Indian design Influences on Indonesian Stupas

Dr Uday Dokras
Hindu Culture: By the early centuries of the common era, most of the
principalities of Southeast Asia had effectively absorbed defining aspects of Hindu
culture, religion and administration. The notion of divine god-kingship was
introduced by the concept of Harihara, Sanskrit and other
Indian epigraphic systems were declared official, like those of the south
Indian Pallava dynasty and Chalukya dynasty. These Indianized Kingdoms, a term
coined by George Cœdès in his work Histoire ancienne des états hindouisés
d'Extrême-Orient, were characterized by surprising resilience, political integrity and
administrative stability.
Greater India, or the Indian cultural sphere, is an area composed of many
countries and regions in South and Southeast Asia that were historically
influenced by Indian culture, which itself formed from the various distinct
indigenous cultures of these regions. Specifically Southeast Asian influence on
early India had lasting impacts on the formation of Hinduism and Indian
mythology. Hinduism itself formed from various distinct folk religions, which
merged during the Vedic period and following periods. The term Greater India as a
reference to the Indian cultural sphere was popularised by a network of Bengali
scholars in the 1920s. It is an umbrella term encompassing the Indian
subcontinent, and surrounding countries which are culturally linked through a
diverse cultural cline. These countries have been transformed to varying degrees
by the acceptance and induction of cultural and institutional elements from each
other. Since around 500 BCE, Asia's expanding land and maritime trade had
resulted in prolonged socio-economic and cultural stimulation and diffusion of
Hindu and Buddhist beliefs into the region's cosmology, in particular in Southeast
Asia and Sri Lanka. In Central Asia, transmission of ideas were predominantly of a
religious nature. The spread of Islam significantly altered the course of the history
of Greater India.
Hinduism has historically been a major religious and cultural influence in Java. In recent years,
it has also been enjoying something of a resurgence, particularly in the eastern part of the island.
Both Java and Sumatra were subject to considerable cultural influence from the India during the
first and second millennia of the Common Era. Both Hinduism and Buddhism, which share a
common historical background and whose membership may even overlap at times, were widely
propagated in the Maritime Southeast Asia.
Hinduism, and the Sanskrit language through which it was transmitted, became highly
prestigious in Java. Many Hindu temples were built, including Prambanan near Yogyakarta,
which has been designated a World Heritage Site; and Hindu kingdoms flourished, of which the
most important was Majapahit.
In the sixth and seventh centuries many maritime kingdoms arose in Sumatra and Java which
controlled the waters in the Straits of Malacca and flourished with the increasing sea trade

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between China and India and beyond. During this time, scholars from India and China visited
these kingdoms to translate literary and religious texts.
Majapahit was based in Central Java, from where it ruled a large part of what is now western
Indonesia. The remnants of the Majapahit kingdom shifted to Bali during the sixteenth century
as Muslim kingdoms in the western part of the island gained influence.
Although Java was substantially converted to Islam during the 15th century and afterwards,
substantial elements of Hindu (and pre-Hindu) customs and beliefs persist among ordinary
Javanese. Particularly in central and eastern Java, Abangan or 'nominal' Muslims are
predominant. 'Javanists', who uphold this folk tradition, coexist along with more orthodox
Islamicizing elements.
Hinduism or Hindu-animist fusion have been preserved by a number of Javanese communities,
many of which claim descent from Majapahit warriors and princes. The Osings in
the Banyuwangi Regency of East Java are a community whose religion shows many similarities
to that of Bali. The Tenggerese communities at the foot of Mount Bromo are officially Hindu,
but their religion includes many elements of Buddhism including the worship of Lord
Buddha along with Hindu trinity Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. The Badui in Banten have a
religion of their own which incorporates Hindu traits. Many Javanese communities still
practice Kejawèn, consisting of an amalgam of animistic, Buddhist, and Hindu
aspects. Yogyakarta is stronghold of Kejawen.
It is interesting to study conversion to Hinduism in two close and culturally similar regions,
the Yogyakarta region, where only sporadic conversions to Hinduism had taken place, and
the Klaten region, which has witnessed the highest percentage of Hindu converts in Java. It has
been argued that this dissimilarity was related to the difference in the perception of Islam among
the Javanese population in each region. Since the mass killings of 1965–1966 in Klaten had been
far more awful than those in Yogyakarta, in Klaten the political landscape had been far more
politicized than in Yogyakarta. Because the killers in Klaten were to a large extent identified
with Islam, the people in this region did not convert to Islam, but preferred Hinduism (and
Christianity). Also there is fear for those who are adherent of Javanism of the purge, in order to
hide their practices they converted into Hinduism, though they may not entirely practice the
religion. Many of the new "Hindus" in Gunung Lawu and Kediri are example of this.
The existence of Hindu temples in an area sometimes encourages local people to reaffiliate
with Hinduism, whether these are archaeological temple sites (candi) being reclaimed as places
of Hindu worship, or recently built temples (pura). The great temple at Prambanan, for example,
is also in the Klaten area. An important new Hindu temple in eastern Java is Pura Mandaragiri
Sumeru Agung, located on the slope of Mt Semeru, Java's highest mountain. Mass conversions
have also occurred in the region around Pura Agung Blambangan, another new temple, built on a
site with minor archaeological remnants attributed to the kingdom of Blambangan, the last Hindu
polity on Java, and Pura Loka Moksa Jayabaya (in the village of Menang near Kediri), where the
Hindu king and prophet Jayabaya is said to have achieved spiritual liberation (moksa). Another
site is the new Pura Pucak Raung in East Java, which is mentioned in Balinese literature as the
place from where Maharishi Markandeya took Hinduism to Bali in the fifth century AD.
An example of resurgence around major archaeological remains of ancient Hindu temple sites
was observed in Trowulan near Mojokerto, the capital of the legendary Hindu empire Majapahit.
A local Hindu movement is struggling to gain control of a newly excavated temple building

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which they wish to see restored as a site of active Hindu worship. The temple is to be dedicated
to Gajah Mada, the man attributed with transforming the small Hindu kingdom of Majapahit into
an empire. Although there has been a more pronounced history of resistance to Islamization in
East Java, Hindu communities are also expanding in Central Java near the ancient Hindu
monuments of Prambanan.

