Borobudur. Located in Central Java some 40 km NW of Yogyakarta. Constructed around 800 AD, abandoned some 200 years later—probably because the capital of the Medang Kingdom was moved from central to east Java. Discovered in 1814 by H. C. Cornelius, a Dutch officer in the Engineering Corps, and Surveyor and Superintendent of Buildings in Semarang, who was sent by Lieutenant Governor-General Thomas Stamford Raffles to investigate the information the latter had received about a big monument on a hill in the jungle near the village of Bumisegoro.
Restorations were carried from the beginning, the biggest sponsored by UNESCO, took place between 1975 and 1982. UNESCO listed Borobudur as a World Heritage Site in 1991.
Borobudur is divided into three divisions that symbolise the three spheres of Buddhist cosmology: Kamadhatu (the world of desires), Rupadhatu (the world of forms), and finally Arupadhatu (the formless world). Ordinary people live on the lowest level, the world of desires. Those who are able to leave the world of desires live in the world of forms (they see forms but are not drawn to them). The full Buddhas go beyond form to the formless level where there is no suffering or desire, and no sense of self.
The complex contains 1,460 individual narrative bas reliefs, 160 of which in the hidden foot.
This hidden foot was accidentally discovered in 1885 when part of the stone casing that surrounds the entire complex was removed to repair walls and floors of the second gallery. One theory about why this hidden foot is hidden is, that during construction the monument's foundation had to be strengthened to prevent the whole structure from subsiding into the hill. The original first platform thus became an encasement base. But as no written records exist from the time of Borobudur's construction, this is only one of several theories.
From 1890 to 1891 the hidden foot was temporarily uncovered and at the request of Sultan Hamangkubuwono VII the Javanese photographer Kassian Cephas (1845-1912) was contracted to photograph the 160 panels. The resulting photographs are the only visual records of the panels.
The theme of the panels is loosely based on the Mahakarmavibhangga—the Sanskrit Buddhist text describing the workings of the laws of karma. According to Buddhism, every cause has its effect: good action generates good effects, while bad effects are caused by bad actions. Though the effects might not be immediately felt, karma will eventually play out, if not on the instigator then on his or her descendants.
Ton the panels cause and effect reads from right to left. Many opinions on their meaning circulate, but a final interpretation has not yet been formulated.
The photograph below is a sample of the 160 panels. The reddish background colour has been added by me for contrast. In coming blogs more photographs will be reproduced.
Why not provide your interpretation of their meaning in a comment.
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