The Van Buren press., 1897-10-30
BORo BoEDoR.
4 Great BUDDHIST Ruin in Jay. m
Rivals the pyramta. st

Miss E. r. Scidmore has written
count of visit to the Buddhist rnis
i'll Java, under the title of "Prisonora -
State at Boro Boedor" Miss scidmas
says oil the great temple:
"A gray ruin showed indistinctlv =,
a hilltop, and, after run throunl
long, arched avenue, we came ont sas
denly at the base of the hill-temnle ~
stead of mad triumphal sweep aronas
the great pyramid, the ponies balkas
rooted themselves past any lashino ~
'Gr-r-ree-ing,' and we got ont ans
walked under the MONDAY sun, around
the hoary high altar of Buddha. dow
an avenue of tall kanari trees. linaa
with statues, gargoyles, and other sueh
recha, or remains of ancient art. In tba
passagran, or government resthouse
''The deep portieo of the passapra,.
commands an angle and two sides :,
the square temple, and from the mass
Of blaekened and bleached stones H.
eye finally arranges and follows ont
the broken lines of the terraeed nvr,-
mid, covered with such wealth Of or
nament as no other structure in tha
world presents. The first near view
is almost disappointing. In the blur q,
details it is difficult to realize the yast
proportions of this twelve-eentury-old
structure, IA pyramid. the base plat.
form of which is 500 feet square fin.
first terrace walls are 300 feet souare
and the final dome rises to height of
100 feet. Stripped of every kindly re-
lief of vine and moss, every gap and ru-
med angle visible, there was some
thing garish, raw, and almost disor.
dered at the first glance, almost as lar
ring as newness, and the hard black
and-white effect of the dark lichens
ON the gray trachyte made it look like
bad photograph of the pile.
"The temple stands on broad plat.
form, and rises first in five square ter.
races, inclosing galleries, or process
sional paths between their walls, which
are covered on each side with bas-re-
lief sculptures. If placed in single line
these bas-reliefs would extend for three
miles. The terrace walls hold 1876 inches
OF alcoye chapels, where lfe-size Bud
dhas sit serene upon lotus cushions.
Staireases extend in straight lines from
each of the four sides, passing under
stepped or pointed arches the keystones
of which are elaborately carved masks,
and rows of sockets in the jambs
show where wood or metal doors once
swung.
"Aboye the square terraces are three
circular terraces, where II lattieed
dagobas (reliquaries in the shape of
the ealyx or bud of the lotus) inelose
each a seated image-72 more Buddhas
sitting in these inner circles of Nirvana,
facing a great dagoba, or final cupola,
The exact function or purpose of which
as KEY TO the whole structure is still
the puzzle of arehaeologists. This final
shrine is 80 feet in diameter, and either
covered relic of Buddha, ot a central
well where the ashes OF priests and
princes were deposited or is form sur
viving from the tree temples Of thee earli-
est primitive east, where nature worship
prevailed. The English engineers made
an opening in the solid exterior, and
found an unfinished statue of Buddha
Oh a platform over deep wel-hole
and its head, half-buried in debris
still smiles upon one from the deep cav
ern. A staircase has been constructed
| TO the summit of this dagoba, and from
il one looks down upon the whole struc-
| ture as on ground-plan drawing, and
| out over finely cultivated fields and
thick palm-groyes to the matchless
peaks and the nearer hills that inclose
| this fertile valley of the Boro Boedor-
| 'the very finest view ever saw wrote
Marianne North.
"Three-fourths Of the terrace chapels
and the upper dagobas have orumpled'
! hundreds of statues are headless arm
less, overturned, missing; tees, or nm
| ials, are gone from the bell-roofs; ter
race walls bulge, lean outward, anu
| have fallen in long stretches; and the
| circular platforms and the processlonai
pains unuuldte as II Sdi 'iI "
were at the moment rocking the mass.
Nc cement was used to hold the fltteu
stones together, and other Hindoo Pc
/ cularities of construction are the en-
tire absence of column, pillar, OF ah
arch. Vegetation wrought great rum
during its buried centuries, but ear'h'
quakes and tropical rains are worf'
| ing now a slow but surer rum 1lla'
will leave little of Boro Boedor ior inc
next century's wonder-seekers' uf''es,
the walls are soon Strengthened anu
| strongly braeed. d.'-Century.