Abstract
Situated in Central Java, the Borobudur Temple was built during the eighth and ninth centuries A.D. by the Buddhist Sailendra dynasty. The temple demonstrates the conception of the universe according to Buddhist cosmology. Used as a Buddhist place of worship from the point of its construction until sometime between the tenth and fifteenth centuries, the temple became exposed to volcanic eruptions and other ravages of nature. Neglected for almost 1000 years, Borobudur was in ruinous condition when it was rediscovered. Since then, significant effort has been made to preserve it. The first large-scale restoration was carried out in the early twenties century, and the second in the mid-twenties century by UNESCO which assisted Indonesia in its conservation operations by appealing for international cooperation. By 1983, the work on stone conservation has been successfully carried out. And in 1991, the Borobudur Temple Compounds, as it was called in the nomination dossier, was inscribed in the World Heritage List as an outstanding example of a masterpiece of Buddhist architecture and monumental arts.
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Notes
- 1.
UNESCO’s roles were to: (1) gather funds and channel the various contributions transparently, including channeling contributions (funds, assistance in kind, technical contributions) that would enable Borobudur to be saved, (2) assist the Indonesian Government in providing the necessary equipment and materials required for the project, and (3) ensuring Indonesia’s cooperation with regard to qualified technical experts and advisors. In this regard, UNESCO signed an agreement with the Indonesian Government (in Paris in 1973) in order to designate the UNESCO coordinator and an International Consultative Committee.
- 2.
The following countries also began to contribute both financially and in other ways: Australia, Belgium, Burma, Cyprus, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Each country pledged or contributed financial assistance, bilaterally or multi-laterally, to the Trust Fund established for the operation, therefore becoming members of the Executive Committee. In addition, a number of private contributions were made to this campaign, including the American Committee for Borobudur, the Asian Cultural Centre for UNESCO in Tokyo (ACCU), the Borobudur Restoration Group in Nagoya, the Japanese Association for the Restoration of Borobudur, the Commemorative Association for the Japan World Exposition, the Netherlands National Committee for Borobudur, the Netherlands General Lottery, the J.R.R 3rd Fund of New York, and a number of other private contributions.
- 3.
See Article 1, Agreement cosigned by Rene Maheu, Director-General of UNESCO, and Soepojo Padmodipoetro of the Government of Indonesia, on 29 January, 1973 concerning the Preservation of the Temple of Borobudur.
- 4.
During interviews with the author, on 13 and 14 May 2014, Zaenal Arifin, Regent of Magelang, clarified that there is no official census with regard to religious information in the Magelang regency. However, there are two Buddhists within the subdistrict of Borobudur, who respectively manage Vihara, Buddhist monasteries near the Mundut Temple. Sucoro explained there are a few Buddhists residing in the vicinity of the Borobudur Temple, apart from two keepers of the Viharas.
- 5.
Involved individuals, including monks, reside both within the area and in other parts of the province or in other countries. A procession of Buddhist monks begins in the Mendut Temple, passes through the Pawon Temple, and ends at the Borobudur Temple.
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Nagaoka, M. (2016). Historical Setting of Borobudur. In: Cultural Landscape Management at Borobudur, Indonesia. SpringerBriefs in Archaeology(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42046-2_1
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