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| From Mendut To
Borobudur |
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 MENDUT TABLE OF CONTENTS: An architectural description of the Mendut temple An archaeological description of the Mendut temple From Mendut to Borobudur Mendut and its environs |
 from During the work of
restoration Mr. van Erp again took the matter in hand. [3].He was encouraged to do so by the
coincidence that when, for the survey of the orientation of Borobudur,
a theodolite (a surveying instrument consisting of a tripod, compass,
level, scale and telescope) was fixed on to the central-stupa and the
position of the Mendut brought into range, the randu alas tree (Bombax malabarica), which at that time was growing on the
ruins of Pawon, came exactly into the focal line of the telescope. The
three buildings are therefore situated in one straight line. This might
be accidental, yet in conjunction with the tradition about a road, may
be of some significance. It is noticeable, that in the field to the
East of the village Borobudur-wetan, close to the route the alleged
road must have taken, a headless unfinished, seated image of the Buddha
was found, which judging by the size (85 cm high), cannot have belonged
to the stupa itself, but may easily have had a place in one of the
chapels along the road. Moreover, attention should be paid to the
situation of the entrance to the temple-courts of Pawon and Mendut,
both of which face NW while all other known Buddhist temples of Central
Java, more or less accurately, face east or west; Borobudur itself as
was shown, east, with a very slight divergence, as the axis varies
south-north 1 1/2 degrees towards west from the actual north. Now to
the temple-court from Pawon which faces NW, only one entrance was
found, consisting of a brick staircase in the SW ? thus just in the
direction of the alleged road of communication. To the Judging by the above details,
there was then every motive for examination and experiment to prove if
any remains of the road could be discovered, especially in places where
the ground was heaped up and there seemed a chance of something being
hidden below. In 1911 such an experiment actually took place at
different, points between We can therefore go no
further than the statement that the existence of such a road is very
probable judging by the position of the buildings, though direct
evidence of it is entirely wanting. It is surely more than likely,
apart from the supposition of the road, that a pilgrim setting out to
honor the Borobudur, would be sure to pay the same homage to the
Mendut, not 3 km away, where he could worship the great image of the
Teacher between his two most famous Bodhisattvas. The impression that
this beautiful and sublime group still makes on the uninitiated of
today, will have been far deeper to the believer of ancient times. On the
stupa is pictured the life-story of the Buddha but there was no
separate image of the Savior placed to receive the adoration of his
followers and satisfy the yearning which every faithful pilgrim would
undoubtedly feel; while this they could find at the Mendut. To this end
the Mendut might be considered as a completion of the The character of the
Mendut writing is very old Kawi, the virama (a symbol used
with Indic scripts to indicate a dead consonant) is still given by a
stroke above the letter. Whether this is the same as that of Borobudur,
is not quite certain, for by chance, no virama
is really included in the remaining inscriptions. [7] Yet on comparing the rest
of the letters, it appears that the Mendut inscription is just as old
as that of |
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We shall in due time
speak of the characteristics (of Mendut) with relation to Javanese
Buddhism, and the way in which they may supplement those shown by
Borobudur. [9] The connection between
Borobudur and the small Candi Pawon, is still closer than that of
Borobudur and Mendut. Wilsen considers that this small building was
intended as a place for the pilgrim, before visiting the holy hill, to
meditate and free his mind from all impure thoughts, [10] and van Erp is inclined
to agree with this conjecture, especially as the (sculptured reliefs)
of Pawon are in the same spirit as those of Borobudur. In the article
in which the latter makes this observation, [11] he endeavors to
investigate more particularly the meaning of this temple. He remarks
that some of the sculpture can be connected with the god of riches
Kubera. [12] This god, very popular in
Java to judge by the many little bronze images of him that exist, was
specially honored in the domestic religion, and though not exclusively
a Buddhist one, was much venerated by the Buddhists. He is found, as
IJzerman has already made known, in the porch of the Mendut; Kubera
bronzes with the Buddhist confession of faith [13] occur frequently; we know
even of a special Kubera-temple, viz. the Candi Asu, the…eastern front
temple of the Buddhist sanctuary Candi Sewu, where no less than five
images of the god of riches have been found. [14]. At Candi Pawon we find
first, on the only remaining side of the staircase, a kalpavrksa
(divine tree) with treasure vases at the foot, a “wishing-tree”
designed in the usual style of Javanese art, hung with garlands and
shaded by an umbrella. Again, in the tympanum above the entrance, there
is a pair of human figures with twisted legs such as might be expected
of the followers of the deformed Kubera, each of them bearing a
treasure vase, the contents of which they pour out, while other vases
are standing and lying behind them. Finally, on the center-panels, back
and sides, of the temple another “wishing-tree” is seen with the
traditional treasure-pots and flanked by a pair of kinnara (semi-divine being with a half-human, half animal body). It is true, as will be
seen later on, that the “wishing-tree” with kinnara
at Borobudur is specially a representation of heaven, generally the
heaven of the king of the gods, Shakra -- but on the other hand Kubera
also has his paradise, Indian mythology represents him with kinnaras, and in the porch of the Mendut where
the chief panels depict Kubera and his spouse, the smaller side panels
show just such a wishing-tree with treasure pots and kinnaras.
If we further take into consideration that Kubera is
the chosen god of porches -- to Van Erp’s reference [15] to Hindustan, we may add
that in the rock-temples of the Western Ghats whose Buddhism has a
decided resemblance to that of Java. [16] Kubera is also to be
found at the entrance -- that the already-mentioned Kubera temple Candi
Asu, is the eastern front temple of the great sanctuary Candi Sewu and
that the Pawon also lies east of Borobudur; then the possibility is not
to be denied that we might look on Candi Pawon also as a Kubera-temple
and that it has once contained an image of the god of riches. We must allow that Van
Erp’s explanation is most attractive and we have no evidence to bring
against the conjecture being correct. The site of Candi Pawon was so
carefully examined during the restoration of that small temple, that we
can be well assured no Kubera image or fragment thereof could now be
found in the ground, and the strict inquiries during the restoration
among the natives after images or reliefs that may have been preserved,
prevents any surprise being possible from that quarter. The image (or
images) of Candi Pawon is gone and will probably never be seen again.
Stone images of Kubera are very rare in Java; of the few examples
known, there is only one that, to judge by the size, could have been
the chief image of a small temple. This image is to be seen in the
museum at Batavia [17] and was brought there
from the grounds of the residency of |
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| FOOTNOTES: |
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(1) Rapp. |
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