Abandonment of Borobudur

Welcome to Borobudur, one of the sacred buildings of Buddhism as a World Cultural Heritage site. The splendor and beauty of Borobudur has its own historical value for Indonesian people. The Indonesian government has designated Chandi Borobudur as a major tourist attraction, and also a priority tourist destination for domestic and foreign visitors.

Chandi Borobudur attracts extraordinary enthusiasm to visit and explore several narrative sources in thematic tours, with the aim of getting to know more closely the history, architecture and fine arts of this building.

The friendly Pamong Carita will accompany and guide you to provide explanations and narratives about Borobudur and its surroundings. Introducing 'Upanat', namely special footwear worn when visiting the terraces through a corridor with a series of relief panel galleries, leading to the top of the circular upper terrace with a row of stupas at Borobudur Temple. Explore history and admire the beauty of architectural art, as well as the origin of the name Chandi Borobudur.

Superstitious beliefs gradually associated the obscure ruins with bad luck and misery.

Source: Guidance Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. A screenshot arisguide.

Welcome, nice to meet you on the Borobudur tour, You will step on now and visit the splendor of Chandi Borobudur which is one of the world's cultural heritage sites. The reopening of Borobudur sends an interesting opportunity to explore several narrative sources about the existence of the Borobudur in the insights of travel guides onto Borobudur.

Mentioned in the history of Borobudur, there is one of the relief panels carved on a hidden foot, based on the text of Karmawibhangga, panel number 150, concerning the offering of a footwear called 'Upanat', dedicated to Brahmins.

The bas-relief of the foot wall is hidden in the Karmawibhangga text panel number 150, regarding the offering of footwear with the name 'Upanat', the footwear offered to Brahmins, in order to obtain rewards and prosperity in life.

Its name 'Upanat', the footwear.

The bas-relief of the foot wall is hidden in the Karmawibhangga text panel number 150, regarding the offering of footwear with the name 'Upanat', the footwear offered to Brahmins, in order to obtain rewards and prosperity in life.

Source: Borobudur Conservation Center. Guidance Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto a screenshot arisguide.

The relief found on the wall of hidden foot, based on the Karmawibhangga text panel 150, concerns the offering of a footwear as its name 'Upanat', a special footwear offered to Brahmins, to obtain merit and prosperity in life.

Introducing 'Upanat', a footwear used to visit on the terraces of Chandi Borobudur, with the aim of getting to know the monument better, learning history, doing thematic tours and admiring the splendor of Chandi Borobudur as a sacred temple for Buddhists. The trip will be part of an appreciation in learning, admiring, and participating in safeguarding and protecting the world cultural heritage site located at Borobudur Indonesia.

It's fun going around the temple to get a source of explanation guided by a tour guide. Opportunity to find out the source, explanation of the written history of Chandi Borobudur and study about when Borobudur was left behind.

Step into Borobudur.

You will now step on and visit the splendor of Chandi Borobudur which is one of the world's cultural heritage sites.

Source: Guidance Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto arisguide.

Step on Borobudur

Chandi Borobudur is one of a world cultural heritage site or World Heritage Site, a Buddhist temple located in Borobudur, belongs to Magelang regency and located in Central Java province. To reach the monument is approximately 96 kilometers from Semarang, the capital city of Central Java, and approximately 86 kilometers from the city of Surakarta, and about 40 kilometers from the city of Yogyakarta.

Chandi Borobudur is located right above the hill and built in the middle of several mountains and hills. Looking to the west, there are Mount Sundoro and Sumbing. Looking to the east you can see Mount Merbabu and an active volcano, Merapi. View to the north, it is approximately 15 kilometers from Borobudur, there is Tidar hill, and to the south it is bounded by the Menoreh hill range. Borobudur is located at the confluence of two rivers, they are Progo and Elo, located right in the middle between the east of Chandi Borobudur and Chandi Pawon.

Chandi Borobudur or Barabudur

is a 9th–century Mahayana Buddhist temple, which consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome, surrounded by 72 stupas and decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.

Source: Guidance Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto a screenshot arisguide.

Abandonment

Borobudur stupa’s over looking a mountain. For centuries, it was deserted

Borobudur lay hidden for centuries under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth. The facts behind its abandonment remain a mystery. It is not known when active use of the monument and Buddhist pilgrimage to it ceased.

