| Mendut | |
 |
|
  Shown within Java Topography
|
|
|---|---|
| Building | |
| Architectural style | candi |
| Town | near Magelang, Central Java |
| Country | Indonesia |
| Coordinates | |
Mendut is a ninth century Buddhist temple, located in Mendut village, Mungkid sub-district, Magelang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. The temple located about three kilometres east from Borobudur. Mendut, Borobudur and Pawon, all of which are Buddhist temples, are located in one straight line. There is a mutual religious relationship between the three temples, although the exact ritual process is unknown.1
Contents |
History
Built around early ninth century AD, Mendut is the oldest among the three temple together with Pawon and Borobudur. According to Karang Tengah inscription, the temple was built and finished during the reign of King Indra of Sailendra dynasty. The inscription dated 824 AD mentioned that King Indra of Sailendra has built a sacred building named Venuvana which means "bamboo forest". A Dutch archaeologist JG de Casparis has connected the temple mentioned in Karang Tengah inscription with Mendut temple.
In 1836 it was discovered as a ruins covered with bushes. The restoration of this temple was started at 1897 and it was finished at 1925. Until now the top of the roof part is still unfinished yet, because some of its original stones are lost. Some archaeologist who had conducted research on this temple such as JG de Casparis, Theodoor van Erp, and Arisatya Yogaswara.
Architecture
The 26.4 metres tall temple is facing west. The stairs projecting from the west side square elevated base is adorned with Makara statue on each sides, the side of the stairwall carved with bas-relief of fable narrating the animal story of buddhist teaching. The square terrace surrounding the body of the temple was meant for pradakshina or circumambulating ritual, walking clockwise around the temple. The outer walls is adorned with bas-reliefs of Boddhisattvas (buddhist divinities), such as Avalokitesvara, Maitreya, Cunda, Ksitigarbha, Samantabhadra, Mahakarunika Avalokitesvara, Vajrapani, Manjusri, Akasagarbha, and Boddhisattvadevi Prajnaparamita among other buddhist figures. Originally the temple had two chamber, a small chamber in the front, and the large main chamber in the center. The roof and some parts of the front chamber walls are missing. The inner wall of front chamber is adorned with bas-relief of Hariti surrounds by children, Atavaka on the other side, Kalpataru, also groups of devatas divinities flying in heaven.
The main room housed three beautifully carved large stone statues. The three statues are the Buddhist main divinities revered in Mendut temple which can explain the spiritual purpose of the establishment of this temple. The 3 metres tall statue of Dhyani Buddha Vairocana was meant to liberate the devotees from the bodily karma, at the left is statue of Boddhisatva Avalokitesvara to liberate from the karma of speech, at the right is Boddhisatva Vajrapani to liberate from karma of tought. 2
Today, during the full moon in May or June, Buddhists in Indonesia observe Vesak annual ritual by walking from Mendut passing through Pawon and ends at Borobudur.3
See also
References
- ^ J. L. Moens (1951). "Barabudur, Mendut en Pawon en hun onderlinge samenhang (Barabudur, Mendut and Pawon and their mutual relationship)". Tijdschrift voor de Indische Taai-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen): 326–386, http://www.borobudur.tv/Barabudur_Mendut_Pawon.pdf. "trans. by Mark Long".
- ^ The information board at the Mendut Temple vicinity
- ^ "The Meaning of Procession". Waisak. Walubi (Buddhist Council of Indonesia). Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 16 October 2008, at 12:55.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by PediaView.com. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with PediaView.com.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Mendut".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.