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XVIII. Antiquarian Notes in Java
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
Extract
The religion of Buddha was introduced into Java as early as the beginning of the fifth century a.d. Fāh-Hiān, who resided in that country from a.d. 412 to 414, says that it then existed, though only in embryo—it was not much known—“ various forms of error and Brahmanism are flourishing.” The well-known inscription at Menangkābu in Sumatra, which is dated in a.d. 656, relates that a Buddhist sovereign, whose name is pure Sanskṛit, “ Mahārājādhirāja Ādityadharma,” had previously to that date erected in Java a great seven-storied vihāra. So it may be assumed that, during the 250 years following the date of Fāh-Hiān, Buddhism, i.e. the Buddhism then prevalent in India and greatly altered from its original form, had firmly established itself as the religion of the Javanese. This seven-storied vihāra is generally supposed to be Boro-Būdūr; and certainly the architecturẹ of that great monument appears to be of that age, the general scheme of the four great terraces being very similar to that of the early Pallava-Choḷa temples about and in Kāñchī, as well as of the great Rath at Mahāvalipura in Southern India, which was carved out of the rock at the beginning of the seventh century. But in the opinion of the late Dr. Brandes, of the Archæological Survey of Java, the period of the building lies between Śaka 700 and 850 (a.d. 778–928).
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References
page 419 note 1 Legge's Fāh-Hiān, p. 113.
page 419 note 2 Indian and Eastern Architecture, p. 646.
page 420 note 1 Op. cit., p. 644.
page 421 note 1 From Dr. J. A. Brandes, the Head of the Archæological Survey at the Museum at Veltervreden, I received every possible help and support. He was full of kindness, and full of enthusiasm in his profession. We went over the contents of the Museum together, and later on he met me at Boro-Būdūr, where he was working with his talented assistant, Mr. Melville. I need hardly say how much I was indebted to them both for their guidance, and the information they so readily and freely gave me. The last letter I had from Dr. Brandes was dated at the end of April, and it was with great sorrow that I heard of his sudden death in June. His loss is a very serious one for the Government, and indeed for the whole scientific world; for his love of his subject was unbounded, and he had in preparation some exhaustive works on the archæology of the Far East which would have thrown much light on a number of vexed questions.
page 423 note 1 Specially selected out of many similar to call attention to the pillars that support the roof of the porch, both back and front.
page 423 note 2 I had the good fortune to spend a few days here in company with Dr. Brandes; and the following remarks summarize the information I gained from him on the spot, supplemented by my own observation.
page 424 note 1 Fergusson writes (Tree and Serpent Worship) that the architects “ faithfully adhered to the Indian superstition regarding arches. They did not even think it necessary to cut off the angles of the corbel stones, so as to simulate an arch, though using the pointed arch forms of the old chaitya caves of the West.”
page 425 note 1 Rocks and deserts are represented in Javanese style, in a form which was evidently stereotyped and conventional. This style is not of Indian origin.
page 425 note 2 Cf. Dr. Gronemann's pamphlet. The interpretation of the meaning of the mudras is Dr. Brandes's.
page 426 note 1 Vairoehana is the thinker as well as the teacher, and is therefore appropriately placed in the centre, apart from the four quarters. As such he is often reckoned as the first of the Dhyāni Buddhas, but not so at Boro-Būdūr.
page 426 note 2 What this meaning is I did not gather.
page 426 note 3 See Waddell's Lāmāism, pp. 350–1. A Table showing the celestial Buddhas, their attributes, etc.
page 428 note 1 Chandi, or Tjandi, means ‘temple.’
page 429 note 1 Dr. Brandes was a little doubtful as to its date.
page 431 note 1 Dr. Groneman has expressed the opinion that these figures should not be called Rākshasas (Hindu Ruins in the Plain of Parambanan, p. 68), but as they are certainly demon-guards I hardly know by what other name to describe them. The great tusks classify them at once as dangerous beings, and they were placed to terrify the unworthy. The lesson they teach is that he who approaches should do so in devout spirit, as otherwise he will fall into the clutches of the enemy of all good and suffer endless tortures in hell. This is the same lesson that is taught in other places of Buddhist worship, e.g. the Temple of the Tooth at Kandy in Ceylon, where the first gallery on the approach contains a series of pictures representing the sinful being tortured in the infernal regions. Mediaeval Christianity taught the same lesson in its churches, showing the wicked descending into Hell while the good rise to Heaven.
page 432 note 1 Indian and Eastern Architecture, p. 654.
page 435 note 1 See Tjandi Djago, published in 1904, for description of this temple.