The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-06

train at his station with the jaw break
ing name we went by tram line about
twenty miles and then drove six miles
further.
Near the temple the road crosses a ferry,
the substantial bridge which once spanned
the river there having been swept away,
and when We reached this point we found
the stream so swollen by recent rains that
the natives were not willing TO risk heir
boats in the angry foo We returned
to the tramway station and spent the night
in the hospita BILE home of the Dutch station
master, the only white man in the town.
Returning to the river early the next
morning, we found that the waters had
sufficiently subsidized TO enable us to cross,
and We reached Boro Boedoer while yet
Boro Boedoer to the zeal of the Buddhist
priests, the skill Of the Hindu architect
and the patient industry OF the Javanese!
AZ a temple 1t Is not SURPASSED, in labor
expended upon its construction II is com
parable with the Pyramids, and In artistic
skill displayed in design and execution it
is even superior to them
According 20 ~archRologists it was built
about 1000 years ago, when the JaVanese
were worshippers or Buddha, but the in
vasion OF the Mohammedans OF the ffteenth
century was 20 complete that that stupend-
GUS pile was first neglected, then deserted
and at last forgotten. II was 30 overgrown
with trees and ~shrubbery that the Dutch
traders were in the country for two oen-
turtles before its presence was discovered.
When 1t was found and unearthed dur
ing the Of the English under
Sir Stamford Rallies in 1914, the people liv.
ing in the vicinity were as much surprised
as the foreigners, for oil tradition OF its
existence had been lost. This seems hardly
possible when 1t is remembered the temple
stands upon the summit of u mound, Is 500
feet square at the base and towers to the
height Of 100 feet.
BuppHA's LIFE CARVED IN THREE MILES OF
STONE.
The structure Is pyramidal In form and
rises in eight terraces, the first five being
square and the last three circular. Each
terrace has a wall at the outer edge, which,
with the wall OF the next, succeeding ter
race, forms u roofess gallery, either side
Of whioh is ornamented Will oas-reliefs
These carvings il placed side by. side
would, IL is estimated, extend for three
miles, and the story which they tell has been
interpreted by eminent arohaologists who
have visited the place, These pictures in
ment 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 centre OF each side there Ia n COW
cred stairway leading TO the summit, and
there is evidence that the galleries were once
separated from each otner by doors, In the
inches along the gallery walls there are 49,
stone images of Buddha, life size and seated
on the ever present lotus.
On the three circular terraces there are
seventy-two openwork bell shaped struct-
ures, called dagabas, each containing a
stone image Of Buddha. Surmourting the
temple Ia a great dagaba, so feet IN diane
ter, and in II was found an unfinished statue
Of Buddha similar IT, those found on the
various galleries.
As the stone employed in the oonstruo-
ton of the temple was OF q hard variety
the bas-reliefs are well preserved. No
mortar wa used for cementing the stones
and no columns or pillars were employed.
OTHER WONDERFUL TEMPLES.
Besides Boro Boedoer there are hundreds
of other temples scattered over the island.
Within two miles Of the elevation upon
which the great temple stands there are
two religious ediaces. one, a shrine OF ex,
quisite proportions, restored In 1904, and
another, a temple Of considerable size,
now being restored. ,
At R%ranbanan, about twenty miles east
Of D~jokjakarta, there is q large group OF
temples scarcely less interesting han Bor9
by Sir Stamford Rallies describes, this
territory as the headquarters 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
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 30 blessed by the Creators. bounty.
90 beautihed by the skil OF the husband
man, or are 60 rich In ruins.