Southeast Asia was in the Indian sphere of cultural influence from 290 BCE to the 15th century
CE, when Hindu-Buddhist influences were incorporated into local political systems. Kingdoms
in the southeast coast of the Indian Subcontinent had established trade, cultural and political
relations with Southeast Asian kingdoms in Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, Malay
Peninsula, Philippines, Cambodia and Champa. This led to
the Indianisation and Sanskritisation of Southeast Asia within the Indosphere, Southeast Asian
polities were the Indianised Hindu-Buddhist Mandala (polities, city states and confederacies).
Unlike the other kingdoms which existed on the Indian subcontinent, the Pallava empire which
ruled the southeastern coast of the Indian peninsula did not impose cultural restrictions on people
who wished to cross the sea. The Chola empire, which executed the South-East Asian campaign
of Rajendra Chola I and the Chola invasion of Srivijaya, profoundly impacted Southeast Asia.
This impact led to more exchanges with Southeast Asia on the sea routes. Whereas Buddhism
thrived and became the main religion in many countries of Southeast Asia, it became a minority
religion in India.
The peoples of maritime Southeast Asia -present-day Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines -
are thought to have migrated southward from South China sometime between 2500 and 1500
BC. The influence of the civilization which existed on the Indian Subcontinent gradually became
predominant among them, and it also became predominant among the peoples which lived on the
Southeast Asian mainland.
Southern Indian traders, adventurers, teachers and priests continued to be the dominating
influences in Southeast Asia until about 1500 CE. Hinduism and Buddhism both spread to these
states from India and for many centuries, they existed there with mutual toleration. Eventually
the states of the mainland mainly became Buddhist.
The key drivers of the Indianisation of Southeast Asia were Indian maritime trade especially
the Spice trade, the emissaries of Ashoka, the Buddhist missions of Emperor Ashoka - the
Great,

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Indian Navy; The first clear mention of a navy occurs in the mythological
epic the Mahabharata. Historically, however, the first attested attempt to organise a navy in
India, as described by Megasthenes (c. 350—290 BCE), is attributed to Chandragupta
Maurya (reign 322—298 BCE. The Mauryan empire (322–185 BCE) navy continued till the
times of emperor Ashoka (reign 273—32 BCE), who used it to send massive diplomatic
missions to Greece, Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, Macedonia and Epirus. Following nomadic
interference in Siberia—one of the sources for India's bullion—India diverted its attention to
the Malay peninsula, which became its new source for gold and was soon exposed to the world
via a series of maritime trade routes. The period under the Mauryan empire also witnessed
various other regions of the world engage increasingly in the Indian Ocean maritime voyages.
Buddhist missions
In the Sri Lankan tradition, Moggaliputta-Tissa – who is patronised by Ashoka – sends out nine
Buddhist missions to spread Buddhism in the "border areas" in c. 250 BCE. This tradition does
not credit Ashoka directly with sending these missions. Each mission comprises five monks, and
is headed by an elder. To Sri Lanka, he sent his own son Mahinda, accompanied by four other
Theras – Itthiya, Uttiya, Sambala and Bhaddasala.[5] Next, with Moggaliputta-Tissa's help,
Ashoka sent Buddhist missionaries to distant regions such as Kashmir, Gandhara, Himalayas, the
land of the Yonas (Greeks), Maharashtra, Suvannabhumi, and Sri Lanka.
Early Common Era—High Middle Ages

Chola territories during Rajendra Chola I, c. 1030 CE.//Model of a Chola (200—

848 CE) ship's hull, built by the ASI, based on a wreck 19 miles off the coast of
Poombuhar, displayed in a Museum in Tirunelveli.

During this era, Hindu and Buddhist religious establishments of Southeast

Asia came to be associated with economic activity and commerce as patrons
entrusted large funds which would later be used to benefit local economy by
estate management, craftsmanship and promotion of trading

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activities. Buddhism, in particular, travelled alongside the maritime trade,
promoting coinage, art and literacy.
1. Trade from India: In Java and Borneo, the introduction of Indian
culture created a demand for aromatics, and trading posts here later
served Chinese and Arab markets. The Periplus Maris Erythraei names
several Indian ports from where large ships sailed in an easterly direction
to Chryse. Products from the Maluku Islands that were shipped across
the ports of Arabia to the Near East passed through the ports of India
and Sri Lanka. After reaching either the Indian or the Sri Lankan ports,
products were sometimes shipped to East Africa, where they were used
for a variety of purposes including burial rites.
2. Maritime history of Odisha, known as Kalinga in ancient times,
started before 350 BC according to early sources. The people of this
region of eastern India along the coast of the Bay of Bengal sailed up and
down the Indian coast, and travelled to Indo China and
throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, introducing elements of their
culture to the people with whom they traded. The 6th
century Manjusrimulakalpa mentions the Bay of Bengal as 'Kalingodra'
and historically the Bay of Bengal has been called 'Kalinga Sagara' (both
Kalingodra and Kalinga Sagara mean Kalinga Sea), indicating the
importance of Kalinga in the maritime trade. The old traditions are still
celebrated in the annual Bali Jatra, or Boita-Bandana festival held for
five days in October / November.
3. The Chola dynasty (200—1279) reached the peak of its influence and
power during the medieval period. [19] Emperors Rajaraja Chola I (reigned
985-1014) and Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1012-1044) extended the Chola
kingdom beyond the traditional limits. At its peak, the Chola
Empire stretched from the island of Sri Lanka in the south to
the Godavari basin in the north. The kingdoms along the east coast of
India up to the river Ganges acknowledged Chola suzerainty. Chola
navies invaded and conquered Srivijaya and Srivijaya was the largest
empire in Maritime Southeast Asia. Goods and ideas from India began to
play a major role in the "Indianization" of the wider world from this
period.
4. Desinganadu- Quilon or Kollam in Kerala coast, once called
Desinganadu, has had a high commercial reputation since the days of
the Phoenicians and Romans. Fed by the Chinese trade, it was
mentioned by Ibn Battuta in the 14th century as one of the five Indian
ports he had seen in the course of his travels during twenty-four
years. The Kollam Port become operational in AD.825. opened
Desinganadu's rulers were used to exchange the embassies with Chinese
rulers and there was flourishing Chinese settlement at Quilon. The
Indian commercial connection with Southeast Asia proved vital to the
merchants of Arabia and Persia between the 7th and 8th centuries CE.

