D.

The Inner and Outer Side of a Temple

In the foregoing part of this article, the temple has
discussed in terms of its outer, visible part. It is,
presumable that its inner part as well has a notable
in the temple symbolism. The vertical structure, the
or planar design, and last but not least the inner
have to be noticed for a holistic understanding of the temple.
It is known from the Javanese and Balinese data
that seem to be considered as being not only
important as
visual symbols of the universe, but they are also regarded as
living representati on of cosmos. This concept of the temple as
living thing is demonstrated by the insertion of
(Balinese, ”something that makes
alive“) within the
At the Borobudur sanctuary the statues of the five are placed in
niches constmcted on the edge of all five rectangular levels. They
are placed according to their respective positions. The Tathfigata of
the center (Vairocana) occupy all the niches of the highest
rectangular level, whereas that of the east (Ak¡obhya) occupy all the
niches of the four lower levels that face the east, and in the same
manner the Tathfigatas of the south (Ratnasambhava), the west
(Amitfibha),
and the north (Amoghasiddhi) occupy all the niches of the four
lower rectangular levels of their respectively allocated directions.
The Tathfigatas, or also called Buddhas, can be seen as a symbolic
construct representing the abstract cosmos that consists of space
and time. It is widely known that the Tathfigatas of the center, east,
and south are Tathfigatas of the past aeons, that of the west is of
the present, and the Tathfigata of the noah is that of the future.
Thus we see that the planar design of Borobudur is oriented to the
symbolization of cosmos, while the veaical structure, as it has been
demonstrated earlier, is oriented to the symbolization of the
spiritual path.
East Javanese temples have still another kind of planar design. The
entrance is normally at the west side, so the temple faces west.
Along with this orientation, some typical East Javanese temples have
a linear plan. The most sacred part of the sanctuary is placed at the
rear, farthest away from the entrance. The temple or temple
complex is arranged in a sucessively acsending levels along the west-
east line. Thus the