Borobudur:The Lost Temple of Java and a Tale of Sir Thomas Raffles.

Blog number 20. 31.01.2021   nguptatravelscrapbook.blogspot.com

Borobudur: The lost temple of Java and a tale of Sir Thomas Raffles

Current UK  covid19 status: National Lockdown rule continues. More than 100,000 Covid linked deaths in the UK. Vaccination rollout was gaining speed with nearly 9 million people received the first Covid 19 vaccine dose.

In John Miksic's ( an anthropologist) opinion: Raffles was an extraordinary person for his time. His relationship with Borobudur exemplifies that he was the first person who was really willing to acknowledge that Javanese might have had a civilisation in the pre-European phase. He was able to see that Borobudur was, in fact, the best firm evidence of such. For the first time, Borobudur showed that not just Java but in Southeast Asia, there had been a civilisation capable of such large-scale unified creative work.

One of the top terraces of Borobudur

Borobudur: The Golden tales of Buddha by John Miksic 

I bought this book a few years after my visit to Borobudur and years later I still enjoy the pictures and texts of this book. It is almost like the pages are describing the temple in the form of an auto-speech.

Located in Indonesia, on Central Java's archipelago, Borobudur temple is the world's most famous Buddhist masterpiece; an ancient site broadly rated as one of the world's seven man-made wonders. The temple rests regally on a hilltop overlooking lush green palm fields and banana groves with hills and volcanoes in the distance presenting a prickly panorama.

Panoramic view of Borobudur

 This is the world's largest Buddhist shrine: ironically, it is located in a predominantly Muslim country.  It consists of a pyramid shape, seven platforms with four squares terraces leading to three circular terraces and an enormous central stupa at the top.  It has approx 3000 bas-reliefs and about 500 Buddha sculptures many encased in bell-shaped stupas. 

Middle terraces 

Examples of bas-reliefs at Borobudur

Yogyakarta and our packed lunch at a local eatery.

Borobudur is an impressive and monumental Buddhist foundation that can only be rivalled in Southeast Asia with equally famous Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Buddhist temples of Bagan in Myanmar (Burma) the Hindu temples of Mỹ Sơn in central Vietnam. These bas-reliefs and sculptures uniquely portray and describe tales of  Buddha's life beginning, real experiences, teachings, personal wisdom and enlightenment on the whole. It is estimated that approx 2.0 million blocks of andesite, a volcanic rock, were used in the construction of Borobudur. The volcanic andesite is relatively easy to work with, with rocks cut and joined in a method that did not use any mortar. Just two centuries later, mystically, the temple lay deserted in impenetrable forests, covered with dense plantations and volcanic ashes for nearly 1000 years. It was rediscovered and recovered in the year 1814 under the governorship of none other than the famous Englishman, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, The Lieutenant Governor-General of Java, and the founder of Singapore.

My children, Ruchika and Akash enjoying the monument in intense heat?

In early 1814, amongst the reports that Raffles's office received each day, came a special message- an enormous monument had been seen in the thick jungles of Central Java ( near Yogyakarta) by a Dutch explorer named Cornelius who was employed by the office of Raffles.  Raffles travelled to the spot, taking approx two weeks negotiating unyielding wildernesses and uncut out trails. He stood stupified and awestruck in front of the majestic monument as he viewed Borobudur for the first time. He chronicled in an art journal;  "The ruins may be ranked as remarkable for distinction in design, the peculiarity of style and exquisite workmanship. We are at a loss whether admire the extent and grandeur of the whole construction or the beautiful richness and correctness of sculpture". 

True to his ambitions, he had the temple surveyed, sketched, and then outlined in detail, sending reports of this discovery to East India Company office in London. The company received the news in disgust, blaming Raffles for wasting its precious time and money originally meant to maintain the white supremacy, the trade and the diplomacy in the local region. Centuries later, in today's time, Borobudur is the most visited tourist site in Indonesia with over a million tourists a year, turning a revolution in history.

My experience at Borobudur:

In August 1995 while working as Consultant Obst and Gynae at King Fahd National Guard Hospital, Riyadh, we decided to take a trip to Bali as few of our friends had done such, with raving reviews about the place. One of the "Must Do" advice from the friends was to visit Borobudur in Yogyakarta en-route to Bali. Taking the advice on board, we travelled to Bali stopping in Yogyakarta ( 500 km east of Jakarta) for an overnight stay. There is a trend to visit these temples in the early hours of the morning, enduring the effects of dawn's shadows (we followed this practice while visiting the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia). But here we took time to reach the temple when it was sweltering, hot and humid, necessitating hiring out umbrellas from the vendors. 