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5. The kingdoms of Vijaynagara and Kalinga established footholds in
Malaya, Sumatra and Western Java
6. The Cholas excelled in foreign trade and maritime activity, extending
their influence overseas to China and Southeast Asia. Towards the end of
the 9th century, southern India had developed extensive maritime and
commercial activity. The Cholas, being in possession of parts of both the
west and the east coasts of peninsular India, were at the forefront of
these ventures. The Tang dynasty (618–907) of China,
the Srivijaya empire in Maritime Southeast Asia under the Sailendras,
and the Abbasid caliphate at Baghdad were the main trading partners.
7. During the reign of Pandya Parantaka Nedumjadaiyan (765–790),
the Chera dynasty were a close ally of the Pallavas. Pallavamalla
Nadivarman defeated the Pandya Varaguna with the help of a Chera
king. Cultural contacts between the Pallava court and the Chera country
were common. Indian spice exports find mention in the works of Ibn
Khurdadhbeh (850), al-Ghafiqi (1150 CE), Ishak bin Imaran (907) and Al
Kalkashandi (14th century). Chinese traveler Xuanzang mentions the
town of Puri where "merchants depart for distant countries."

INDONESIAN DESIGN Timeline

4,000 BC Javanese descended from seafarers of China.

6th century BC Birth of Gautama Buddha.

400 AD Java becomes sea link between India and China

Javanese began carving stone statues and inscriptions.

768-814 Charlemagne rules from northeastern Spain north to the
Baltic Sea and east into the Italian peninsula. He is
crowned emperor in 800 AD.
800s Mayans build large cities with tens of thousands of
inhabitants under reign of King Samaratunga.
7th and 8th Monks and holy men make pilgrimages to Java from
centuries Asian continent.
8th – 13th Sailendra dynasty rules Sumatra and Java.
centuries
750 to 850 Golden Age of the Sailendra dynasty.

760 Probable beginning of Borobudur construction.

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830 Probable completion of Borobudur construction.

700-900 People of Central Java enjoy a high level of cultural

development, erecting many grand palaces and religious
monuments.
c.930 Javanese culture and political life move east, away from
the lands around Borobudur.
13th – 14th Islam religion comes to Java.
centuries
1500-1800s Borobudur is abandoned; volcanic ash fills the galleries;
vegetation, including trees, takes root on the buried
monument.
1709 According to the 18th century chronicle Babad Tanah
Jawi, the rebel Ki Mas Dana makes a stand at Borobudur
in a revolt against the Sultan of Mataram. The monument
is besieged and the rebel defeated, brought before the
king and sentenced to death.
1758 In the Babad Mataram (History of the Kingdom of
Mataram), a story is told of the crown prince of the
Sultanate of Yogyakarta, who disobeyed his father and
journeyed to climb "the mountain of a thousand statues."
The Sultan sent his men to bring him back, but he became
ill and died as soon as he returned to the palace.
1811-1816 Java comes under British rule.

1814 Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, the English

Lieutenant Governor of Java, is informed of the existence
of a huge monument called Chandi Borobudur. Raffles
orders Dutch engineer officer H.C. Cornelius and two
hundred villagers to fell trees, burn undergrowth and dig
away the earth that covers the monument.
1815 May 18th: Raffles visits Borobudur.

1844 A bamboo teahouse is built on top of the central stupa of

the monument.
1885 Panels that surround the hidden base of Borobudur are
discovered by J.W. Ijzerman, Chairman of the
Archeological Society in Yogyakarta, under the
processional pathway that has been built around the
monument. This discovery brings about renewed efforts
to safeguard Borobudur from vandalism and natural
threats.

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 1890-1891 The hidden panels are excavated and photographed, then
the pathway is replaced.
1896 Dutch Colonial officials give the King of Siam eight
wagon loads of statues and bas-reliefs from Borobudur,
including five of the best Buddhas and two complete
stone lions.
1911 A Dutch archeologist from Leiden University paints
many of the reliefs with ochre to improve his
photography. The yellow ochre remains, encouraging the
growth of algae, fungus, lichen and moss on the stones
themselves.
1907-1911 The first major restoration project at Borobudur is begun
by Theodor van Erp, a Dutch army engineer officer. He
spends the first seven months excavating the grounds
around the monument, finding missing Buddha heads and
panel stones. Van Erp then dismantles and rebuilds the
upper three circular terraces and crumbling stupas. His
team cleans many of the sculptures of moss and lichen.
However, he is unable to solve the drainage problem
which is undercutting the monument. Within fifteen
years, the gallery walls are sagging and the reliefs show
signs of new cracks and deterioration.
1948 The Republic of Indonesia comes into existence.

1955 The Indonesian government asks UNESCO for advice on

treating the weathered stones of Borobudur.
1968 The Indonesian government and the United Nations,
working through UNESCO, launch a "Save Borobudur"
campaign. A bold plan is proposed to dismantle and
rebuild the lower terraces of Borobudur, clean and treat
the story panels, and install a new drainage system to stop
further erosion.
1971 The plan is approved by the Indonesian government and
restoration committee.
1975 Restoration work begins.

