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It was close to midnight when I left the railway station in East Java Surabaya.
I arrived at the station in Yogyakarta, Central Java the next afternoon.
The purpose is to visit the Borobudur ruins in Central Java.

As shown on the map below, it is surrounded by four active volcanoes.
All of them are independent mountains in the shape of a cone like Mt. Fuji.

A typical view of a volcano in Central Java.

A bridge over a valley under construction.
The old bridge had become unusable and a new bridge was being built.

Photo by author, 1975

To get around regional cities, it is a cheap and convenient three-wheeled vehicle that can make small turns. Most of them are of Indian origin. There is no meter, so you have to negotiate the fare before you get on.

Photo by author, 1975

The night before, I checked into the Mutiara Hotel near the station at midnight. Early in the morning, I went out to the main street of this town near the hotel and had avocado juice made from and outdoor stall and drank it. Within a few minutes, I was on the shoulder of this road, vomiting everything, along with previous night’s snack. It was caused by bacterial food poisoning from the coconut juice-soaked chicken curry I ordered from room service late last night. With the help of the avocado juice, I vomited and felt refreshed, overcoming my first stomach ache in Indonesia without any medicine, and headed to my destination without incident.

Thirty years later, in May 2006, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the suburbs of Yogyakarta. It was a catastrophe that killed more than 5,800 people. The main street in the photo below was already lined with modern buildings, but I saw a video footage of most them being damage.

Photo by author, 1975

The ruins of Borobudur are located about 40 km north of the town of Jogja. The hotel provided us with a car and I decided to head to the ruin. In the van, I was shared with an American couple stationed in Vietnam on a United Nations basis.

A fierce war was raging in Vietnam. The pilots had escaped the air superiority of the US military in Saigon and travelled to the depths of Java Island.
I was impressed by their spirit of exploration.

Photo by author, 1975

The ruins of Borobudur are said to have been built around 780 by the Shailendra royal family, who were followers of Mahayana Buddhism, and was completed around 830.

According to the literature, the first layer of the five-storied pagoda and the statue of the Kongo wrestler at the middle gate of Horyuji Temple were completed in 711, so it seems that the entire Saiin Temple, including the five-storied pagoda and the middle gate, was completed by this time.

In other words, Buddhist culture, which originated in ancient India, reached the island nation of Japan in a northerly direction, and Horyuji Temple was built in the early 8th century. On the other hand, Buddhist culture traveled southward to Java, where the Borobudur Buddhist temple was built a century later in the early 9th century.

Borobudur is one of the largest Buddhist temples in the world. It is located in a basin surrounded by active volcanoes such as Mount Merapi, Mount Merhub, and Mount Sumbin.

The base is said to be about 120 meters on a side.
A five-tiered rectangular platform is placed on top of it.
In addition, there are three layers of circular altars on top of it, making a total of nine layers of ziggurat (stepped pyramid) structure.

Photo by author, 1975

Borobudur is also one of the largest stupas in the world due to its shape.
Since then, I have visited India more than five times, searching for Buddhist architectural ruins that are World Heritage Sites in Ellora and Ajanta, but I have not been able to find an ancient religious building comparable to this Borobudur ruins.

Borobudur can also be seen as a gigantic three-dimensional mandala that symbolizes the Buddhist view of the universe in its own right.

Photo by author, 1975

The Borobudur ruins do not have an internal space for prayer.
Instead, an open-air corridor surrounds the five-story square platform mentioned above. The walls around the corridor are decorated with a series of sculptures from classical Indian art.
This may be the introduction to the worship intended by the designer.
If you visit all five corridors, you will have to walk at least 2km.

The religious architectural design concept is clear and it is excellent in that it matches the tropical climate well.
I would later visit various Buddhist and Hindu architectural heritage sites in India, but I had never seen such dynamic ruins as this.

