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Lowest base at Borobudur

Keywords : Shailendra dynasty, Candi Pawon, Borobudur

Site common nameBorobudur
Type of artworkArchitecture
Village-
Province/City-
StateCentral Java
CountryIndonesia
Geographic Coordinates
Decimal degree		Lat : 7
Long : 110

History of productionBorobudur is the loftiest stupa in Mahāyāna Buddhism in Indonesia. The stupa was commissioned during the reigns of Śaidendra kings who followed Mahāyāna Buddhism. It is contemporaneous to Candi Mendut and Candi Pawon.
ArtBorobudur is conceived as Maṇḍala or the Mahayanist iconographic diagram. Therefore, the lowest base is conceived as Kāmabhūmi or the lowest realm of the universe in which the common people occupy. The story of defilements of common people in Kāmabhūmi has been narrated in the scripture named “Karmavibhanga” and these stories have been depicted in the narratives at the lowest base of Borobudur. The narratives, however, were hidden by the stone later added for strengthening the structure.
PeriodHistorical Period
Art periodMid Central Javanese Art
Age8th-9th Century A.D.
ReligionBuddhism
SectMahayana

Type of LicenseAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
RightsPrincess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Date of record creation2016-02-00
Record creatorChedha Tingsanchali