1983 Feb. 23: Completion of the project is marked by an

inaugural ceremony.
1991 Borobudur is included in UNESCO's World Heritage list.

Borobudur represents not only the creativity of Javanese geniuses but also one of the world’s
greatest constructional and artistic masterpieces. It represents the spirit of the Monastic
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movement in India as materialised in this structure, with influences from the eastern school of
India and the architecture of Bengal. To understand the design elements, we need to focus our
opticals on 14 of the following.

1.Buddhist temples and buildings of India

2.Stupas -Buddhist Memorial Monument
3.The Indian prototype- Sanchi Stupa
4. History of Stupas
5. Sanchi: Home of the World's Oldest Stupa
6.Buddhist temples
7. Features
8. Temple Gates
9. Borobudur: the Ultimate Buddhist Temple
10. Indian connect in the history of Borobodur
11. Why it was built
12. Shailendra dynasty
13. The Sailendras and indian buddhism
14. Architectural development in stūpa structure

1. Buddhist temples and buildings of India

There are essentially three kinds of Buddhist structures:
1) stupas, bell-shaped structures that contain a holy relic or scripture;
2) temples, place of worship somewhat similar to a church; and
3) monasteries, which contain living quarters and meditation cells for monks.

 Stupas are solid structures that typically cannot be entered and were constructed to contain
sacred Buddhist relics that are hidden from view (and vandals) in containers buried at their core
or in the walls. Temples have an open interior that may be entered and in which are displayed
one or more cult images as a focus for worship. Although this simple distinction between Stupa
and temple is useful, the distinction is not always clear. There are stupas that have the external
form of a stupa but are like a temple with an inner corridor and multiple shrines.

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 Local temples are essentially self sufficient and rely on their own lands and support from the
local lay community to keep going. Property belongs to the community. There is not a hierarchy
of priest, bishops and archbishops like there is Christianity.
 The word pagoda is sometimes used to collectively describe stupas and temples but generally
refers to Japanese- and Chinese style towers inspired by South Asian stupa. The word pagoda is
derived from dagada , the word used for relic chamber in Sri Lanka. Classic Japanese- and
Chinese-style pagodas usually have multiple stories, each with a graceful, tiled Chinese-style
roof, and a top roof capped by a spire. The base represents the earth, the spire symbolizes
heaven, and the connecting piece symbolizing the cosmic axis, to the Way.

History of Buddhist Temples

Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Bodhgaya, where Buddha experienced his enlightenment

 The word for temple in many languages is the same as cave. Many early Buddhist temples were
"artificial caves" that attempted to recreate the atmosphere of Buddhist caves in northern India.
Describing what they were probably like, the historian Paul Strachen wrote: In his book Pagan:
Art and Architecture of Old Burma , "the now spartan brick gu [temple]" was "cluttered with
regal objects and requisites, a clamor of activity as food offerings were shuttled from the
kitchens down passageways crowded with chanting devotees, brightly colored wall paintings,
gilded furnishings and flapping banners and hangings...the usual plain, seated Buddha image,

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found in the deserted temples of Pagan today, would have been bathed, perfumed and dresses
with the finest and most costly garments."
 The architecture of Buddhist temples is influenced by the architecture of country in which they
are found and various traditions of Buddhist architecture. Japanese pagodas, for example, have
unique Japanese features that are modeled after Chinese-style pagodas, which in turn were
modeled after Indian stupas.
 Because ancient wood temples were often destroyed by fire, temples today are usually made of
brick and stone with brass and iron ornaments. Chinese pagodas were often built to
commemorate important leaders or event or house important artifacts or documents.
 Many Buddhist temples are located in the forests and mountains. There are two reason for their
remote locations: first, mountains and forest have always been associated with spiritual purity,
and second, Buddhist monks were often persecuted and remote location gave them some safety.
In China, Japan and Thailand temples are often in the middle of town.

2. STUPAS -Buddhist Memorial Monument

The first and most fundamental of Buddhist architectural monuments, the Buddhist stupa serves
as a marker for a sacred space, a symbolic representation of the Buddha’s burial mound.
To understand the stupas and pagodas that one will see throughout Asia—including those in
Angkor, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Indonesia, China, Japan—it is helpful to first
appreciate the design of the earliest stupas, which can be found in India and Sri Lanka. These
stupas exerted great influence on later designs.

Great Stupa, Sanchi, India.forerunner for Bodobodur

3. The Indian Prototype: Sanchi Stupa

The Great Stupa at Sanchi, in central India, is one of the earliest stupas; it served as an
architectural prototype for all others that followed. The world-famous stupa — first constructed
by the 3rd century BCE Mauryan ruler Ashoka in brick (the same material as those of Sri Lanka)
— was later expanded to twice its original size in stone.

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Elevation and plan. Great Stupa, Sanchi, India.
In the most basic sense, as an architectural representation of a sacred burial site, a stupa—no
matter where it is located in the world or when it was built—has three fundamental features.
 A hemispherical mound (anda). The anda’s domed shape (green highlights) recalls a
mound of dirt that was used to cover the Buddha’s remains. As you might expect, it has a
solid core and cannot be entered. Consistent with their symbolic associations, the earliest
stupas contained actual relics of the Buddha; the relic chamber, buried deep inside the anda,
is called

the
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 tabena. Over time, this hemispherical mound has taken on an even grander symbolic
association: the mountain home of the gods at the center of the universe.
 A square railing (harmika). The harmika (red highlights) is inspired by a square railing
or fence that surrounded the mound of dirt, marking it as a sacred burial site.
 A central pillar supporting a triple-umbrella form (chattra).The chattra, in turn, was
derived from umbrellas that were placed over the mound to protect it from the elements
(purple highlights). Just as the anda’s symbolic value expanded over time, the central pillar
that holds the umbrellas has come to represent the pivot of the universe, the axis mundi along
which the divine descends from heaven and becomes accessible to humanity. And the three
circular umbrella-like disks represent the three Jewels, or Triantha, of Buddhism, which are
the keys to a true understanding of the faith: (a) Buddha; (b) dharma (Buddhist teachings or
religious law); and (c) sangha (monastic community).
Around these three core building blocks were added secondary features.
 Enclosure wall with decorated gateways (toranas) at the cardinal directions. The
wall — with its trademark three horizontal stone bars (in the top image) — surrounds the
entire structure. The wall is marked in light blue highlights and the toranas in yellow.
 A circular terrace (medhi). The terrace—surrounded by a similar three-bar railing—
supports the anda and raises it off the ground (black highlights); it likely served as a platform
for ritual circumambulation.

