is the traditional musical performance featuring mainly metallic percussion instruments. The most common instruments are the metallic gongs shown above called bonang, although other instruments are also featured, like Indonesian forms of drums, whistles, pipe-organs and xylophones, especially in an ensemble. In many occasions, gamelan is played to accompany the main performance, especially theatres. While it is mainly percussive, gamelan music is usually soft, slow and soothing, unlike the western counterpart.
Gamelan is an integral part of Indonesian culture and is ubiquitous: you will be treated with a gamelan performance right when you step into the airport, at the hotel, in the market, along the streets or in practically any cultural gathering. As a matter of fact it is the earliest documented form of music in the region and dates sometime back to the 2nd century CE. More so, gamelan are found in the various sculptures in Borobudur, especially in the lower reliefs, that denote daily Indonesian livelihoods.
By the way, the word gamelan comes from the Javanese word 'gamel (Javanese: ꦒꦩꦼꦭ꧀)', meaning ‘to strike with a hammer’, with '-an' as a suffix to denote a verb or a noun.
Eat and Drink
Kopi Luwak
Along the way from Borobudur back to the city, we were taken to a local shop Pawon Kopi Luwak to savour the legendary kopi luwak, the coffee that consists of partially digested and fermented coffee cherries, which have been eaten and defaecated by the Asian palm civet. ‘Kopi luwak’ means ‘civet coffee’ in Indonesian.
It is claimed that these civets know how to pick and eat the best coffee cherries and upon eating, ferment the beans through the digestion process and defaecate them. In modern industry, these civets are no longer wild and they are farmed and fed with coffee beans to produce the coffee. Due to the rareness how the coffee beans could be collected, the coffee is considered the most expensive, usually amounting to USD $200 per kg for farmed coffee, as a result of an annual production of perhaps 120 kg per year only. Technically speaking kopi luwak is a form of processing rather than a variety of coffee, with most of the beans being Coffea arabica beans.
After trying one cup, my troop and I had to confess it did not taste any special or different, except for perhaps a mild fruity aroma. Other than that, the price was more of a hype of the story than the quality itself.
Stay
We stayed in the very upscale Hotel Santika Premiere Jogja through a coupon. Impeccable and very close to Jalan Malioboro, as blogged in Yogyakarta.
Getting There and Around
Borobudur is around 45 minute drive away from the Yogyakarta. The entrance fee to the park is IDR 300,000 Rp with an addition of 200,000 Rp if one wants to join the sunrise hike. While the park is big, the entire tour takes around one morning, from 4:30 am till 10:30 am.
UNESCO Inscriptions
This famous Buddhist temple, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, is located in central Java. It was built in three tiers: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. The walls and balustrades are decorated with fine low reliefs, covering a total surface area of 2,500 m2. Around the circular platforms are 72 openwork stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha. The monument was restored with UNESCO's help in the 1970s.
Gamelan refers to the traditional Indonesian percussion orchestra and to the set of musical instruments used. Consisting primarily of ornate, percussive instruments made of hand-forged metal, the ensemble typically includes xylophones, gongs, gong-chimes, drums, cymbals, string instruments and bamboo flutes. Gamelan music follows precise rules and techniques regarding tuning, layout, rhythmic and metric patterns and performance. For instance, the melody is played simultaneously by a group of instruments and multiple instruments may play interlocking parts to form a single rhythm. The music is played by men, women and children of all ages, and is typically performed in religious rituals, ceremonies, traditional theatre, festivals and concerts. It is also used for music therapy and is viewed as a means of expression and as a way of establishing a connection between humans and the universe. Gamelan is an integral part of Indonesian identity dating back centuries; archaeological evidence of the practice has been found in the relief sculptures of the eighth-century Borobudur temple. Practitioners include vocalists and instrumentalists, as well as instrument-makers and tuners. An important source of national pride, Gamelan continues to be passed down from generation to generation through informal and formal education, including in school and after-school activities.
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