A visit to Borobudur is incomplete without visiting Candi Mendut and Chandi Pawon. The three are grouped as the Borobudur Temple Compounds. And that’s what we did.
The Borobudur Temple Compounds consist of three monuments: namely the Borobudur Temple and two smaller temples situatued to the east on a straight axis to Borobudur. The two temples are Mendut Temple, whose depiction of Buddha is represented by a formidable monolith accompanied by two Bodhisattvas, and Pawon Temple, a smaller temple whose inner space does not reveal which deity might have been the object of worship. Those three monuments represent phases in the attainment of Nirvana. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/592
Chronologically, mendut is the oldest of the three. The stairs leading to the main temple is quite steep. Inside the temple are seated three huge deities. One is Buddha Sakyauni in ‘Dharmachakra Mudra’. On either side of him are Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani.
Buddha Sakyamuni
Avalokiteshvara
Vajrapani
On the outer walls along the steep stair, we find carvings of Jataka tales.
The clever monkey and the crocodile
The Turtle and the Swans
A few more from the temple –
Even to this day, Mendut is used as a religious temple. When Buddhist pilgrims visit Borobudur, they always visit Mendut first. They then walk to the nearby temple Pawon and end their pilgrimage with a climb to the top of Borobudur. While Mendut is not as famous as its bigger cousin, Borobudur, it still stands strong as one of the greatest Buddhist temples on ancient Java. https://www.worldsiteguides.com/asia/indonesia/mendut/ Candi Pawan
Candi Pawon
Between Mendut and Borobudur stands Pawon temple, a jewel of Javanese temple architecture. Most probably, this temple served to purify the mind prior to ascending Borobudur.
shop that sells traditional folk crafts outside the temple
My admiration for these architectural wonders is rekindled after this post… Every temple that I visited, every sculpture that I watched awe struck… is well preserved not only in my gadget, but in my memory too. I know these medieval temples would call me back..
Let’s start our journey to the mesmerising medieval temples- Buddhist and Hindu temples of Indonesia. This isn’t a research paper. Hence, as mentioned in the previous post, we would do a pictorial tour with an introduction to the historic site.
I am delighted to share these pictures and hope you will be encouraged to visit these amazing architectural wonders. Or if you have already visited, please share your thoughts.
First in the list of the temples of Yogyakarta is Borobudur ..
The Borobudur Temple Compounds is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world, and was built in the 8th and 9th centuries AD during the reign of the Syailendra Dynasty. The monument is located in the Kedu Valley, in the southern part of Central Java, at the centre of the island of Java, Indonesia.
The main temple is a stupa built in three tiers around a hill which was a natural centre: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. The walls and balustrades are decorated with fine low reliefs, covering a total surface area of 2,520 m2. Around the circular platforms are 72 openwork stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha.
Couple of weeks ago, I had a surprise waiting for me. A surprise from as far as Indonesia. Almost 4 years ago, we left Cambodia and 5 years ago, we made our memorable trip to Bali, Yogyakarta and Jakarta – the mesmerising cities of Indonesia. This surprise was a delicious package, sent by my Indonesian friend ‘I’.
As a person who respects traditional cuisine and culture, I am amazed by the ‘cuisinical’ links that my state Tamilnadu shares with south-east Asia – especially with the countries I have visited till date- Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
‘I’ addressed me as ‘sister’ – I am reminded of the Tamil verse written in Purananooru – one of the many collections of poetries in the Sangam age (3rd BCE to 3rd ACE), , by the Tamil Poet ‘kaniyan poongundranar’:
To us all towns are our own, everyone our kin, Life’s good comes not from others’ gifts, nor ill, Pains and pain’s relief are from within, Death’s no new thing, nor do our bosoms thrill When joyous life seems like a luscious draught. When grieved, we patient suffer; for, we deem This much-praised life of ours a fragile raft Borne down the waters of some mountain stream That o’er huge boulders roaring seeks the plain Tho’ storms with lightning’s flash from darkened skies. Descend, the raft goes on as fates ordain. Thus have we seen in visions of the wise! We marvel not at the greatness of the great; Still less despise we men of low estate.
Kaniyan Poongundran, Purananuru – 192 (Adapted from translation by G.U.Pope, 1906)
yaadhum oore yaavarum kelir – the first line of the poem means – ‘To us all towns are our own, everyone our kin’ – the thought of world is one, written two millennia ago is a startling evidence of the well established Tamil civilization.
This thought of oneness is what I felt, when I visited the medieval temples of south-east asia. The cultural and historical impact that the temples have left behind in my mind is huge. The historical sites are not mere tourist attractions to me – but they are evidences of a long lost civilizational connect – often researched by scholars.
The former Indian President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam while rendering his speech on the occasion of the golden jubilee year of the European Union in April 2007 spoke about Kaniyan Poongundranar and his ‘world is one’ concept-
“i am reminded of the dream of the indian poet kaniyan poongundranar who articulated 3,000 years back in tamil classic Purananuru , he says “yaadhum oore yaavarum kelir” which means, “i am a world citizen, every citizen is my own kith and kin” he said 3,000 years back”
When ‘I’, my Indonesian friend sent me a few traditional sweets of the country, I was delighted. First, there was the joy of receiving a surprise, next the joy of receiving one of my favorite delicacies, next was the incomparable elation of revisiting the past – the recent touristic and the distant historic past.
This is the exotic package I received –
on top: Dadar Gulung; below left: Onde Onde; below right: Kelepon
Dadar Gulung is sweet coconut pancake; Onde Onde are deep fried glutinous rice balls filled with mung beans and sugar and wrapped in sesame seeds, and Kelepons are green coloured steamed rice balls filled with liquid palm sugar and coated in grated coconut.
All of these and more that we tasted during our Indonesian trip back in 2014 – from my photo collection-
dadar gulung and kelepon
kolak – sweet potatoes, banana, rice balls, jackfruit in coconut milk and palm sugar
Now, one would understand my delight after I received onde onde, dadar gulung and kelepon from ‘I’. The taste that I had cherished for so long, arrived so beautifully and rekindled my fondness for south-east Asian countries.
Our spread in the hotel dinner also had these –
Sayur Lodeh – vegetable soup in coconut milk, which resembled our own sodhi
ayam bakar – grilled chicken
ikan asin – salted fish
Shrinking the world into one nation and considering all citizens as kith and kin is certainly an unbelievable noble thought. The same way – respecting different beliefs, embracing different cultures, accepting and reciprocating the warmth of humanity is what strikes us the most in the medieval Indonesian historical places that we visited.
History provides clues to various aspects of identity of a race. Language, Religion, Trade, Culture, Cuisine and many more contribute to this great search called ‘Identity’. Indonesia teaches strong lessons to countries that fail to understand and preserve their rich history and heritage.
A country that has transformed into an Islamic Nation, Indonesia sets an example in conserving its rich past, wherein medieval temples might occupy the largest fraction in its historical study. The temples, especially in Yogyakarta or Jogja stand as great representations of the country’s antiquity and glorious past.
The excellent way, these have been preserved shows the country’s respect for its past, irrespective of the present faith. This open minded acceptance of history is what makes Indonesia, a country par tolerance.
In my next post, I invite the readers to a pictoral tour of the beautiful medieval temple sites that we visited in the province of Yogyakarta.
Dosaikal 