Borobudur and Prambanan
For years I had been yearning to visit Borobudur, one of the remaining world wonders. I was there finally, with a wonderful surprise. There were also the spectacular Hindu temples of Prambanan. Together, they represent the legacy of the Hindu and Buddhist religions of ancientIndia, a colonial power inIndonesiaat the end of the first millennium.
We arrived at Prambanan early in the morning. The sight of the temples was mesmerizing, even viewed from a distance. No word could be found to describe our joy and surprise in seeing them.
The words of historians are convenient. They simply tell us that King So and So built the temples during such years. But if you rely on the words of historians, you will not go to see these wonders. For who cares about kings and their deeds?
I could not tell you how beautiful and striking the temples are. You can see them better from the photos and the narrations on YouTube. But I should tell you that the builders were stone masons, artists, monks, architects, visionaries, and further back, poets and believers. There are also tons of questions. Who were they? Was there a plan? Was there a master-mind? Was there a manager? Was there a training school for builders and sculptors? What were these temples for, or about?
Just as we still do not know how the Pyramid was built, we know next to nothing on how the Prambanan Temples were built. The challenge to know is many times more because these temples are tower structures, without a large foundation, like the pyramids. There are many times more pieces of stones piled up, with no cement or known adhesive between them. These stones have hundreds of different sizes and shapes. They just fit together to reinforce one another, bound for the sky.
Seen at close range, even as you examine them in the pictures, you will see how well all the stone pieces fit. How did the artist/masons cut and carve the stones, and with what tools? Steel was not yet invented. But the carvings were done superbly. In the thousands of relief carvings which depict human birth, death, good and evil, a single figure was carved in two or more pieces of stones, and then fitted together in perfect form. It boggles the mind to try to know why all these were done, as well as how they were done, with such precision and majestic beauty.
Once upon a time, about 1200 years ago, there were some 240 such buildings in Java, marking the land and the sky with their haunting presence. Who can estimate the power of religion even as an import in a colony? But then, history also records a fading of power, in both forced occupation and the intruders. I can find no description in books what made the Indians leave, and why had they left so totally. The towering legacy left here had been abandoned by its makers. It has now become a legacy of all human beings, to transcend time and space, religion and culture.
I wish I could say that this transcendence is progress. I cannot, as I stand next to the temples, and savor their grandeur and magnificence. They had soared up at a time when man did not know modern science, systems approach, academic physics, measurement, and geometry. It was intuition powered by determination and imagination that had enabled thousands of “ordinary” artisans to create these architectural wonders, to mark the paddy fields dotted by volcanic mountains. Was it a deviance against the tempestuous wraths of Nature?
The Hindu religion believes in three gods, consisting of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the protector, and Shiva the destroyer. They are all kind and loving. Shiva has the double power to rid of all evils and to give birth to many offspring. It is a very practical religion, concerned with helping all lives on earth to thrive and be happy. There is no after-life.
The tradition began some 4000 years ago in Indian literature, which is all expressive religious poems, the Veda. The oldest Veda is a collection of 1280 poems of song scripts and music of offerings to the gods. They were sung by everyone, from enchanters to commoners, to express their understanding of heaven and earth, as well as the intricacies of life. At Harbour Front inToronto in the1980’s, I used to enjoy such chanting in Bengalis, an emotional language which has intoxicating powers.
From the Veda, generations of Indians learned about life in its varying forms, consisting of birds, insects and animals, trees and grass other green growths. Many of these became gods,33 intotal, to oversee that man enjoys his provisions and love. In turn, every human being must exercise compassion and caring to other forms of life, while he curbs his many desires.
The tenth volume of the Veda is devoted almost entirely on the god Soma, a plant which produces a juice for making intoxicating wine, the divine wine. Human beings who had a chance to drink it could live forever. Centuries later, poems written on the Soma invariably linked it with the moon, thus making this god also a moon god. It is present in all the poems praising the other gods, ending the verses with the lines:
“He accepts this cup of Soma wine
He listens to this my praising song”
One of the few female gods is Ushas, the god of dawn. Poems written for her are the most lyrical and rhythmically beautiful. She inspires poets by bringing in golden hues in the sky to light up men’s imaginations, stimulating them to pain colours with words. She also sinks sadness in the poets’ minds, as dawn always follows darkness, and time and change are inevitable to impinge on life. Here are a few sample lines:
Here comes Ushas to paint beauty in the sky
Born is brilliance to shine far and wide
To prepare for the sun rise in the morn
As darkness recedes to welcome dawn
In our presence is the daughter divine
A quiet maiden with a pure mind
Your intelligence and mine intertwine
Enlightened my mind soars up high
The many varying forms and activities of the 33 gods, vividly portrayed in the poems so widely sung and echoed among the people, gave rise to the unique and rich creations in Indian music, paintings, sculptures and architecture. In fact, art had become a dominant part of daily life. Its grandeur, colour constellations and forms were seen on all objects to add to their sense pleasure and vitality. Thus, from the very beginning, Indian life was poetic, dynamic, dazzling, visually beautiful, joyful, and religious. These characteristics precipitate the artistic expressions that we see in the Prambanan Temples today.
