Borobudur Once a Forgotten Buried Temple

Borobudur temple is an ancient Buddhist temple that becomes popular tourism attraction in Indonesia and in Asia. Borobudur Temple is located in Magelang, Central Java province, Indonesia. Magelang is surrounded by many active volcanoes, such as Mount Merapi, Mount Sumbing, and Mount Merbabu.

Borobudur Temple was built in 750 AD by an architect named Gunadharma, from the Syailendra dynasty. This temple is the largest Buddhist temple monument during the Ancient Mataram Kingdom reign.

Mount Merapi, Magelang, Central Java

In 1006 AD, Mount Merapi had erupted. So the Borobudur temple was allegedly buried in lava and disappeared from civilization. Since then no one knows the existence of the temple because many people around the temple also died and some were displaced.

There are several things that led to the emergence of the number 1006 which in the inscriptions or old manuscripts is called the pralaya (a great disaster), the disaster is considered to be related to the history of the eruption of Merapi and makes it considered as a truth.

One of them is the discovery of the Pucangan Inscription dating to 1041 AD. Believed by H. Kern in Een Oud-Javaansche steeninscriptie van Koning Er-Langga (1913), the inscription made by King Airlangga of the Kahuripan Kingdom revealed that a pralaya had occurred in the Ancient Mataram Kingdom in 928 Saka or 1006 AD.

Another historical clue, which shows the cause of the burial of Borobudur Temple is the Calcutta inscription. In the Calcutta Inscription that reads Awama which means the sea of ​​milk says that possibility. The word Awama is then interpreted as Merapi’s lava which then allows Borobudur to be buried in cold lava.

According to some geology researches, an earthquake accompanied the volcanic eruption and damaged the Borobudur Temple which was built in the 9th century. This tectonic activity was followed by the eruption of Mount Merapi whose eruption was expected to bury the Borobudur temple.

After the eruption of Mount Merapi, the Ancient Mataram King at that time, Mpu Sindok, moved the capital and ordered the people to move to East Java. Since then the Borobudur temple has been abandoned. After a long time buried by volcanic ash, bushes and wild trees began to grow, until the temple resembled a small hill. At the same time, no one made a pilgrimage to Borobudur.

The ruins of Borobudur temple when it was first discovered

In 1811–1816 the island of Java was under British rule. Thomas Stamford Raffles who is a Governor is very interested in the history of Java. He collected ancient Javanese antique arts and wrote notes on Javanese history and culture, and he deliberately toured the island of Java searching for historical inscriptions.

He arrived in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia in 1814, he received news about a large monument in the forest area of ​​Bumisegoro, Magelang, Central Java. Raffles was very interested but was unable to attend because he was on duty. He also sent H.C. Cornelius to investigate the monument in question.

H.C. Cornelius finally investigated it by bringing 200 of his subordinates to cut down trees and dig the soil that covered the temple. But at that time the land was considered prone to landslides so that excavation was not optimal, then he gave a sketch of the Borobudur temple to Sir Thomas. Although Sir Thomas Raffles is considered to be very meritorious.

In 1835 Java was controlled by the Dutch, Governor-General Hartmann continued the work of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. He was interested in researching and caring for the Borobudur Temple. Unfortunately, he did not write a note with what he did, but the temple cleansing continued. In 1842 Hartmann discovered the main stupa but its contents were empty.

F.C. Wilsen Sketch

Next, a Dutch engineer named F.C. Wilsen, an expert in engineering examined the monument and drew a relief sketch of Borobudur. Until the research continued by J.F.G Brumund to examine in more detail the monument and combine the reliefs that have been drawn in F.C. Wilsen, he completed his research in 1859.

The Borobudur temple begins to restored under the supervision of a Dutch engineer, Theodoor van Erp in 1902. The major restoration performed until the 1960s, before it’s opened to the public as a tourism attraction. This temple was included in the UNESCO list in 1991 as a Cultural Heritage Site of Indonesia.

Another reason why big temple-like Borobudur forgotten is the socio-cultural factor. Since time has changed, Sanskrit that used to be the language of Ancient Mataram Kingdom was no longer spoken, whereas the inscription that shows the location of Borobudur is written in Sanskrit. Therefore, no one knows about the location Borobudur and there’s no comprehensive research about it before the Dutch colonial period.

Another socio-cultural factor is religious change. The locals who lived surrounding Borobudur mostly converts to Islam or Catholics, so they are no longer visit Borobudur temple, which is a Buddhist temple to make a pilgrimage, therefore this temple becomes forgotten.

References:
R.W. van Bemmelen. The Geology of Indonesia (1949)

H. Kern Een Oud-Javaansche steeninscriptie van Koning. Er-Langga (1913)

Letusan Gunung Merapi yang Konon Mengubah Sejarah Jawa — Tirto.ID