Borobudur, begun around 825, is the quite simply the largest Buddhist temple in the world. It is decorated with around 500 statues of Lord Buddha, arranged in terraces of decreasing size, as if on the sacred slopes of Mount Meru.
It was built possibly by the Sangramadha Nanjaya Sailendra dynasty of Mataram, Central Java, or maybe “charismatic religious leaders rather than kings.” For surprisingly there is no great temple or palace complex associated with it.
The only inscription associated with Borobudur dates from 842 and is from a woman who gave land to sustain it. For all the mystery, this is the climax of the ninth century golden age of Java, when so many remarkable monuments were built here, both Hindu and Buddhist.
Like many other monuments of this period Indic ideas have been taken and dramatic new forms created with and from them.
Shaped in the form of a mandala, and topped with a Gandhara-style stupa, it seems to represent some Indic cosmological theory, possibly the Three Realms of Mahayana Buddhism; or the Six (or ten) Perfections.
It also shows strong syncretic tendencies and contains a single image of Lord Shiva, complete with trishul and rudraksh.
But perhaps it's principle pleasure are the four tiers of long galleries of ancient stories it contains: familiar tales from the Life of the Buddha, less familiar Jataka Tales and other much less known Buddhist texts notably the fairly recherche story of Prince Sudhana.
The story of Prince Sudhana is told in a long programme of no less than 460 panels, taken from a text called The Gaṇḍavyūha, which itself forms a part of the a collection called the Avataṁsakasūtra.
The Gandavyuha describes the journeys of the traveller Prince Sudhanq, who is inspired to take to the road, and the sea, by the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī and whose life becomes a long succession of adventures.
These different tales together painter a wonderful picture of ancient India and Javanese life, moving from court dramas in Royal palaces to animal fables and morality tales set in the ancient jungles.
Wandering alone in these galleries its easy to lose track of centuries and to imagine yourself back in the ancient Buddhist world where this remarlable ancient gallery was first sculpted
The history of Gaza is full of surprises: I had no idea it was home to a Christian Byzantine school of rhetoric, "an important library that could compete with Athens, Alexandria, Beirut and Constantinople" and also an Festival of Roses that celebrated "the arrival of Spring and the workings of Eros" at which poetry was read- in other words a sort of erotic Gaza Litfest.
The Church of St. Porphyrius, which was first built in 425 AD, is the last survivor from this world. It still, just, survives though the Israelis shelled its outbuildings last year. 450 Palestinians, mainly Palestinian Christians, were sheltering there. Eighteen were killed.
And as @GhassanDahhan has just pointed out to me, Polybius in about 120BCE commends the people of Gaza for their bravery in the face of external aggression: penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman…
The caves were carved with clear Gupta influence in the 5th-6thC, probably under the patronage of the Vakataka or Kalachuri dynasty; but not one inscription has ever been found which can solve the conundrum of who commissioned these fabulous master works.
1. Eight armed Shiva Nataraja, in the graceful Lalitha pose, embodying the eternal energy of creation which shapes and gives birth to the universe.
2. The Eternal Shiva- Sadashiva
Of the five faces of Shiva, three are visible:
On the left, Aghora/Bhairavi, the fierce and terrifying aspect of Shiva.
On the right, Vamadeva/Uma, the beautiful, feminine and pleasing aspect of Shiva.
In the centre, Mahadeva/Tatpurusha, the fusion of male and female, locked in meditation, eyelids lowered, lips closed, the embodiment of absolute knowledge.
3. Adhikari Shiva- Shiva in the act of skewering the demon Andhakasura, who had desired the beautiful Parvati and tried to abduct her. Not a good move. Despite having been given a boon by Brahma that any drop of his blood that touched the ground would grow a new demon, Shiva made short work of him by collecting his blood in a skull-cup and feeding it to the blood thirsty goddess Chamunda. But Andhaka realised the error of his ways, praised Lord Shiva and was forgiven. Eventually he was made the Chief Commander of the Shiva's dwarf armies, the Ganas.
ANNOUNCING A MAJOR NEW @EmpirePodUK SERIES:
IRELAND & EMPIRE
Episode One-
COLONISING IRELAND:
Henry VIII, Elizabeth I & The Tudor Conquest of Ireland
Ireland is the only country in Western Europe that has experienced being colonised in the modern era. It was used by England as a laboratory for imperialism, and was the site of bloody colonial wars for centuries, yet many people in the neighbouring United Kingdom have little understanding of Ireland’s history.
The new @EmpirePodUK series on Ireland & Empire begins with the Tudor Conquest. By the 1500s, there were small pockets of English imperialism in Ireland via descendants of the Anglo-Norman invasions of the 1190s, but they were concentrated along the southeastern coast.
However, when Henry VIII launched the Protestant Reformation in England, establishing control over Ireland suddenly became a top priority. In 1541, he declared all Irish people as his subjects. He built upon previous laws banning Irish language and customs, and created a militarised society. And by Elizabeth I’s reign, the Tudors introduced plantations in Ireland which granted land to English and Scottish settlers.
What sort of democracy ransacks bookshops? The Israeli police just pillaged my brilliant friend Mahmoud Muna's wonderful bookshop opposite the American Colony, the best in Jerusalem. Apparently Muna and his nephew Ahmed have both been arrested & marched into court... theurbanactivist.com/idea/a-booksho…
Muna is a wonderful, wise and learned guy and has encouraged generations of travellers to read more deeply into the contested history of Jerusalem. He recently co-edited this excellent collection of essays on Gaza. I hope @pen_int will immediately take up his case.
"Israeli police raid Jerusalem bookshops and arrest Palestinian owners. Raid on Educational Bookstore branches described by rights groups as part of harassment campaign against Palestinian intellectuals"
Avi Shlaim and Eugene Rogan discuss Avi's Three Worlds: Memoir of an Arab Jew @JaipurLitFest: "Our Jewish community was very well integrated in Baghdad, where we were one minority among many. Europe had a Jewish problem. Iraq did not."
Avi Shlaim: "My mother regarded Zionism as an Ashkenazi thing. She thought it was nothing to do with us. Most of us were very happy in Baghdad."
Avi Shlaim: "When I was working on this book I came across new evidence that the Mossad let off bombs in Jewish premises in Baghdad to frighten us to emigrate to Israel. The evidence is, I believe, incontravertible. I am completely certain that Israel was responsible for the uprooting of the Jewish community of Baghdad."