The identification of plant reliefs in the Lalitavistara story of Borobudur temple, Central Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract. Metusala D, Fauziah, Lestari DA, Damaiyani J, Mas’udah S, Setyawan H. 2020. The identification of plant reliefs in the Lalitavistara story of Borobudur temple, Central Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 2206-2215. The Lalitavistara sutra is one of the central texts in the Mahayana tradition and it describes the life of the Buddha. This sutra has been carved in a good detail into 120 relief panels. These reliefs showed many plant figures that have often been carved in proper shape, so that made it possible for identification. The identification results showed that there were at least 63 species of plants in the Lalitavistara relief at Borobudur and these more various than species mentioned in the Lalitavistara sutra. Some species even only be found on reliefs but not in the text. These findings have indicated several important points; (i). the ancient Javanese community at that time already had a high awareness of the plant diversity, (ii). the plant figures as component in building atmosphere/background have been used by the carver as an opportunity for improvisation, (iii). the plant reliefs in Borobudur can be seen to reflect the surrounding plant diversity at the time, and (iv). the identification of plant reliefs in Borobudur can be used as an approach to understand the perspective of an ancient Javanese community on the importance of plant diversity.

A Study on Diversity and Distribution of Figs (<i>Ficus</i>, Moraceae) in Bogor City, West Java, Indonesia

“…Naturalized species such as F. elastica and F. religiosa, these two species have been naturalized for a long time and are widely used by people in Indonesia. In the Lalitavistara relief at Borobudur temple, F. elastica and F. religiosa (bodhi tree) are found together with F. benjamina, F. microcarpa, and F. racemosa as species that have important values and have been known by the community as food, wood, and sacred (Metusala et al 2020). Introduced Ficus are generally used as ornamental plants because they have unique plant parts, such as F. elastica, which has several variations in leaf color and stipules.…”

In search of Makara, an Extirpated Freshwater Crocodile <em>Crocodylus siamensis</em> (Schneider, 1801) of Java Island, Using Temple Reliefs, ᴪ AIC and Habitat Modeling

“…Relief observation in temples was following Metusala et al (2020). The observation was focusing on Makara installement and crocodile like creature depicted in the reliefs in the temple wall.…”

Analisis Keberadaan Spesies Mamalia di Lima Babak Cerita Relief Lalitavistara Candi Borobudur

“…Meskipun demikian jika dilihat dari tata nama biologi, spesies mamalia yang muncul di relief Litavistara dibangun menggunakan nama famili atau keluarga yang sama dengan yang ada di India. Kondisi kemunculan spesies-spesies mamalia yang hidup di Jawa dalam cerita ini juga dialami pada kemunculan spesies flora seperti kehadiran spesies pace (Morinda citrifolia L.) (Metusala et al 2020) spesies mamalia yang begitu detail, ada kemungkinan pemahat-pemahat candi Borobudur merupakan penduduk asli Jawa penganut agama Buddha Mahayana atau agama leluhur lainnya yang telah memahami seluk beluk tingkah laku dan habitatnya, atau paling tidak sering menjumpai spesies-spesies tersebut di Pulau Jawa. Keberadaan spesies mamalia di relief Lalitavistara sesuai dengan posisi letak habitatnya seperti yang diuraikan dari hasil kajian mamalia di Jawa oleh Gunawan (2008), Sulistyadi dkk (2013, dan Achmadi dkk (2020).…”