Photo by author, 1975

Photo by author, 1975

Photo by author, 1975

A stupa was originally a structure that housed the remains and relics of the Buddha, but Borobudur has a unique structure with a large number of stupas inside.

The bell-shaped part of the stupa is made of stone blocks 23 cm on each side, stacked in a grid pattern, so that you can worship the Buddha image inside.
No adhesives such as plaster are used.

At the top is a particularly large stupa that is said to contain the remains of the Buddha. Aiming for the heavens.
This central pagoda is hollow and is said to represent the idea of “emptiness”, which is the essence of Mahayana Buddhism, and this is where the uniqueness of Javanese Buddhism lies.

The first thing you see at the top of the stairs is a particularly large stupa.

Photo by author, 1975

As you climb the steep stairs, you will be overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of a huge stupa in view between the cracked gates.
This must have been intentionally designed by the designers of the time, with a good understanding and calculation of the visual effect.

This central tower is hollow, which is said to express the idea of emptiness, which is the essence of Mahayana Buddhism, and shows the uniqueness of Javanese Buddhism.

1975年　筆者撮影

Borobudur can be interpreted as a huge three-dimensional mandala that symbolizes the Buddhist view of the universe in its own right.
One theory is that it is also a representation of Mount Sumeru.

Photo by author, 1975

There are a total of 72 bell-shaped stupas, arranged in a triple circle.
From the bottom up, there are 32, 24, and 16.
At the top, there is a particularly large stupa that is said to contain the remains of Buddha, and it serves as the central symbol.

Photo of author, 1975

Stone blocks with a side of 23 cm are stacked in a grid pattern so that you can worship the Buddha image inside.
Although the area is prone to earthquakes, no adhesives such as plaster were used. Each of these concealing elements must have been designed to counteract the forces of earthquakes.

Photo by author, 1975

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has been providing assistance for the preservation of this ruins, and the construction work for preservation of the ruins has been steadily carried out.
Countries with similar interest of heritage’s preservation help by contributing money.

Photo by author, 1975

From the top of the Borobudur ruins, you can see the fertile basin of Java, surrounded by active volcanoes.

Photo by author, 1975

Buddhism, which originated in India, traveled inland in Asia and reached Japan, where Horyuji Temple was built in the early 8th century.
It is a sustainable structure that is certified as the oldest group of wooden buildings in the world.

On the other hand, the Buddhist culture that reached the island of Java along the edge of the Asian ocean in a southbound direction spread to Java in the early 9th century, a century later, and emerged as the Buddhist architecture of Borobudur.

Stone structure with no interior space
These two Buddhist buildings, which are today’s world cultural heritage sites, have given us an opportunity to think deeply about the diversity of cultures and expressions created by humans.

In Yogyakarta, Central Java, the traditional craft of Javanese Sarasa (BATIK) is famous, and workshops are scattered throughout the city and can be visited.

Women in the workshop inscribe designs by hand using wax.

Photo by author, 1975

After dyeing, workers melt the wax in a barrel of hot water.

Photo by author, 1975

The finishing step is ironing. All processes are manually done.

Photo by author, 1975

Photo by author, 1975

From Bandung, my transportation was an overnight train with compartments. The beds in the compartments were three bunks on each side.
From Bandung Station, a young Western woman about the age of a university student boarded the train.
The route between Bandung and Jakarta is mountainous, and the train swayed due to the many curves and poor track maintenance.
This Dutch woman living in Jakarta was at the top of the bunk bed, and she seemed confused by the violent shaking, so I offer her the second bunk.

Her belongings consisted of several kilograms of sacks of rice.
I asked her why she was carrying a bag of rice with her.

The answer was as follows. There is a plateau basin called Cianjar near Bandung. The white rice harvested there was said to be the most delicious in Indonesia.
At one time after the war, when distribution problems existed in Japan, I was reminded of the scene of individuals bringing Niigata or Akita rice on trains bound for Tokyo.

I see, Indonesia was in a similar situation at that time.