Artist: unknown
Title: The Great Stupa/Mount Meru at Borobudur
Material: local volcanic rock
Site: Borobudur, Central Java, Indonesia
Current Location: in situ
Period/Date: ca. end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th century,
under the Shailendra Dynasty
Iconography/Iconology: Seen from above, the concentric design is
clearly apparent. A devotee approaches the monument, presumably from the
east, and would begin his or her circumabulation (a traditional Buddhist
religious practice) around the base. They would then ascend to the next
platform surrounding the monument and through the successive layer until
the tenth ambulatory path around the top central stupa. If Buddhist practices
during the Shailendra dynasty followed the usual pattern, each level would
be circumambulated three times, making a total of thiry circuits, a walk
of nearly ten kilometers (six miles).
Stylistic Comments: The stepped sides of the monument as well as
the concentric circles at the top closely follow Indic designs. Because
of this close relationship to India,one can be certain of either of two
phenomena occuring. There was either an architect from India responsible
for the design, or the fundamental format was developed according to very
conservative Tantric Buddhist traditions.