A mysterious fear replaced the old understanding, the fear which predominates in any approach to the unknown. Superstitious beliefs gradually associated the obscure ruins with bad luck and misery. Chandi Borobudur offers a good example of what it means to become the victim of such beliefs. Javanese chronicles of the eighteenth century mention two cases of bad luck associated with the monument.

According to the Babad Tanah Jawi (History of the Island of Java) Borobudur hill proved fatal to a rebel who made a stand there when he revolted against the king of Mataram in 1709 A.D. The hill was be sieged, and the insurgent was defeated. He was brought as a captive before the king, who sentenced him to death.

 
The Babad Mataram (History of the Kingdom of Mataram) related the bad luck of the crown prince of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta in 1757. In spite of the prevailing restrictions on visiting, he took on ‘the knight who was captured in a cage’ (the statue in one of the perforated stupas) that he could not see his ‘unfortunate friend’. As soon as he was back at the palace, died after a one-day illness. It was not until 1814 that Chandi Borobudur emerged, actually and figuratively, from its dark past.

Although there is no written record of who first built this temple, it is believed that Borobudur Temple was built between 780 and 840 AD when the Sailendra dynasty ruled the area. The building was abandoned for centuries and buried under layers of volcanic ash from Mount Merapi with only the locals knowing of its existence.

Between 1811 and 1816 Java was under British rule. The representative of the British Government was Lieutenant Govenor–General Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who was extremely interested in Java’s past. In 1814, on an inspection tour in Semarang, he was informed of the existence of a monument, called Chandi Borobudur, in the village Bumisegoro near Magelang. He sent Cornelius, a Dutch engineer officer who had experience in exploring antiquities in Java, to investigate. Cornelius employed some 200 villagers to fell trees, burn down bushes, and dig away the earth and rubbish in which the monument had been buried. In two months he had completed the work, though many parts of the galleries could not be unearthed because of the danger of collapse.
 
The two volumes of his History of Java which appeared in 1817 devoted only a few sentences to the monument. The chapter on the antiquities is very brief, as he intended to publish separately an ‘Account of the Antiquities of Java’. This never in fact appeared. However, it remains greatly to the credit of Raffles to have rescued Chandi Borobudur from oblivion, and to have brought it to the notice of a wide range of people.
 
The Dutch administrator of the Kedu region, Hartmann, was in authority who paid special attention to Chandi Borobudur arranged for the further removal of the debris and the cleaning of the galleries, so by 1835, the entire monument was freed from its last disfiguring cover. It is a great pity that he wrote no account of his activities, so that what is known about them can only be derived from later reports. It is particularly to be regretted that the story about his alleged discovery of a stone Buddha in the main stupa has led to endless dispute.

In 1842 Hartmann made a thorough investigation towards the interior of the big dome. What he actually found is unknown, but Wilsen’s report of 1853 mentions a Buddha one of the hundreds of statues. No such statue was ever mentioned by investigators before 1842. The story went round that the statue was one placed by the native district officer in order to satisfy the Dutch administrator. He was interested in Chandi Borobudur personally rather than as a government official, but Wilsen was an engineer officer sent by the Government to make drawings of the architectural details and the reliefs.

The Government meanwhile appointed Brumund to make a detailed description, which he completed in 1856. Brumund thought his study would be published and supplemented by Wilsen’s drawings. The Government intended the official publication to be based on Wilsen’s articles and drawings, with Brumund’s study as a supplement.

Source: Guide Book arisguide, Guiding Technique arisguide. Guidance Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide.

Get more narration and materials about Chandi Borobudur in Barabudur atau Borobudur, Candi Buddha Pusaka Budaya Indonesia.

Reading is more fun exploring the thematic narratives, beyond travel guide its more detail in Wisata Sejarah Chandi Borobudur bersama Pamong Carita. 

Reading in English is fun and also seems so interesting to translate into language that is easy and flexible, get readings in detail in Welcome to Borobudur Temple, the fabric of life in the Buddhist culture.

Explore, admire the beauty of art in pictures and photos by typing the detailed link in PHOTO IMAGE BOROBUDUR.