Candi Mendut

 

Statue of Shakyamuni Buddha

Central Shrine, Candi Mendut

This colossal (10 ft tall) statue of Shakyamuni, located in the interior cella of Candi Mendut, is very special: it is the oldest (c. 800 AD, as mentioned on the previous page), the largest, and the finest statue of the historical Buddha that still remains in its original location in Java. The Buddha is seated in "Western" style, legs apart (cf: Ajanta, Cave 26), displays dharmachakra mudra, and is flanked by two bodhisattvas (following pages). In this temple, as in few other places in Java, modern visitors can experience something of the awe and majesty that inspired the devotees who first worshiped here, over a thousand years ago.
agastya
An avatar of Shiva, a legendary guru who spread the worship of Shiva throughout India. His attributes include a pot belly, a beard, and a water bottle. Examples: Gedong Songo, Kailasa Museum

amok
A culturally-defined state of murderous rage.

animism
The indigenous religion of most early humans, including Africa, Asia, Europe, and Native American cultures, but excepting, so far as is known, ancient Egypt [with the possible exception of some early nome symbols] and the Middle East. Its features include reverence for ancestors, shamanism, trance, spirit worship, totemism, and the genius loci.

anastylosis
A disciplined process, pioneered by Dutch archaeologists in the early 20th century, of rebuilding the ruined stone and brick temples of India and Southeast Asia. It consists of the following steps: (1) The location of every existing block is carefully recorded. (2) The remains of the temple are disassembled, block by block. (3) The temple is then rebuilt, using knowledge preserved by the previous steps. (4) During reconstruction, any missing pieces are substituted by blank stones, and the entire structure is made architecturally sound and stable.

balé
An open pavilion. There is an accent on the final "e": balé, rhymes with "hey."

barong
The lion-like creature of good who dances against the evil witch Rangda in Indonesian performance.

batik
The national cloth that is woven in Indonesia. See: Batik Textiles of Indonesia for more information.

Bhima
A hero of the Mahabharata. Bhima was the second of the five Pandava brothers, the largest and strongest. His stories are especially popular in Indonesia. C. Sukuh

candi, pronounced chahn'-dee
The general name for a Hindu-Buddhist stone monument in Java.

chronogram
A sculpted date, in which the digits have been replaced by symbols: C. Sukuh, P. Penataran Sasih

dharmachakra mudra
The hand position in images of the Buddha that signifies his First Sermon. Dharmachakra = The Wheel (chakra) Of The Law (dharma): C. Mendut

gamelan
The Indonesian orchestra, that consists of gongs, metallophones, drums, flute, rebec, etc.

honorific cloth
A cloth that is wrapped around a statue in order to symbolize its divinity and that it is currently under worship. In Indonesia (Hindu), this is most usually a black-and-white chequered pattern (Vishnu-Shiva), or sometimes a modern batik. In Southeast Asia (Buddhist), a red or orange monk's robe. In India (Hindu), a white, red, or yellow wrap. In Japan (Shinto), a white or sometimes red wrap. Examples in Bali: Barong Dance [1], Barong Dance [2], Gunung Kawi [1], Gunung Kawi [2], Gunung Kawi [3], Kecak Dance, Modern Temple, Taman Gili.

ikat
The distinctive dye-resist cloth that is woven in Indonesia.

kaja/kelod
In Indonesia, kaja is the sacred direction, towards the holy mountain, Gunung Agung. Kelod is the impure direction, towards the sea. Houses, temples, and even entire towns are oriented along this axis. Since the mountain is located in the eastern part of the island, in central and south Bali the kaja direction is most often towards the northeast point of the compass.

kala
Literally, "Time;" a gargoyle face that represents the threshold between time and eternity. It is found above temple entrances, gates, and niches, and may be represented with, or without, a lower jaw or vestigial arms. See also: Southeast Asia glossary, kalamakara arch. Examples: C. Arjuna, C. Kalasan, C. Loro Jonggrang, C. Bhima, C. Sukuh.

