..

2. Southeast Asian
Art

3.  Java (Indonesian: Jawa) is an island
of Indonesia. It is the world's most
populous island, and one of the most
densely-populated places on the
globe. It was the center of
powerful Hindu-
Buddhistempires, the Islamic
sultanates, and the core of
the colonial Dutch East Indies.

4.  More than 90 percent of the people of
Java are Muslims, on a broad
continuum between abangan (more
traditional) and santri (more
modernist). Small Hindu enclaves are
scattered throughout Java, but there
is a large Hindu population along the
eastern coast nearest Bali, especially
around the town of Banyuwangi.

6.  Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century
Mahayana Buddhist monument in
Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The
monument comprises six square platforms
topped by three circular platforms, and is
decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504
Buddha statues. A main dome, located at
the center of the top platform, surrounded by
72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated
stupa.

8.  The monument is both a shrine to the Lord
Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The
journey for pilgrims begins at the base of the
monument and follows a path circumambulating
the monument while ascending to the top
through the three levels of Buddhist
cosmology, namely Kāmadhātu (world of
desire), Rupadhatu (world of forms) and
Arupadhatu (world of formlessness). During the
journey, the monument guides the pilgrims
through a system of stairways and corridors with
1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls and the
balustrades.

9.  Evidence suggests Borobudur was abandoned following
the 14th-century decline of Buddhist and Hindu
kingdoms in Java, and the Javanese conversion to
Islam. Worldwide knowledge of its existence was
sparked in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the
British ruler of Java, who was advised of its location by
native Indonesians.
 Borobudur has since been preserved through several
restorations. The largest restoration project was
undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian
government and UNESCO, following which the
monument was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Borobudur is still used for pilgrimage; once a year
Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate Vesak at the
monument. Borobudur is Indonesia's single most visited
tourist attraction.

10.  One of the most spectacular of these is the
Buddhist temple of Borobudur that lies in
Eastern Java on the Kedu Plain. It is
surrounded by an idyllic landscape of
incomparable beauty of rice-terraced hills
and overlooked by four volcanoes. The
industrious subjects of the Sailendra dynasty
built it over a period of 80 years in the ninth
century who transformed a volcanic plug of
basalt into a stepped pyramid with a base
measuring 120 metres square and a height of
35 metres.

11.  Reliefs depicting the life of the Buddha cover the
upper half of the main wall all around the first gallery
of the monument, a total of 120 panels. These reliefs
were carved to illustrate a text entitled
the Lalitavistara, "The Unfolding of the Play." The
above relief shows Sakyamuni having left the palace
and dismissed his horse and groom, stands at the left
beneath a parasol, bidding farewell to the
supernatural beings who accompanied him.

12.  Construction at Borobudur probably began
around AD 760 and seems to have been
completed by about 830. Work on the reliefs was
probably divided among several groups of
sculptors. The masters first sketched the main
outlines of the scenes, and their apprentices then
did most of the rough work. The masters returned
in the final stages to apply the finishing touches
to the panels.

13. A. Monk chiselling the story title of the relief panel.
B. The master using a piece of charcoal to draw the scene of
the panel.
C. An apprentice chiselled out the characters and figures.
D. The master carved the finer details on the figures such as
their jewellery and clothing.
E. Next white plaster was applied over the panel.
F. The relief was then painted in pastel colours.

14.  Cambodia , or Kampuchea, officially
known as the Kingdom of Cambodia,
is a country located in the southern
portion of the Indochina Peninsula
in Southeast Asia.

15.  In 802 AD Jayavarman II declared
himself king which marked the
beginning of the Khmer Empire.
Successive kings flourished which
marked the Khmer empire's immense
power and wealth who dominate
much of South East Asia for over 600
years.

16.  Cambodia was first influenced by
Hinduism during the beginning of
the Kingdom of Funan kingdom.
Hinduism was one of the Khmer
Empire's official religions. Cambodia is
the home to one of the only two
temples dedicated to Brahma in the
world. Angkor Wat of Cambodia is the
largest Hindu temple of the world.

18.  Angkor Wat is a temple complex at
Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king
Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as
his state temple and capital city. As the
best-preserved temple at the site, it is the
only one to have remained a significant
religious centre since its foundation – first
Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then
Buddhist. It is the world's largest religious
building.

19.  Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of
Khmer temple architecture: the temple
mountain and the later galleried
temple, based on early South Indian Hindu
architecture, with key features such as the
Jagati. It is designed to represent Mount
Meru, home of the devas in Hindu
mythology: within a moat and an outer wall
3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three
rectangular galleries, each raised above
the next.

20.  The land on which Angkor Wat is
located, "the Angkor lands", was not chosen
as a settlement site because of any pre-
existing sacred importance, but for the
Khmers strategic military position and
agricultural potential. However, in time the
city of Angkor became a great pilgrimage
destination because of the cult of
Devaraja, the 'god-king'. From the era of
Jayavaram II (802-850AD) onwards.

21. Khmer Sculpture: A
Glorious Tradition
 Yama, Lord of the
Dead
Courtyard, National
Museum of
Cambodia
Khmer, 12th century
 The god is sitting
without his usual
buffalo mount. This
celebrated piece
comes from Angkor
Thom's Terrace of
the Leper King.

23. Kaurava
General
-Battle of
Kurukshetra
-South wing
of west
gallery
-Angkor Wat

24.  http://www.art-and-
archaeology.com/seasia/seasia.html#cambodia
 http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/buddhist-
art/boro.htm
 http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?t
ype=NEWS&id=1235016160
 http://www.the-nri.com/index.php/2010/06/on-the-
ramayana-trail-ii-reamker/
 Raffles, Thomas E. : " The History of Java". Oxford
University Press, 1965. Page 2

25.  ARROJO, Sharmaine
 CATALAN, John Paolo
 GALICIA, Ma. Ysabel Lotti
 GALIDO, John Michael
 GUEMO, Geffrey Isaac
 HIDAKA, Leianne Sakura
 1IND-2