4.History of Stupas
 After Buddha's death his relics were divided and a number of stupas were built to house them.
Although no ancient stupas remain the relics they housed are believed to have been saved and
placed in other stupas. Many of the oldest stupas date back to the period of Buddhist expansions
during the rule of King Ashoka (268-239 B.C.) The objects inside stupas are often unknown. A
gold reliquary excavated from a 2nd century B.C. stupa in Bimaran Afghanistan was decorated
with images of Buddha and Hindu gods. The reliquary is believed to have contained the ashes of
a revered saint or some object he touched.
 Stupa developed in India in the 3rd century B.C. and were general objects of worship for
Buddhists before the formation of Buddha imagery, sculpture and painting. Sanchi stupa, built
near present-day Bhopal, India, is the oldest. It is shaped like a half sphere and built to allow
worship around it. The functions of Buddhist stupas were also diffused, and shapes show a
variety of styles in each cultural area.

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Great Stupa in Sanchi

 Stupa is a Sanskrit word that literally means “to heap” or “to pile up." Some scholars believe
that stupas predated Buddhism and originally were mounds of dirt or rocks built to honor dead
kings. Later, these scholars say, the Buddha imbued them with spiritual meaning. Sylvia
Somerville wrote in her book on stupas: “This explanation runs counter to Buddhist tradition,
which maintains that because the stupa conveys enlightened qualities, it could only have been
revealed by the mind of enlightenment. …In fact, some stupas, such as the Swayambhunath
Stupa in Nepal, are believed to be self-arising expressions of enlightenment."
 Stupas are the oldest Buddhist religious monuments. The first Buddhist ones were simple
mounds of mud or clay built to enclose relics of Buddha. In the third century B.C., after his
conversion to Buddhism, Emperor Asoka ordered the original stupas opened and the remains
were distributed among the several thousand stupas he had built. Stupas at the eight places
associated with the life of the Buddha were important before Ashoka and continued to after his
death. Over time, stupas changed from being funerary monuments to being objects of veneration.
As this occurred they also changed in appearance changed also.
 Over the centuries many old stupas became pilgrimage sites. Famous ones became the center of
complex ceremonial areas. They were often surrounded by a railing with gateways, through
which pilgrims entered the ceremonial ground. Stone lions guarded the entrances. Outside
vendors sold food and offerings to pilgrims.

5.Sanchi: Home of the World's Oldest Stupa

 Sanchi (30 miles from Bhopal) is a pilgrimage site that attracts worshipers from all over the
world who come to see Buddhist art and architecture that dates back to the third century B.C.
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1989 and regarded as one of the most remarkable
archaeological complexes in India, it contains monasteries and the world's oldest stupa.

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 “Sanchi is the oldest extant Buddhist sanctuary. Although Buddha never visited the site during
any of his former lives or during his earthly existence, the religious nature of this shrine is
obvious. The chamber of relics of Stupa 1 contained the remains of Shariputra, a disciple of
Shakyamuni who died six months before his master; he is especially venerated by the occupants
of the 'small vehicle' or Hinayana. Having remained a principal centre of Buddhism in medieval
India following the spread of Hinduism, Sanchi bears unique witness as a major Buddhist
sanctuary to the period from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD."

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Eight Great Stupas

6.Buddhist Temples
 A temple is a place of worship as opposed to a shrine, which is a sacred place for praying. It
generally contains an image of Buddha and has a place where Buddhists practice devotional
activities. Temples attract large crowds during festivals or if they are famous but otherwise a
fairly quiet. They are often sought as places for quiet meditation, with most acts of worship and
devotion being done in front of an altar at home.
 Buddhist temples are generally a cluster of buildings---whose number and size depends on the
size of the temple---situated in an enclosed area. Large temples have several halls, where people
can pray, and living quarters for monks. Smaller ones have a single hall, a house fore a resident
monk and a bell. Some have cemeteries.
 Temples can be several stories high and often have steeply sloped roofs are often supported by
elaborately-decorated and colorfully-painted eaves and brackets. The main shrines often contain
a Buddha statue, boxes of sacred scriptures, alters with lit candles, burning incense and other
offerings as well as images of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and devas. The central images depends on
the sect.
 Buddhist temples come in many shapes and sizes. Pagodas found in China and Japan are
perhaps the best known. Stupas, stone structure built over Buddhist scriptures or relics of the
Buddha or famous holy men, are found throughout the Buddhist world. . Buddhist temples are
designed to symbolise the five elements: 1) Fire,
2) Air,
3) Earth, symbolised by the square base,
4) Water, and
5)Wisdom, symbolised by the pinnacle at the top of the temple.

All Buddhist temples contain an image or a statue of Buddha. People sometimes donate money
to temples and have their names hung on special wooden plaques attached to lanterns of the
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temple. Generally, the larger the donation, the larger the plaque. Buddha never viewed himself as
an object of worship. He probably would not have been very pleased to see his birthday as the
object of veneration and merit so crassly exchanged for money.
 Many temples are tourist attractions and outing destinations for local people. Souvenir amulets
and other offerings are sold in little shops or booths; the names of large contributors are placed in
special boxes; and priests are available to perform special rites.

