Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Borobudur Temple
Borobudur Temple
Borobudur Temple
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. 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. 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, although the original names of most ancient Indonesian temples are no longer known.
The name Borobudur was first written in Sir Thomas Raffles' book on Javan history. Raffles
wrote about a monument called borobudur, but there are no older documents suggesting the
same name. The only old Javanese manuscript that hints at the monument as a holy Buddhist
sanctuary is Nagarakretagama, written by Mpu Prapanca in 136.
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".However, another archaeologist suggests the second component
of the name (Budur) comes from Javanese term bhudhara (mountain)
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 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
Location
See also: Borobudur Temple Compounds
Geologists, on the other hand, support Nieuwenkamp's view, pointing out clay sediments found
near the site. A study of stratigraphy, sediment and pollen samples conducted in 2000 supports
the existence of a paleolake environment near Borobudur,which tends to confirm
Nieuwenkamp's theory. The lake area fluctuated with time and the study also proves that
Borobudur was near the lake shore c. 13th and 14th centuries. River flows and volcanic activities
shape the surrounding landscape, including the lake. One of the most active volcanoes in
Indonesia, Mount Merapi, is in the direct vicinity of Borobudur and has been very active since
the Pleistocene.