kala-makara arch
A type of decoration that frames the doorways and niches of temples. Two naga bodies form the sides of the arch, whose ends rest upon outward-turning makara heads. The top of the arch, from which the serpent bodies issue, is a kala. The arch symbolizes a rainbow, which connects the mundane world of the earth to the divine world of the sky. Examples: C. Arjuna, C. Sembadra, C. Kalasan, C. Prambanan, Gedong Songo II

kendi
A vessel for holy water. See: Dawn F. Rooney, Kendi In The Cultural Context Of Southeast Asia.

kris, also keris
The distinctively shaped knife-blade of Indonesia. Typically forged into S-shaped curves, it carries great personal and cultural significance: C. Sukuh

lunar and solar clans
A legend persists, in most countries of southeast Asia, of intermarriage between a native princess ("lunar clan") and an immigrant prince from India ("solar clan"). These legends do have some basis in fact, at least in the sense that numerous Hindu elites and traders did indeed emigrate to SE Asia, in the early centuries A.D., where they intermarried with the local elites and blended their native culture with their newfound homes. Examples: Tana Toraja (Indonesia), Mandalay (Burma), and Cambodia.

makara
A chimera that is part water-snake (naga) and part crocodile or fish, usually with an elephant snout. It is a frequent decoration on balustrades, arches, waterspouts, and offering overflow spouts. See: kalamakara arch.

Meru
The Hindu world-mountain . See: C. Sukuh, Shisanling Stele (China).

meru roof
A pagoda-like roof in SE Asia, always consisting of an odd number of courses, that covers important shrines, and is named after the Hindu world-mountain: P. Taman Ayun [1], P. Taman Ayun [2], P. Taman Ayun [3].

naga
The water-snake, whose cultural iconography and mythology was inherited from India via Southeast Asia. In temple decoration, both the balustrade and the framing arches of niches and doorways are often carved in the shape of nagas (usually, in those cases, a snake's body with a makara head.) See: kalamakara arch.

pura
The general name for a Hindu-Buddhist stone monument in Bali.

pusaka
A general term that is applied to any personal, tribal, or national cultural property or heritage in Indonesia, such as temples, dance, music, kris, statuary, etc.

religious usurpation
A theological strategy in which a religion incorporates competing gods into its own pantheon. For example, Hindu deities were taken up as "protectors" in Buddhism (Hariti, Ryutoki, Brahma and Indra), and as Nats in Burmese animism.

split gate (candi bentar)
The first (entrance) gate of an Indonesian temple, so called because its twin uprights are not bridged by an arch. The form of this gate, which is unique to Indonesia, is especially effective in framing an up-hill approach to its temple. Examples: Imogiri,

taman
A garden or park.

tantri tales
Moralizing stories about animals, like Aesop's Fables in the West. Examples: C. Mendut, C. Penataran [1], C. Penataran [2], Nalanda (India).

tau-tau
19th-century and later funeral effigies of the Toraja people in Sulawesi. The statues are a late manifestation of Torajan ancestor worship, although "ancestor reverence" would be a more accurate term. Made of wood and traditionally clothed, they represent specific individuals, elite family members once known by name, who are buried in nearby cave loculi. Reference: Patrick Blanche, The Tau-Tau of the Toraja. Examples: Londa Nanggala and Lembo cliff burials.

Trimurti
The Hindu Trinity, that consists of the three Great Gods: Vishnu as Preserver, Shiva as Destroyer, and Brahma as Creator. Vishnu's color is black/blue, symbolizing the fertile earth; Shiva's is white, symbolizing the cremation grounds, or black, symbolizing his earlier role as a forest deity; Brahma's is red, the color of fire.

wayang
The premier Indonesian theatrical form. Wayang Kulit, the shadow-puppet. Wayang Golek, the stick puppet. Wayang Gedong, a masked dance. See: Wikipedia article, and Music and Dance on this site.