The Dickinson press., 1905-10-07
JAVA'S OLD TEMPLES

- AFN = SAO AAAAo
the SPLENDID RUINS THAT MARK.
n! The CENTER OF THE ISLAND.
They Dnte tack to the Eighth or
Ninth Century and show..Thnt Their
Builders Were Far Advanced In the
Art of Architecture. =
If most people were asked tosna,mc
those countries of the world in which
are still to be found splendid archi-
tectural remains of bygone civiiiza-
tons, the names of Egypt, India, Syria
and Mexico would at once be forth
coming, but few would place the island
Ct Java on the list. Yet not one Of
these could show ruins more. numerous
or more, splendid. says the London
Globe.
This may seem an exaggeration, but
the same opinion has been universally
expressed by the most eminent writ
ers on the subject. AS to the date and
rise and fall of a civilization which
has left behind it such splendid memo
rails authorities are much at variance.
but for the most part they are placed
between the beginning and the eighth
OF, ninth century of our era. Certain it
is, however, that at one time the island
must have been ruled by a Hindoo or
Buddhist people far advanced in the
1rfc nf OI,ahitnafy1pn on1 c1y,1,%,r,o M
Among the finest and best preserved
Of these ruins is the great temple
known as the Tyandi Barabudur, sit
uated near the center of Java, in the
sultanate of D%jokjakarta. Originally
designed probably as a dagaba or rest
ing place for a portion of the ashes Of
Buddha, this building rises in the form
of a terraced pyramid, the part ut pres
ent above the. ground being about $50
feet square by about 120 feet high. The
terraces at present visible are seven
in number, the whole being surmountel
by a dome thirty feet in height.
Each of these terraces is covered Oh
the inner wall formed by the terrace
above, and in the lower terrace also
on outer walls running round them,
by a series Of bas-reliefs which for
extent, variety and artistic merit have
probably not their equals in the world.
Running in a double tier round the
lower galleries and in a single tier
round the upper one they are esti.
mated to have a total length of over
three miles and represent by a continu-
GUS series of pictures not only the birth
and life of the Lord Buddha in his final
incarnation, but also a large number
the master in the gradually ascend
ing forms Of animals and Of men in
various positions in life, and record
his good deeds in each of those lives.
Thus we have the story Of the Bodhi-
satva when on earth in the form Of
a hare. Indra, the lord Of heaven, in
the form of a traveller, weary and hull
cry, NJ down to test the virtues OF
the various beasts. He receives fish
from an otter, a dish Of curds from a
! jackal and fruit from a monkey. but
the poor hare, having nothing else ia
offer, presents his own body to the hun,
cry traveller and throws himself on tu
a fire to be roasted. Interrupted now
in many places by the work Of a thou
sand years Of earthquakes, tropical
storms and fanatical Mohammedan de-
stroyers, this wonderful picture story
runs up through gallery after gallery
to where, in the central dome, entirely
~1o1ol Co o~I hi11on of0n6 tho finCl
image Of the master, free from any
ornament, crown. or aureole, the Bad
dha raised above all earthly desires or
passions.
In the whole Of the series at present
above ground there were originally no
fewer than 2,141 complete bas-relief
pictures, of which 988 are still in a
fair state Of preservation. There were,
in addition, in inches round the ter
race walls, AL statues Of Buddha lar
ger than life, besides smaller ones past
counting. The whole of this work is
done not in soft stone, easy to manipu-
late, but in the hardest and most i'll
tractable kinds Of lava and trachyte.
Alfred Russell Wallace in his classica!
work on the Malay archipelago re-
marks, "The amount Of human labor
and skill expended on the great pyra-
mid Of Egypt sinks into ins~igniicance
when compared with that required to
complete this sculptured hill temple
in the interior Of Java" vi.
There is, however, one peculiar point
in the construction which tends to
show that the builders were not as
good engineers as they were sculptors
and architects. Round the entire base
there runs what looks" like a broad
pavement of cubes Of stone laid but
not: cemented. together. This broad
pavement has been removed in. sec
lions, each section being replaced in
turn, and underneath was found an
other terrace, larger than any Of those
now visible and having it's walls part
W but not entirely, covered with 160
more bas-relief pictures in fine preser-
walton. These were photographed and
covered in again. The total mass of
square blocks. Of stone covering this
hidden terrace amounts to 1000 cubic
yards.