Angkor Wat, a Hindu-Buddhist temple

7.Features of Buddhist Temples

 Buddhist temples usually contain numerous Buddha statues. The central Buddha images are
often surrounded by burning incense sticks and offerings of fruit and flowers. Some contain the
ashes or bone reliquaries of popular holy man. Many Buddhist temples face south and sometimes
to the east, but never to the north and west which are regarded as unlucky directions according to
Chinese feng shui. Many temples are entered through the left door and exited through the right.
 The main hall is usually found at the center of the temple grounds. Inside are images of the
Buddha, other Buddhist images, altars and space for monks and worshipers. The main hall is
sometimes connected to a lecture hall, where monks gather to study and chant sutras.. Other
buildings include a the sutra depositor, a library or place where Buddhist scripture are kept;
living, sleeping, and eating areas for monks, and offices. Large temples often have special halls,
where treasures are kept and displayed.

 Some temples have shrines for making prayers to the dead filled with funerary plaques with
photographs of dead relatives. The photographs are often of deceased people whose funeral
ceremony was performed at the temple. Some temple feature sets of wooden plaques with the
names of large contributors and other sets with afterlife names of deceased people. In the old
days the afterlife names were only given only to Buddhist priests but now they are given to lay
people who paid the right price and now in some places have become a kind of ranking system in
the after life based in how much one has contributed..

 Many Buddhist temples contain large bells, which are rung during the New Year and to mark
other occasions, and cemeteries. The pathway to the temples is often lined with stone or paper
lanterns donated by worshipers, or strung with prayer flags. Many temples are filled with small
shops selling religious items.

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8. Buddhist Temple Gates
 Buddhist temples usually have outer gates and inner gates protected by statues or paintings of
beasts, fierce gods, or warriors that ward off evil spirits. The gateways are composed of wood,
stone, bronze or even concrete. The beasts include Chinese lions and Korean dogs. Fierce
guardian gods and warriors on the outer gate sometime have lighting bolts coming out of their
nostrils and a serrated swords in their hands. Their duty is to keep demons and evil spirits out of
the temple area.
 The inner gate at the antechamber to the temple complex is often guarded by four guardian
kings, representing the four cardinal directions. The king in the north holds a pagoda
representing earth, heaven and cosmic axis. The king in the east holds a sword with the power to
evoke a black wind that produces tens of thousands of spears and golden serpents. The king in
the west possesses lute. And the king in the south holds a dragon and a wish-fulfilling jewel.

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9.Borobudur: the Ultimate Buddhist Temple
 Borobudur, was built during over a half century by the Sailendra Dynasty after Mahayana
Buddhism was introduced from the Srivijaya Kingdom of South Sumatra in the early half of the
8th century AD. Many Buddhism images and reliefs in Borobudur were made referencing
Gandavyuha and Vajrayana/Esoteric Buddhism from Sri Lanka and East India.
 The stepped pyramid shape without an inner space as found at Borobudur is found in neither
India nor Sri Lanka. And there are no stupas with that similar shape in Southeast Asia prior to
Borobudur. Similar shaped monuments are found only in South Sumatra etc. This type of
monument, originating from the mountain religions of Megalithic culture that predated the
introduction of Buddhism continued through the Historical Age. Borobudur can be seen as a
massive monument of this origin, decorated in Buddhism style.
 

Borobudur in Java

 Borobudur is a step pyramid, built around a natural hill, comprised of a broad platforms topped
by five walled rectangular terraces, and they in turn are topped by three round terraces. Each
terraces is outlined with ornaments and statues and the walls are decorated with bas reliefs. More
than two million blocks of volcanic stone were carved during its construction. Pilgrims have
traditionally walked around the monument in a clockwise manner moving up each of the five
levels, and in process covering five kilometers.
 Unlike most temples, Borobudur did not have actual spaces for worship. Instead it has an
extensive system of corridors and stairways, which are thought to have been a place for Buddhist
ceremonies. Borobodur also has six square courtyards, three circular ones, and a main courtyard
within a stupa at the temple's peak. The entire structure is formed in the shape of a giant twirling
staircase, a style of architecture from prehistoric Indonesia.
 Borobudur is a three'dimensional model of the Mahayana Buddhist universe. The climb to the
top of the temple is intended to illustrate the path an individual must take to reach enlightenment.

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At the main entrance on the east side, visitors can not even see the top. Scholars believed this
was intensional. At the top was the ideal of Buddhist perfection, the World of Formlessness. The
architecture and stonework of this temple has no equal. And it was built without using any kind
of cement or mortar!

 Borobudur resembles a giant stupa, but seen from above it forms a mandala. The great stupa at
the top of the temple sits 40 meters above the ground. This main dome is surrounded by 72
Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa. Five closed square galleries, three open circular
inner terraces, and a concentric scheme express the universe geometrically. At the center of the
top of the temple is a beautifully shaped stupa which is surrounded by three circles of smaller
stupas that have the same shape. There are 72 of these, each with a Buddha statue inside.
Touching them is supposed to bring good luck. Unfortunately many had their heads lopped off
by 19th century explorers looking for souvenirs. The 72 small latticed stupas look like perforated
stone bells. The temple is decorated with stone carvings in bas-relief representing images from
the life of Buddha— the largest and most complete ensemble of Buddhist reliefs in the world.,

 Borobudur is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The ten
levels of the temple symbolize the three divisions of the religion's cosmic system. As visitors
begin their journey at the base of the temple, they make their way to the top of the monument
through the three levels of Budhist cosmology, Kamadhatu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the
world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). As visitors walk to the top the
monument guides the pilgrims past 1,460 narrative relief panels on the wall and the balustrades.

Borobudur, northwest view

10. Indian connect in History of Borobudur

 Borobudur was built by the Sailendra Dynasty kings in the 8th and 9th centuries, around that
time that Charlemagne ruled Europe. When it was completed an epic poet from Ceylon wrote:
"Thus are the Buddha incomprehensible, and incomprehensible is the nature of the Buddhas, and
incomprehensible is the reward of those who have faith in the incomprehensible."

