The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-05-06
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN WRITES OF HIS VISIT TO
JAVA A PRODIGIOUS GARDEN OF WONDROUS BEAUT
Tpf Is Compaab the isndo
randh sIongFog

last forgotten. It was so overgrown
with trees and shrubbery that the
Dutch traders were in the country for
two centuries before its presence was
discovered. When it was found and un-
earthed during the occupancy of the
English under Sir Stamford Raffes in
1871, the people living in the vicinity
ers, for all tradition Of its existence
had been lost. This seems hardly pos
sible when it is remembered that the
temple stands upon the summit Of
mound, is 500 feet square at the base
and towers to a height of 100 feet.
The structure is pyramidal in form and
rises in eight terraces, the first five be-
ing square and the last three circular.
Each terrace has a wall at the outer
succeeding terrace, forms roofless
gallery, either side of which is orna-
mented with bas reliefs descriptive of
the life of Buddha. These carvings il
placed side by side would, it is esti-
mated, extend for three miles, and the
story which they tell has been inter
preted by eminent archeologists who
have visited the place. These pictures
| in stone not only portray the rise and
development Of the great Indian teacher
| but they preserve a record of the dress
and customs of the people, the arms and
| implements used, and the fauna and
fora of that time
At the center Of each side there Is
a covered stairway leading to the sum-
NIT, and there is evidence that the gal
leries were once separated from each
the gallery walls there are 432 stone
images of Buddha, ife-size and seated
on the ever-present lotus. On the
s seven a'@' openworE beII.shaped ped
structures, called dagabas, each con-
tanning a stone image Of Buddha. Sur
mounting the temple is great dagaba,
fifty feet in diameter, and in it was
found an unfinished statue Of Buddha
similar to those found on the various
galleries.
AS the stone employed in the con-
struction of the temple was of hard
variety, the bas reliefs are we'll pre-
served. No mortar was used for &C.
menting the stones and no columns or
pillars were employed.
:. + !.
Besides Boro Boedoer there are hum
dreds of other temples scattered over
the island. Within two miles of the
elevation upon which the great temple
stands there are two religious edifces,
one, a shrine Of exquisite proportions,
restored in 1904, and another, temple
of considerable size, now being restored.
At Branbanan, about twenty miles east
Of Djokjakarta, there is a large group
of temples scarcely less interesting
than Boro Boedoer. One of the reports
received by Sir Stamford Raffes de-
scribcs this territory as the head
quarters of Hinduism in Java, and the
temples as "stupendous and finished
specimens of human labor, and of the
science and taste of ages long since
forgot.'
1 must reserve for another article
my observations upon the people and
upon Dutch rule in the island, and will
conclude this paper with the suggestion
that Java should be included in a tour
of the world, whether undertaken for
instruction or pleasure, for few sections
of the earth have been so blessed by
the Creators bounty, so beautifed by
the skill of the husbandman, or are so
rich in ruins.