I had never heard of Borobudur till two weeks before our holidays and the thrill to see such a place was overwhelming. The temple's outer habitation was inundated with tourists, including myself laden with my notebook, guide leaflets, a camera and a water bottle. As I reached the perimeter and its gate, still nothing was visible. But making my way further up the alleyway, on taking a turn around a corner, there it was! Borobudur was in front of us, Gracious, Tall, Enormous, Ambitious and Proud.  The steps through the seven terraces are steep, demanding exertion in the mid-day heat. The tourists were noisy, local and foreigners all in awe, trying to gauge the size, clicks of cameras, people eating food, children shrieking up and down the steps, and hawkers trying to lure into souvenirs. 

I met Buddhas with eyes closed in serene settings, legs crossed in standard yoga lotus pose with hands symbolically placed among all this. Poised, Humble and Elegant. Words fell short of explaining the aura, perceptions and commotions around the Buddha statues that I perceived standing there. I had to agree that those bas-reliefs were action-based figures in acts of sword fighting, cooking, playing, running, carrying goods, processions, riding horses and elephants, monkeys jumping on trees etc. On higher platforms, they were more sublime, quieter in action, more pose based.

Though the whole structure is in dark grey stones, I visualised the colours shifting to deep charcoal tones, to light blue to deep sky-blue and occasional shades of flushed hues in the changing daylight. Indeed the whole monument looked like an alien world, bell-shaped symmetrical stupas, geometrically perforated, containing seated buddhas within. Unique! Never heard before! Never seen before!  Why were the statues covered in shell-like structures?

Not many tourists care to reach the top, exertion is intense in the heat. Reaching the top for me was a kind of self-realization and freedom.  At the top, the sense of space, nature, air and light was overwhelming. The distant volcanoes were visible as if sitting in judgement. After negotiating more than one thousand steps, I was rewarded this experience, circumambulating around stupas, and listening to our guide's tiring and non-stop commentary. Bless him ! were the statues covered in  

We wanted to hurry back, marred with intense heat, but more relics were spotted, more encaged Buddhas,  admired, and photographed at each turn of the corner. Standing there, I wondered what exactly Raffles had thought of it when he saw Borobudur for the first time. Being young, aged around 32 years, I am sure he had not seen the Pyramids of Giza or  Colosseum of Rome or the Acropolis of Athens to correlate with.

Mysteries surrounded this mammoth temple. 

Why was it built? Why no one knew? Why there is no mention in the lithographs anywhere? Why there are no inscriptions on the bas -reliefs in the temple? How this phenomenal building consisting of two million blocks of stone, was created? When was it built? And then why was it abandoned in such apparent haste? Even the origin of the name of Borobudur is contested!

As you trail my blog, together, we may reveal a few answers to these mysteries thru my research of the literature conducted on Borobudur temple. I mainly read the anthropologist John Miksic's books on Borobudur alongside Wikipedia, to develop this blog. I realise many of my readers may not entirely agree with the suggested entries here. That is partly because Borobudur remains an enigma!  Mostly unresolved puzzle; still, I guess?

Let's first go back to confirm the Geography and the Geneology of dynasties in Java at the turn of Common Era (CE).

The Temple of Borobudur is located close to Yogyakarta, on the central part of Java. The temple lies in an area between two volcanoes ( called Kedu plains) and the two rivers, with a few other Buddhist temples (Pawon and Mendut) in this Plain. 

Scholars and archaeologists postulate that some relationship must have existed between the temples as all three Buddhist temples are positioned along a straight line.  What is known is that the ancient and medieval Javanese linked the Kedu Plain with the greatest affluence due to enormous agricultural production in a highly fertile land enriched with volcanic ashes and watered by two holy rivers.   Kingdoms may have chosen to settle here funding sources to build Hindu and Buddhist temples. The realms of Indian subcontinent built the temples in India all the time. Ancient people conjured the two rivers to the sacred Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India. 

Prambanan temple in the background

Not surprisingly, given the area's favourability,  another famous Hindu temple named Prambanan (c. 850 CE) is situated approximately 17 km east of Yogyakarta, about 47 meters high, lavishly carved with statues of Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha and Goddess Durga. In history books, Prambanan temple met a similar fate as Borobudur but was crumbled almost to nothing due to persistent decaying. The current Prambanan temple is a nearly newly built complex to a large extent. The temple is flanked by two more temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma. 

When was it built?

There are no records present relating to the construction of it? 