Buddha inherited the Hindu tradition and brought about a new perception of life and death, fulfillment and happiness. For him the grandeur and beauty experienced by the senses are but illusions, fascinations of the mind and emotions at best. The highest fulfillment in life is to be at peace with oneself, as well as at fusion with the external environment and the universe. Man can achieve this by leading a simple life, and through meditation. The human mind is capable in knowing the most intricate depth of knowledge when it is focused and serene. From this perspective, time and space are temporal and eternal, and life could be everlasting at nirvana, when the spirit is at fusion with the revolving universe.
Thus, Buddhist art is enriched with a new dimension of beauty, that of unlimited time and space. In addition to the Hindu tradition, Indian art also projects into the infinity of spiritual serenity and peace, feelings of being at ease and free. These feelings are activated by poetry, silence, restfulness, and a focus to be good.
One could have these feelings visiting Borobudur, especially at dawn and sunset. If you visit in the morning, you can begin by going up the platforms, and walk along the corridors on all four sides quietly. You can stop as you please to appreciate the reliefs on the walls. There are 2672 of them. They tell stories of Buddha’s life and teachings. Do not miss any chance to stop to look down on the green paddy fields far away, and cast your eyes beyond the woods to the farthest horizon. You will experience a sense of silent grandeur and spacious serenity, a perfect freedom of spirit.
Borobudur is a Mandala, a place of teaching and meditation. So, do not try to count the number of statues, or estimate the measurements of the two million stones that made up the monument. Just feel what you feel.
On the seventh platform, as you go around the circular corridor, you will see 72 large stupas with perforations. Inside each sits the statue of a meditating monk. Those with square perforations house monks who were approaching nirvana. Those with diamond perforations house monks who might yet change their minds and return to ordinary life. A giant stupa mounts the top of the Borobudur, closed. Inside, the statue of Buddha sits. One need not be concern if he is really there.
I was concerned, however, that some of the statue heads in the open had been severed. They are the marks of Dutch and British looters who felt it right to take them home to decorate their gardens; or simply to sell them for money. These are crimes against humanity. UNESCO should now investigate and try its best to bring them back where they belong.
One could not but linger when leaving Borobudur, because of its sustaining beauty, and the serene feeling it precipitates. There are also these questions that I asked at the beginning of this article. Their answers remain unsolved mystery. My wife asks an additional one. Why is it that the Buddhist temples in Burma,Thailand, and China are so different from these in Java and India? I have no adequate answer. I conjecture to say that Buddhism had ceased to be a religion after it was introduced to China. Without the penetrating power of religion, it would be impossible to build monuments of such elevating, aesthetic grandeur.
Hindu and Buddhist art did leave clear marks in China, as seen in the Dunhuang Grotto and other places in the southwest. But such art was soon tempered by Chan (禅) wisdom, a Chinese transformation of Buddhist belief. Chan aesthetics favour both the inner and outer beauty of the world and the universe. As seen in the brush and ink paintings, the beauty of nature in its diverse forms and colours, appears as much in the strokes as in the empty space.
Buddha is not a god. He was an enlightened human being who loved himself and others, including all lives in the universe. As a person he had all human emotions and desires which spent his intelligence and freedom. He taught his followers to free themselves from the bondage of emotions and desires, so as to achieve enlightenment and happiness, as well as a union with the eternal universe after death.
The history of Buddhist development in China leaves many gaps and doubts. Beginning with Damo, the first monk from India, the process of spreading Buddha’s teachings was personal rather than institutional. Then, after six successors, the last teacher, Huinan, was an illiterate with far reaching intuitions. He decided that the truth dwells in everyone’s heart and mind, rather than contained in the words of the Sutra.
From then on, Chinese poets and intellectuals took over Chan, and assimilated its spirit in life as in poetry. As a result, Buddhism remains a belief and a way of life for individuals. Its values intertwine with those of Confucius and Laoze in Chinese culture. The essential truth is that man is free, and happiness is harmony with nature and time.