The monument is both a
shrine to the
Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist
pilgrimage. The journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the monument and follows a path
circumambulating the monument while ascending to the top through the three levels of
Buddhist cosmology, namely
Kāmadhātu (the world of desire),
Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and
Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). During the journey the monument guides the pilgrims through a system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the wall and the
balustrades.
Evidence suggests Borobudur was abandoned following the 14th-century decline of Buddhist and
Hindu kingdoms in Java, and the
Javanese conversion to Islam.
[2] Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparked in 1814 by
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British ruler of Java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the
Indonesian government and
UNESCO, following which the monument was listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
[3] Borobudur is still used for pilgrimage; once a year Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate
Vesak at the monument, and Borobudur is Indonesia's single most visited
tourist attraction.
Etymology
In
Indonesian, ancient temples are known as
candi; thus "Borobudur Temple" is locally known as
Candi Borobudur. The term
candi is also used more loosely to describe any ancient structure, for example gates and bathing structures. The origins of the name
Borobudur however are unclear,
[7] although the original names of most ancient Indonesian temples are no longer known.
[7] The name Borobudur was first written in
Sir Thomas Raffles' book on Javan history.
[8] Raffles wrote about a monument called
borobudur, but there are no older documents suggesting the same name.
[7] The only
old Javanese manuscript that hints at the monument as a holy Buddhist sanctuary is
Nagarakretagama, written by
Mpu Prapanca in 1365.
[9]The name
Bore-Budur, and thus
BoroBudur, is thought to have been written by Raffles in
English grammar to mean the nearby village of Bore; most
candi are named after a nearby village. If it followed
Javanese language, the monument should have been named 'BudurBoro'. Raffles also suggested that 'Budur' might correspond to the modern Javanese word
Buda ("ancient") – i.e., "ancient Boro".
[7] However, another archaeologist suggests the second component of the name (
Budur) comes from Javanese term
bhudhara (mountain).
[10]
Karangtengah inscription dated 824 mentioned about the
sima (tax-free) lands awarded by Çrī Kahulunan (Pramodhawardhani) to ensure the funding and maintenance of a
Kamūlān called
Bhūmisambhāra.
[11] Kamūlān itself from the word
mula which means 'the place of origin', a sacred building to honor the
ancestors, probably the ancestors of the
Sailendras. Casparis suggested that
Bhūmi Sambhāra Bhudhāra which in
Sanskrit means "The mountain of combined virtues of the ten stages of
Boddhisattvahood", was the original name of Borobudur.
There is no written record of who built Borobudur or of its intended purpose.
[18] The construction time has been estimated by comparison between
carved reliefs on the temple's hidden foot and the
inscriptions commonly used in royal charters during the 8th and 9th centuries. Borobudur was likely founded around 800 AD.
[18] This corresponds to the period between 760 and 830 AD, the peak of the
Sailendra dynasty in central Java,
[19] when it was under the influence of the
Srivijayan Empire. The construction has been estimated to have taken 75 years and been completed during the reign of
Samaratungga in 825.
[20][21]
There is confusion between Hindu and Buddhist rulers in
Java around that time. The Sailendras were known as ardent followers of Lord Buddha, though stone inscriptions found at Sojomerto suggest they may have been Hindus.
[20] It was during this time that many Hindu and Buddhist monuments were built on the plains and mountain around the Kedu Plain. The Buddhist monuments, including Borobudur, were erected around the same time as the Hindu
Shiva Prambanan temple compound. In 732 AD, the Shivaite King
Sanjaya commissioned a
Shivalinga sanctuary to be built on the Ukir hill, only 10 km (6.2 miles) east of Borobudur.
[22]
Construction of Buddhist temples, including Borobudur, at that time was possible because Sanjaya's immediate successor,
Rakai Panangkaran, granted his permission to the Buddhist followers to build such temples.
[23]
In fact, to show his respect, Panangkaran gave the village of
Kalasan to the Buddhist community, as is written in the Kalasan Charter dated 778 AD.
[23] This has led some archaeologists to believe that there was never serious conflict concerning religion in Java as it was possible for a Hindu king to patronize the establishment of a Buddhist monument; or for a Buddhist king to act likewise.
[24] However, it is likely that there were two rival royal dynasties in Java at the time—the Buddhist Sailendra and the
Saivite Sanjaya—in which the latter triumphed over their rival in the 856 battle on the
Ratubaka plateau.
[25] This confusion also exists regarding the Lara Jonggrang temple at the
Prambanan complex, which was believed that it was erected by the victor Rakai Pikatan as the Sanjaya dynasty's reply to Borobudur,
[25] but others suggest that there was a climate of peaceful coexistence where Sailendra involvement exists in Lara Jonggrang.
[26]
Rediscovery
Following the
Anglo-Dutch Java War, Java was under British administration from 1811 to 1816. The appointed governor was Lieutenant
Governor-General Thomas Stamford Raffles, who took great interest in the history of Java. He collected Javanese antiques and made notes through contacts with local inhabitants during his tour throughout the island. On an inspection tour to
Semarang in 1814, he was informed about a big monument deep in a jungle near the village of Bumisegoro.
[27] He was not able to make the discovery himself and sent H.C. Cornelius, a Dutch engineer, to investigate.
n two months, Cornelius and his 200 men cut down trees, burned down vegetation and dug away the earth to reveal the monument. Due to the danger of collapse, he could not unearth all galleries. He reported his findings to Raffles including various drawings. Although the discovery is only mentioned by a few sentences, Raffles has been credited with the monument's recovery, as one who had brought it to the world's attention.
[8] Hartmann, a Dutch administrator of the Kedu region, continued Cornelius' work and in 1835 the whole complex was finally unearthed. His interest in Borobudur was more personal than official. Hartmann did not write any reports of his activities; in particular, the alleged story that he discovered the large statue of Buddha in the main stupa.
[28] In 1842, Hartmann investigated the main dome although what he discovered remains unknown as the main stupa remains empty.
Wilsen, a Dutch engineering official, who studied the monument and drew hundreds of relief sketches. J.F.G. Brumund was also appointed to make a detailed study of the monument, which was completed in 1859. The government intended to publish an article based on Brumund study supplemented by Wilsen's drawings, but Brumund refused to cooperate. The government then commissioned another scholar, C. Leemans, who compiled a
monograph based on Brumund's and Wilsen's sources. In 1873, the first monograph of the detailed study of Borobudur was published, followed by its French translation a year later.
[28] The first photograph of the monument was taken in 1873 by a Dutch-
Flemish engraver,
Isidore van Kinsbergen.
[29] Appreciation of the site developed slowly, and it served for some time largely as a source of souvenirs and income for "souvenir hunters" and thieves.
In 1882, the chief inspector of cultural artifacts recommended that Borobudur be entirely disassembled with the relocation of reliefs into museums due to the unstable condition of the monument.
[29] As a result, the government appointed Groenveldt, an
archeologist, to undertake a thorough investigation of the site and to assess the actual condition of the complex; his report found that these fears were unjustified and recommended it be left intact.
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