Story of Bali, Indonesia

Tjandi Sewu, a Buddhist shrine to the north-east of Kalasan, situated on the right bank of the river Opak, is also largely in ruins. Originally this complex consisted of a central temple surrounded by two double series of side chapels, 250 in all. In this central temple, too, there must have been a bronze Buddha about thirteen feet high. In each of the side chapels a deity was represented, or at least suggested. The whole construction, symbolizing the cosmos, mandala, was intended to assist the hermit in his meditations.

Borobudur, the most impressive monument which remains from the time of the Shalendra dynasty, is not a tjandi, but a natural mound of earth enclosed within a building. It is portrait in stone of the Mahayana Buddhist cosmic system. The structure rests upon a stone foundation, two layers, squasre in plan with regular redan-shaped projections making 36 corners in all. First of all there are four galleries in ascending order each gallery receding proportionately farther than the one below, on the same plans as the base.

On the top gallery there is a flat surface, upon which are three more terraces, piled concentrically one upon the other. The highest point, and at the same time the symbolical centre of the edifice, is formed by a large closed in main stupa. In the middle of each side a stairway leads upwards, ending with a door to each gallery. Above these doors and the the recesses (to be dicussed below) the kalamakara ornament is again to be found.

The inside walls of the four galleries are embellished with bas-reliefs in stone, of a total length of over one kilometer. Above these bas-reliefs niches have been hollowed out at regular intervals.

On the three circular terraces there are open stupas, viz. 32 on the first terrace, 24 on the second, and 16 on the third. This part of the terrace is devoid opf sculptural decoration. The base of the whole monument is likewise furnished with bas-reliefs. These are no longer visible, since when the building was restored (1907-11) a board protective wall had to be built against the base.

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