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 According to UNESCO: Founded by a king of the Saliendra dynasty, Borobudur was built to
honour the glory of both the Buddha and its founder, a true king Bodhisattva. This colossal
temple was built between AD 750 and 842: 300 years before Cambodia's Angkor Wat, 400 years
before work had begun on the great European cathedrals. Little is known about its early history
except that a huge army of workers worked in the tropical heat to shift and carve the 60,000
square meters of stone.
 
11. Why it was built remains a mystery. There are no written records on the subject. No ancient
cities have been found nearby. There is no clear sanctuary as a place of worship and no room to
store icons. Many historians and archeologists believe that Borobudur is not a temple but rather a
kind of advertisement for Buddhism. According to an expert on the subject, John Mikic,
Borobudur was built to “to engage the mind” and to “give a visual aid for teaching a gentle
philosophy of life."
 Borobodur was an active religious center until the 10th century when it was abandoned for
reasons that are not clear. At the beginning of the 11th century AD, because of the political
situation in Central Java, divine monuments in that area, including the Borobudur Temple
became completely neglected and given over to decay.According to UNESCO: the Stylistically
the art of Borobudur is a tributary of Indian influences (Gupta and post-Gupta styles).

12.The Shailendra dynasty (IAST: Śailēndra derived from Sanskrit combined

words Śaila and Indra, meaning "King of the Mountain", was the name of a
notable Indianised dynasty that emerged in 8th-century Java, whose reign signified a cultural
renaissance in the region. The Shailendras were active promoters of Mahayana Buddhism with
the glimpses of Hinduism, and covered the Kedu Plain of Central Java with
Buddhist monuments, one of which is the colossal stupa of Borobudur.The Shailendras are
considered to have been a thalassocracy and ruled vast swathes of maritime Southeast Asia,
however they also relied on agricultural pursuits, by way of intensive rice cultivation on
the Kedu Plain of Central Java. The dynasty appeared to be the ruling family of both the Medang
Kingdom of Central Java, for some period, and the Srivijaya Kingdom in Sumatra.

The inscriptions created by Shailendras use three languages; Old Malay, Old Javanese,

and Sanskrit - written either in the Kawi alphabet, or pre-Nāgarī script. The use of Old Malay has
sparked speculation of a Sumatran origin, or Srivijayan connection of this family. On the other
hand, the use of Old Javanese suggests their firm political establishment on Java. The use of
Sanskrit usually indicates the official nature, and/or religious significance, of the event described
in any given inscription. After 824, there are no more references to the Shailendra house in the
Javanese ephigraphic record. Around 860 the name re-appears in the Nalanda inscription in
India. According to the text, the king Devapaladeva of Bengala (Pala Empire) had granted
'Balaputra, the king of Suvarna-dvipa' (Sumatra) the revenues of 5 villages to a Buddhist
monastery near Bodh Gaya. Balaputra was styled a descendant from the Shailendra dynasty and
grandson of the king of Java.
From Sumatra, the Shailendras also maintained overseas relations with the Chola kingdom in
Southern India, as shown by several south Indian inscriptions. An 11th-century inscription
mentioned the grant of revenues to a local Buddhist sanctuary, built in 1005 by the king of the
Srivijaya. In spite the relations were initially fairly cordial, hostilities had broken out in 1025.

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 Rajendra Chola I the Emperor of the Chola dynasty conquered some territories of the Shailendra
Dynasty in the 11th century. The devastation caused by Chola invasion of Srivijaya in 1025,
marked the end of Shailendra family as the ruling dynasty in Sumatra. The last king of
Shailendra dynasty — the Maharaja Sangrama Vijayatunggavarman — was imprisoned and
taken as hostage. Nevertheless, amity was re-established between the two states, before the end
of the 11th century. In 1090 a new charter was granted to the old Buddhist sanctuary, it is the last
known inscription with a reference to the Shailendras. With the absence of legitimate successor,
Shailendra dynasty seems ceased to rule. Other family within Srivijaya mandala took over the
throne

13.The Sailendras and indian buddhism The rise of the pāla dynasty in the 8th century ad
brought paradigm shifts in Buddhist text, ritual, and sacred architecture that sent cultural waves
across the expanding maritime and land trade routes of Asia.The architectural concepts travelled
in the connected Buddhist world between the Ganges valley and Java. A movement of
architectural ideas can be seen from studying the corpus of the temples in the Pāla (750–1214
AD) and Śailendra (775–1090 AD) domains of India and Indonesia. This led to a paradigm shift
in the design of a stūpa architecture at Kesariya (Bihar) that emphasizes the arrangement of
deities in the circular maṇḍalic fashion with a certain numerological configuration of life-size
Buddha figures placed in the external niches of the monument. This new architectural concept
possibly played a key role in the development of a more elaborate structure of Borobudur in
Java.The architectural linkages emerge stronger with the central fivefold structure of the temples
of the Pālas and Śailendras. In order to make the essential comparison, a quick method of
drawing architectural plans is developed that is based on the basic measurements and not
archaeological plans.

