Whatever of their more ancient faith may remain in the institutions, habits, and affections of the Javans, the island abounds in less perishable memorials of it. The antiquities of Java consist of ruins of edifices, and in particular of temples sacred to the former worship; images of deities found within them, and scattered throughout the country, either sculptured in stone or cast in metal; inscriptions on stone and copper in ancient characters, and ancient coins.
The antiquities of Java have not, till lately, excited much notice; nor have they yet been sufficiently explored. The narrow policy of the Dutch denied to other nations facilities of research; and their own devotion to the pursuits of commerce was too exclusive to allow of their being much interested by the subject. The numerous and interesting remains of former art and grandeur, which exist in the ruins of temples and other edifices; the abundant treasures of sculpture and statuary with which some parts of the island are covered; and the evidences of a former state of religious belief and national improvement, which are presented in images, devices, and inscriptions, either lay entirely buried under rubbish, or were but partially examined. Nothing, therefore, of the ancient history of the people, of their institutions prior to the introduction of Mahomedanism, of their magnificence and power before the distraction of internal war and the division of the country into petty contending sovereignties, or of their relations either to adjacent or distant tribes, in their origin, language, and religion, could be accurately known or fully relied on. The grandeur of their ancestors sounds like a fable in the mouth of the degenerate Javan; and it is only when it can be traced in monuments, which cannot be falsified, that we are led to give credit to their traditions concerning it. Of these monuments, existing in great profusion in several places, and forming, if I may so express myself, the most interesting part of the annals of the people, none are so striking as those found at Brambánan in Matárem, near the middle of the island, at Bóro Bódo in Kédu, on Gúnung Práhu and its vicinity, in Kedírí, and at Sing'a Sári in the district of Málang, in the eastern part of the island.
In addition to their claims on the consideration of the antiquarian, the ruins at two of these places, Brambánan and Bóro Bódo, are admirable as majestic works of art. The great extent of the masses of building covered in some parts with the luxuriant vegetation of the climate, the beauty and delicate execution of the separate portions, the symmetry and regularity of the whole, the great number and interesting character of the statues and bas-reliefs, with which they are ornamented, excite our wonder that they were not earlier examined, sketched, and described.
With respect to the ruins at Brámbanan, we find, upon the authority of a Dutch engineer, who in 1797 went to construct a fort at Kláten, on the highway between the two native capitals, and not far from the site of the temples, that no description of its antiquities existed at that period. He found great difficulty in clearing away the rubbish and plants, so as to obtain a view of the ruins and to be enabled to sketch them. The indifference of the natives had been as great as that of their conquerors, and had led them to neglect the works of their ancestors which they could not imitate. They had allowed a powerful vegetation, not only to cover the surface of the buildings, but to dislocate and almost to overthrow them. They still viewed with veneration, however, the most conspicuous statue in the ruins, and in spite of their Mahomedan principles, addressed it with superstitious reverence. The temples themselves they conceived to have been the work of a divinity, and to have been constructed in one night; but unfortunately this belief did not restrain the neighbouring peasants from carrying off the stones of which they were constructed, and applying them to their own purposes. Enough, however, still remains, to shew the style of architecture that was followed in their construction, the state of sculpture at the period of their erection, and the nature of the religion which then prevailed.
In the beginning of the year 1812, Colonel Colin Mackenzie[207], so well acquainted with the antiquities of Western India, visited Brambánan, took an accurate survey of the ruins, and sketched the fragments of the building, the architectural ornaments, and the statues found there. His journal, accompanied with much ingenious and interesting speculation on the nature and origin of the worship indicated by them, he kindly permitted me to publish in the seventh volume of the transactions of the Batavian Society.
Considering it as a matter of importance, that a more extensive and detailed survey should be made while we had the best opportunity of doing so, I availed myself of the services of Captain George Baker of the Bengal establishment, employed in the provinces of the native princes, to survey, measure, and take draughts of all the buildings, images, and inscriptions, which this magnificent mass of ruins presented. The following is an abstract of his report on the subject.
In the province of Matárem, and between the native capitals of Súra kerta and Yúgya kérta, lies the village of Brambánan, and at a distance of a mile from the high road, there are hills which run east and west, for about a mile and a half. On one of these, within about one hundred yards to the south-east of the Bándar's[208] house, stands
THE CHANDI KÓBON DÁLAM,
but so covered with trees and shrubs, that it is not visible till you are within two or three hundred yards of it. I could find no remains of the ancient enclosure, but the fields for some distance round have been enclosed in later days with the stones which have fallen from the temple. About forty yards westward of the temple, formerly stood two colossal images or réchas[209], both now overthrown, and one broken in two: these evidently faced each other inwards, as if to guard the approach. Each of these, including the pedestal, is of a single block, seven feet high; the head is two feet high; the square of the pedestal about three feet, and its height thirteen inches and a half: the stone block coarse grained, and apparently the same as the outer coating of the temple. The door-way is three feet and a half wide, and now ten feet long, so that allowing two feet for dilapidation, the thickness of the walls must have been more than twelve feet. This leads directly to an apartment twenty feet square, the terrace of which, or original floor, is now covered to an unknown depth with masses of stone fallen from the walls and roof. The present height of the interior of the building is about twenty-eight feet.
The roof is a square pyramid about fourteen feet high, formed of stones which overhang each other like inverted steps. The stone composing the interior of the apartment is whitish and close grained, and breaks in flakes something like flint. The whole is uniformly cut and neatly morticed together without cement. The interior is perfectly plain, the exterior could never have possessed more than the simplest architectural embellishment.