Borobudur: place of pilgrimage

Manote Tripathi

A new book examines the reliefs of the ninthcentury Buddhist monument, as well as its architectural and structural features

Borobudur: Majestic Mysterious Magnificent

By John Miksic, Noerhadi Magetsari, et al

Published by PT (persero) Taman Wisata

Available at Asia Books, Bt1,516

Buddhists from Thailand, Tibet, China and other Asian countries make a point of including Borobudur in Java on any pilgrimage. The monument, which some call a temple, others a mandala or cosmic mountain, with its drunken gods, seductive celestial nymphs and bodhisattvas, is the world's largest stupa and these days attracts not just Buddhists but Muslims too.

A coffeetable tome with lavish illustrations, "Borobudur: Majestic Mysterious Magnificent" follows the standard history of the Buddhist complex, written by noted scholars and experts on the subjects who have devoted years studying Buddhism and its monuments in Indonesia. Now based in Singapore, John Miksic, an American archaeologist, has written extensively about Indonesian sites and artefacts. Jan Fonstein is a Dutch scholar who has done famous research into the Gandavyuha reliefs on Borobudur. Timbul Haryono, a Javanese, is an expert in classical Javanese music. Idham Bachtiar Setiadi, a Germanborn Indonesian, is writing a treatise on the relationship between Borobudur and the modern Muslim community around the site. Noerhardi Magetsari is Indonesia's leading archaeologist.

Thanks to the expertise of these scholars, "Borobudur" offers a wealth of knowledge that attempts to shed light on various facets of the millenniumold Buddhist monument. It's also an ambitious project that offers a different approach from other guidebooks: it tries to detail most of the 1,460 reliefs, explains the architectural and sculptural elements and their hidden meanings and is illustrated with impressive photographs of those reliefs that allow for a thorough inspection of just about every corner of the religious complex. The photos alone ensure that you won't miss any major relief you're supposed to see during your visit to Borobudur.

The standard history of Borobudur, provided by Miksic, reads as follows:

"The construction of the monument began around 800 on a hill where terraces may already have been laid out for another project, which could be either Hindu or megalithic. Scholars in general believe that Borobudur was built on top of a Hindu temple at a time Buddhism spread throughout the island.

"Then Buddhism was about a thousand years old, saw its decline in India, but in Southeast Asia, the Kingdom of Srivijaya, in southern Sumatra, became the religion's new home and the centre of its scholarship. The kingdom had the technology to build large ships that plied along trade routes to India and China. These ships carried not just goods but Buddhist monks and scriptures from India to its shores.

"Over time Buddhism became the favourite religion of the Sailendra family which ruled central Java between 780 and 832 and was credited for building the monument. Indonesian Buddhism then was all about a quest for enlightenment, an endeavour which could be assisted by beings called bodhisattva."

What's true is that the Sailendras were serious enlightenment seekers, a fact that resulted from their close ties with the Buddhist folk in north India who were patrons of Mahayana and Tantrayana forms of Buddhism. That's where Tibet comes into the story of Borobudur. Tibetans consider Borobudur to be highly sacred because they believe one of the Buddhist teachers who spread Buddhism in Tibet came to Borobudur (the abode of pure Buddhism) to study Buddhist scriptures.

As you can imagine, Borobudur is huge, and its story is highly complex. What's even more overwhelming is the meaning of its reliefs, floor plan and overall symbolism that this complex has come to embody. Contributors try to make sense of different interpretations of the site's symbolism, and you're faced with more hypotheses.

Borobudur could be a mandala, a cosmic mountain along the lines of the Hindu notion of Mount Meru, a status symbol that reflects the royal power of the Sailendras.

Yet to modern visitors, Borobudur is the heavenly abode of the gods, where the palace of Indra, the king of gods, is located. But the book is not restricted to the story of Buddhism alone. Scholars point out reliefs that offer a glimpse of ninthcentury Javanese life. Tired of the Jataka tales? Then you might want to know that Java boasted amazing dancers and beautiful riceplanting ladies on reliefs, which can put the apsaras of Angkor Wat to shame.