Buddha’s Birthday: Once a year, Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate “Vesak” (the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Buddha) at Borobudur, where the holy place of world’s largest buddhist temple is located.
Picture by Vijaya Pratap
Gazing at the silhouetted statue of Buddha against a pale blue sky I am filled with immense peace and tranquillity.
As the morning sun gleams, the colossal Buddha statue basks in the restored glory and a multitude of his replicas reflect the brilliance. Standing on top of the Borobudur temple (near Yogyakarta in Indonesia), I am overwhelmed by its splendour and magnitude. My mind senses an immediate “connect” between India and Indonesia: a link between our cultures, similarities, values and philosophies. Resurrected from a lost legacy, today it is hailed as the world’s largest Buddhist temple and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Borobudur is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist Temple, conceived 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.
Once a year, Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate “Vesak” (the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Buddha) at Borobudur. 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 that represent three layers of Buddhist theory: Kamadhatu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness which denotes Nirvana or Sunyata).
From a bird’s eye view, the temple is in the shape of a traditional Buddhist Mandala, a square with four entry points and a circular centre point. Visitors pass through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades. The monument consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circulars, topped by a central dome. The temple is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. 72 elegantly carved Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated Stupa surround the central dome.
Visitors pass through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades.
Borobudur is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist Temple near Yogyakarta in Central Java, Indonesia. It was built in the 9th century during the reign of Sailendra of Sumatra (Sailendra Dynasty) From a bird’s eye view, the temple is in the shape of a traditional Buddhist Mandala. Central to a great deal of Buddhist and Hindu art, the basic form of Mandala is a square with four entry points and a circular centre point.
Restoration
Evidence suggests Borobudur was constructed in the 9th century and abandoned following the 14th-century due to the decline of Hindu kingdoms in Java and the Javanese conversion to Islam. There is another theory stating that Borobudur was left to the ravages of nature in between the 12th to 14th centuries when the power of Java shifted to the east of the island. The reason for this shift is unknown but it is often speculated that there was a volcanic eruption and the people moved away. There are manuscripts that relate stories of Javanese revisiting the site in the 18th century. But it was the rediscovery by the British Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles (the then British ruler of Java who was advised of its location by native Indonesians) in 1814 that led to greater recognition and also preservation efforts. In 1815 Raffles commissioned an initial clean up where 200 labourers spent 45 days felling trees and moving earth from the remains. Documentation and interpretation of the reliefs revealed some Sanskrit instructions left for the carvers. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. The Indonesian Government and UNESCO undertook this largest restoration project between 1975 and 1982. Following which, the monument was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 1982 a 21-year-old Englishman named Phillip Beale (former British Royal Navy) was in Indonesia to study traditional ships and marine traditions. When he climbed the Borobudur Temple he found ten panels depicting sea vessels, indicating that the ships of the Borobudur may have been a part of a famous shipping route that linked Indonesia to Africa many centuries ago. The Cinnamon-shipping route took vessels carrying spices from Indonesian waters across the Indian Ocean, past the Seychelles, Madagascar and South Africa to Ghana.
Vijaya Pratap is a travel writer and documentary film maker from Hyderabad. Art & culture, history & heritage are her subjects, but her passion lies in travel
As the morning sun gleams, the colossal Buddha statue basks in the restored glory and a multitude of his replicas reflect the brilliance. Standing on top of the Borobudur temple (near Yogyakarta in Indonesia), I am overwhelmed by its splendour and magnitude. My mind senses an immediate “connect” between India and Indonesia: a link between our cultures, similarities, values and philosophies. Resurrected from a lost legacy, today it is hailed as the world’s largest Buddhist temple and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
