Borobudur Temple is not just a tourist spot. This historic site holds many stories, especially on the relief carvings of flora and fauna that contain millions of meanings and are researched by scientists.
Borobudur Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, located in Magelang Regency, Central Java. The temple which has a height of 42 meters was founded by King Vishnu of the Syailendra dynasty in 770 AD and was completed in 842 AD.
The symbols most commonly found in the temples are groups of mammals and birds.
For biological scientists, studying the reliefs of flora and fauna at Borobudur Temple is very important. Not only understanding the mythological creatures, but the temple reliefs provide information about the condition of animals and plants in the past.
"There are also quite a lot of elephants, horses, eagles, peacocks. And one that is quite interesting is the egret. The bird flies in a T formation, describing the Indonesian people as a figure who has a culture of mutual cooperation. The identity of the nation is told in reliefs at Borobudur Temple ," said Prof. Ibnu.
At the Borobudur Temple found very beautiful reliefs depicting the life of the Buddha Gautama. In addition, there are reliefs depicting the beautiful natural atmosphere, outrigger boats, traditional archipelago buildings, and many others.
In fact, Borobudur is believed to have the most complete and largest collection of Buddhist reliefs in the world. These reliefs are found on almost all levels of the temple walls, except Arupdhatu.
To note, the basic form of the Borobudur Temple building is a pyramid with three levels which symbolizes Mahayana Buddhist cosmology. The three levels are Kamadhatu (the foot of the temple), Rupadhatu (the body of the temple), and Arupadhatu (the top of the temple).
There are 2,672 relief panels at Borobudur. These panels are divided into two types, namely narrative and decorative panels. A total of 1,460 narrative panels are arranged in eleven rows surrounding the monument with a total length of more than 3,000 meters.
Meanwhile, 1,212 decorative panels are also arranged in rows, but are considered as individual reliefs. The reliefs are read clockwise.
"From 200 panels related to Buddha, from birth to reaching Nirvana to meet God there are symbols of flora and fauna. This illustrates how the Buddha spread his teachings, for example there are deer, emprit as a symbol of hard work, depicting Buddha preaching religion very hard, saving people humans from the symbols of greed," he explained.
Prof Ibnu regrets that most of us when visiting historical sites such as Borobudur Temple, are not interested in knowing the story. In fact, according to him, there are many meanings and even the identity of our nation is told there.
"Unfortunately, the visitor never saw the panels around the temple. As soon as we went up the temple, turn left, turn right, there were panels, but they were never seen. The only thing we were aiming for was how to get to the top of Borobudur, not interested in seeing the story," said Prof. Ibn.
"It is proper for the Indonesian people to explore national identity from the relics of the ancient nation. What is it like? One of them at Borobudur Temple which is unique from our nation is mutual cooperation, it is clearly seen, this is only owned by the Indonesian nation which consists of islands," he added.