Dating of Borobudur is based on the comparison of reliefs found elsewhere in south-east Asia.  The strong cultural and religious influence and traditions reached present-day Indonesia from the Indian subcontinent beginning around the 1st century CE due to travel of Buddhist monks, teachers, scholars and merchants involved in spice and timber trades. It consents that Borobudur was built during the Sailendra Buddhist Dynasty (c. 650-1025 CE). Modern historians have all disagreed concerning the political and cultural events that led to Borobudur's construction.

But let's continue the documented accounts of dynasties of Sanjaya and Sailendra. 

It is possible that the Hindu Sanjaya dynasty initially began construction of a Shivaite temple on the spot where Borobudur now sits (c. 825 CE). The Sanjaya dynasty could not complete the temple as the original Sailendra dynasty took over to build Borobudur. The consensus is that two rival dynasties were supporting different faiths at the same time. Under the Sanjaya dynasty, the Hindu Javanese completed Prambanan- Indonesia's largest Hindu temple, time aligning with  Borobudur. Was it that  Hindu Prambanan's construction was a political and cultural answer to that of Buddhist Borobudur?  Over the following centuries, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and rainforest growth hid Borobudur from the Javanese, rendering it impassable. There is evidence, nonetheless, that Borobudur never left the cultural awareness of the Javanese people. 

The rich countryside in Yogyakarta

Why was Borobudur abandoned?

The principal cause for the abandonment of Borobudur is debated and remains unsolved till date. The Buddhists among the Javanese population performed pilgrimages and other rituals at Borobudur until around the 14th and 15th centuries CE. It is known that in the 10th or 11th century CE, the capital of the Javanese Kingdom moved eastwards away from Borobudur due to frequent volcanic eruptions, which may have diminished Borobudur as a centre of pilgrimage. Moreover, the temple was abandoned as most of the Javanese population had converted to Islam by the end of the 15th century CE. Rediscovered in the year 1814  by the explorers on  Raffles team, Borobudur has been the subject of immense research and archaeological investigations by Europeans and Javanese. UNESCO designated Borobudur as a World Heritage Site in 1991. 

Tired, tanned and on our way back to the hotel in a horse-driven carriage 

What is the origin of the name Borobudur?

The name Borobudur is also the subject of scholarly debate and is an ongoing story. A stone tablet (842 CE) mentions Bhumi-sam-bharabhudara or the "Mountain of Virtues of Ten Stages of the Boddhisattva." The term Borobudur could probably be related to Bharabhudara, a Sanskrit word. A plausible etymology suggests that Borobudur is a  local Javanese pronunciation of Biara Beduhur written in Sanskrit Vihara Buddha-Uhr. The term Buddha-Uhr could mean "the city of Buddhas".  The word  Beduhur, in Balinese vocabulary, means "a high place" suggesting that Borobudur means Vihara of Buddha located in a high place or a hill.

Sir Thomas Raffles, the founder of Singapore.

A British East Indian Company( EIC) administrator and founder of Singapore (1819), sir Thomas  Raffles was broadly accountable for the conception of Britain's far eastern empire. He was knighted in 1816 for his services to EIC. Aged 30, Raffles obtained the post of Lieutenant Governor of Java, (1811-16), as a favour from Lord Minto, then the Governor-general of India. More than just a traveller and an administrator, Raffles was a linguist and scholar with an eye for aesthetics and arts. He was largely responsible for the rediscovery of Borobudur but was not appreciated by EIC for his efforts. Upon his return to England, the job title was taken away from him! However, he returned to far East and founded Singapore in 1819, then a fishing village but at a strategic trading location. 200 years later, Singapore is one of the world's most thriving economies with frantic trades and most visited tourist destination.  Raffles name is immortalised in the luxury hotel named Raffles of Singapore. 

Raffles hotel in the background 1995

"This famed white elephant, landscaped with rustling palms and frangipani trees, stands for all the exotic east fabled", Wrote Somerset Maugham. Raffles Hotel in Singapore is one of Asia's notable colonial landmarks. The state's most cherished hotel has seen many celebrities, royalties and dignitaries alike. Raffles Hotel was honoured to be designated as a national monument by the Singapore Government in 1987. 

Raffles Hotel is famous as the birthplace of the Singapore Sling cocktail at its famous The Long Bar. Raffles bartender Ngiam Tong Boon created the renowned cocktail in 1915. Today, an average visitor heads for The Long Bar that has become a bucket list must-do for any seasoned traveller. Raffles' white statue, standing tall, gazing at the Singapore River is a Singapore national icon and remains the symbol of modern Singapore. The statute is at a site where Raffles first set foot on the island in 1819.

I have posted a snapshot of my memoirs here and intend to write the next travel blog on Damascus, visited on the way to Egypt, back in 1992. I am indebted to all the readers for reading and appreciating my blogs.