Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-02
EAST INDIAN TEMPLES
BUDDHIST RUINS IN JAVA BEAU
TRULY PRESERVED.
They Are Exceptionally Fine and
Rank With the Best in the World
Yet Discovered.
From the London Globe.

| From the London Globe
! If the people were asked to name those
countries OF the world in which are still
| to be found splendid architectural remains
| Of bygone civilizations. the names of Egypt.
India, Syria and Mexico would at once be
forthcoming; but few would place the is
land of Java on the list: yet not one of
these could show ruins more numerous or
more splendid. This may seem an exag-
geration. but the same opinion has been
universally expressed by the most eminent
writer's on the subject. AS to the date Of
the rise and fall Of civilization which has
left behind it such splendid memorials au-
thorities are much at variance. but for the
most part they are placed between the be-
ginning and the eighth or ninth centuries of
our era. Certain 1t Is. however, that at
one time the island must have been ruled
by Hindu or Buddhist people far advanced
In the arts of architecture and sculpture.
Tyandi Barabudur.
Among the finest and best preserved Of
these ruins is the great temple known as
the Tyandi Barabudur, situated near the
center of Java in the sultanate of Djok-
takarta Originally designed probably as
dagaba, or resting place for a portion
of the ashes of Buddha. this building rises
In the form of terraced pyramid, the part
at present above the ground being about
$50 feet square by about 100 feet in height
The terraces at present visible are seven in
number. the whole being surmounted by a
dome thirty feet in height. Each of these
terraces Is covered on the inner wall formed
by the terrace above, and in the lower ter
races also on the outer walls running
around them. by series of has reliefs,
which for extent, variety and artistic merit
nave probably not their equals in the world.
In 6n.,tI Ia 1t
galleries and in single tier around the
upper ones. they are estimated to have a
total length Of over three miles, and repre-
sent by continuous series of pictures not
only the>brth and life of the lord Buddha
In his final incarnation, but also a large
number of the "Jatakas" or previous lives
or the master in the gradually ascending
forms OF animals and of men in various
positions in life, and :ecord his good deeds
in each OF those lives. Thus we have the
story of the Bodhisa;va when on earth in
the form of hare.
lndra, the lord of heaven. in the form of
traveller. weary and hungry, comes down
10 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 to offer. presents his own body to the
hungry traveller and throws himself on to
fire to be roasted Interrupted now in
many places by the work of thousand
years OF earthquakes. tropical storms and
wonderful picture story runs up through
gallery after gallery to where in the CEN
trail dome, entirely closed In and hidden,
stood the final image of the master, free
from any ornament. crown or aureole the
Buddha raised above all earthly desires or
passions.
Statues and Pictures.
In the whole of the series at present
above ground there were originally no few
er than 2.141 complete bas-relief pictures,
OF which 9SS are still In fair state of pre-
servation. There were in addition in inches
around the terrace walls, Al statues Of
Buddha larger than life. besides smaller
ones past counting. The whole of this
work Is done not in soft stone, easy to
manipulate, but in the hardest and most
intractable kinds of lava and tracyte AL
fred Russell Wallace, in his classical work
on the Malay archipelago. remarks: ''The
amount OF human labor and skill expended
on the great pyramids Of Egypt sinks into
fnsignificance when compared with that
required to complete this sculptured hill
however. one peculiar point in the con-
struction which tends to show that the
builders were not as good engineers as
they were sculptors and architects. Around
the entire base there runs what looks like
broad pavement of cubes of stone laid,
but not cemented, together.
This broad pavement has been removed
in sections each section being replaced in
TURN, anu uilutTIedtH was IOunQ anOther
terrace, larger than any of those now visi-
BILE, and having its walls partly, but not
entirely, covered with 100 more bas-relief
pictures in fine preservation. These were
photographed and covered in again. The
| total mass Of squared blocks of stone COW
ering this hidden terrace amounts to 1000
! cubic yards. The conclusion Is inevitable
that this hidden terrace was meant for the
| original lower terrace but that, with the
| building partly completed, and the first set
| of sculptures still unfinished, the builders
found that their foundations were too
| weak for the huge structure and were
| obliged to sacrifice one terrace to strength
en- them. Had not this been necessary the
| building would have stood up even more
| colossal than 1t is. The temple Of Bara-
budur Is only one among many in Java
| AT the village of Prambanam, also near
| Djokjakarta are the ruins known as
| "Chandi Sewa," or the Thousand Tenn
| pies" consisting Of an outer parallelogram
| OF "a small temples, second of IS, a third
| one. of %: in all 296 small temples in five
| concentric parallelograms. In the center
| Is a large and beautifully ornamented cru
| ciform inner temple. Most of the smaller
| fairly perfect
Temples to Hindu Deities.
At Loro-Jongran, close by. are fourteen
| small and six large temples to Hindu
| deities; silva, Durga and Ganesh being still
represented by finely carved statues Al
| Gunong Praw an extensive plateau reach
| ed in former times by four flights of stone
| stairs each of over a thousand steps. on
| the north, south, east and west are remains
| of nearly four hundred temples and, to
quote Wallace again, 1.-THE whole country
| between here and Prambanam a distance
| Of sixty miles, abounds with ruins. so that
| fine sculptured images may be seen lying
! in bitches or built into the walls of In
| closures" The above buildings are all OF
| a religions character hut others have
| been used for lay purposes, such as the
| so-called Water Castle in the City OF
| Djokjakarta itself where may be seen the
| remains of high-waled Enclosures with
| broad tanks, now overgrown with weeds,
| but still showing their stone terraces and
| the stone steps leading to the water hav-
| ing probably originally formed the pleas
aunce of some Hindu potentate. or posi-