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14. Architectural development in stūpa structure: The main archaeological sites of the middle
and lower Ganges plain were recorded in the 19th century by Alexander Cunningham, following
the travel accounts of the Chinese scholar-pilgrims Faxian (c. 337–422) and Xuanzang (c. 602–
64). Northeast India contained not only early Buddhist stūpas and monastic complexes, but also
a range of stūpa structures that advanced from the traditional hemispherical stūpa of Sanchi,
through the cruciform, terraced stūpa structure of Nandangaṛh to the elaborate stūpa-maṇḍala of
Kesariya. Most of the Pāla structures that may have served as a model for Central Javanese
temples are in dilapidated state today, making it difficult to track the architectural borrowings.
But since 1998, the ASI excavations of some parts of Kesariya Stupa in Bihar,India have
uncovered striking design similarities with the massive Central Javanese stūpa of Borobudur,
whose stepped pyramid structure and maṇḍalic arrangement of deities in circular
This article demonstrates how the spread of Buddhism through maritime routes was closely
linked with commercial activities, and how these networks were different from overland routes.
It also provides a survey on early India–China networks and introduces the activities of Buddhist
monks and the importance of Śrīvijayan rulers and their contribution to the maritime spread of
Buddhism. In the second part, the article discusses the role of Sri Lanka and the Bay of Bengal
networks in the maritime transmission of Buddhism. It shows that Buddhism spread in various
forms from one cultural zone of Asia to another. It also demonstrates that the transmission of
Buddhist doctrines, images and texts was a complex process that involved itinerant monks,
traders and travellers.1
The Buddhas of Borobudur, for example, resemble in some ways the stone Buddhas of the Pāla
Buddhist monastery of Ratnagiri in Odisha . There are unresolved debates about the origin of the
Śailendra dynasty69 and their sudden rise to power in Central Java in c. 750–1090 that coincided
with a massive surge in temple construction that included Borobudur (c. 760–830) and Candi
Kalasan.

The construction dates of Buddhist monuments of the Śailendras and the Pālas are close and they
have many design features in common. We have already seen how the design ideas for Buddhist
art and architecture were circulating from the 5th century. It was the network of monks, artists,
and craftsmen that made possible the construction of the huge monuments and ritual centres.

The first record of the association of the Śailendras and Pāla India is dated to the Kelurak
inscription of c. 778 and the last inscription found in India referring to Śailendras is the smaller
Leiden copperplate inscription of c. 1090.By then, the ties between the two states had been
sustained for more than three centuries. 2

From an architectural point of view, a monument like Borobudur can only have been the
culmination of a long period of artistic gestation. Wolff Schoemaker (1924: 22) suggests three to four centuries
of an autochthonous gestation period and argues about the lack of an autonomous development of sculpture in
Java. Given the Śailendra-Pāla contacts and the construction of the earlier Śaiva temples on the Dieng plateau,
it is not beyond the bounds of possibility in this connected Buddhist world that a breakthrough development in
the Pāla domain, which transformed a stūpa into a maṇḍala of life-size Buddhas, was enhanced with narrative
reliefs at Somapura and Vikramaśīla and reached its ultimate form of expression on Javanese soil. Jordaan has
argued that the Śailendras built their monuments in direct cooperation with Indian architects and craftsmen.
This seems possible at the high conceptual level of architectural design, but at the level of relief carving and
highly innovative stūpikā design there is no trace of non-Javanese influences.3

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Balinese Hinduism (Indonesian: Agama Hindu Dharma; Agama Tirtha; Agama Air Suci;
Agama Hindu Bali) is the form of Hinduism practiced by the majority of the population of Bali.[1]
[2]
 This is particularly associated with the Balinese people residing on the island, and represents a
distinct form of Hindu worship incorporating local animism, ancestor worship or Pitru Paksha,
and reverence for Buddhist saints or Bodhisattava.
The population of Indonesian islands is predominantly Muslim (86%).The island of Bali is an
exception where about 87% of its people identify as Hindu (about 1.7% of the total Indonesian
population). Upon independence from the Dutch colonial rule, the 1945 Constitution of
Indonesia guaranteed freedom of religion to all citizens.[4] In 1952, states Michel Picard – an
anthropologist and scholar of Balinese history and religion, the Indonesian Ministry of Religious
Affairs came under the control of Islamists who severely constrained an acceptable definition of
a "religion".[4] To be acceptable as an official Indonesian religion, the ministry defined "religion"
as one that is monotheistic, has codified religious law and added a number of
requirements. Further, Indonesia denied rights of citizenship (such as the right to vote) to anyone
not belonging to an officially recognized monotheistic religion. The minority Balinese Hindus
adapted and declared their form of Hinduism to be monotheistic, and presented it in a form to be
politically eligible for the status of agama. Balinese Hinduism has been formally recognized by
the Indonesian government as one of the official religions practised in Bali.

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Temple offerings…………………………..Ganapati
Balinese Hinduism includes the Indian trinity concept called Trimurti consisting of:

 Brahma
 Wisnu or Vishnu
 Çiwa or Siwa or Shiva
In Balinese Hindu texts, the alternate tripartite concept of Shiva of Indian Shaivism is also found.
This is usually referred in Balinese as "Siwa-Sadasiwa-Paramasiwa", where Shiva is the creator,
the maintainer and the destroyer of cyclic existence.
Along with the traditional Hindu trinity, Balinese Hindus worship a range of gods and goddesses
(Hyang,  Dewata and Batara-Batari), as well others that are unique and not found in Indian
Hinduism. Sang Hyang Widhi literally means "Divine Order",also known
as Acintya ("Inconceivable") or Sang Hyang Tunggal ("Divine Oneness"),[20] is the concept in
Balinese tradition of Hinduism that parallels the metaphysical concept of Brahman among Indian
Hindus. Ceremonies include an empty high seated chair. It is also found at the top of
the Padmasana shrine outside houses and temples. This is for Sang Hyang Widhi
Wasa.According to Balinese Hindu precepts, there are many manifestations of Sang Hyang
Widhi Wasa in the form of gods such as Dewi Sri - the goddess of rice, and many other
gods associated with mountains, lakes, and the sea.
REFERENCES

25
1.China and Beyond in the Mediaeval Period: Cultural Crossings and Inter-Regional
Connections, ed. Dorothy C. Wong and Gustav Heldt (Amherst: Cambria Press, 2014)
2. Chapter 8, Borobudur’s Pāla forebear? A field note from Kesariya, Bihar,
India,swati chemburkar

3.Across Space and Time: Architecture and the Politics of Modernity,By Patrick Haughey,google
books

Balinese Vishnu on garuda

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