Candi Borobudur

 

Architecture

The Candi Borobudur is a place of worship. It can be viewed as a large stupa if view from above. The layout of the candi takes the form of a giant tantric Buddhist Mandala. The candi itself is a mega structure that consist of nine platforms; lower six are square and upper 3 are circular.






































Stones from the river and the volcanic stones are collected to build the candi. In addition, stones are cut in to size and they are laid without mortar. The building technique is similar to the other temples in Java where there is no inner space.
When the congregational worship in Borobudur, it is performed in pilgrimage. They move by the system of the staircases ascending to the top platform. Each plat form represents one stage of enlightenment.
The candi can be divided into three groups : base, body and top which resembles the division of the human body.

The monument's three division symbolizes three stage of mental preparation in the Buddhist cosmology, namely Kamadhatu (the world of desires), Rupadhatu ( the world of forms), and finally Arupadhatu(the formless world) which is at the top most stupa.

The Buddha Statues

The Buddha statues are placed inside perforated stupas. At the top level, there are stupas arranged in circular form- the frist circular platform consist of 32 stupas, the second circular has 24 and the third has 16 which surrounds the One large stupa.

Reliefs

The candi constains bas reliefs which cover the facade and balustrades. It is the narrative panels, which tells the story of Sudhana and Manohara.

 

Nogori

‘Austronesian’ saddle roof which has curved lines and pointed eaves are some of many roofs that are not everywhere achieved.  The Toba Batak and Minangkabau roof are the two Sumatran peoples who provide well-known examples of the saddle roof.  Yet, interestingly the structure and proportions of their houses are different. 

Minangkabau Roof
 

The Toba Batak and Minangkabau roof may be the same but the rest of the buildings are different. The walls may be in different heights as the locals differ in taste and wealth. The roof sits on top of the habitable space rather than creating it. For the roof and the rood peaks, a truss and cross-beam is used and it is built up of many small rafters and battens. In the biggest houses, the ends (anjung) projects up   from the main body of the house in tiers. The roofing thatch of ijuk(sugar palm fibre) is tied into bundles which can easily made to fit the curves of the roof peaks.

Later on, the Minangkabau migrants settle from Indonesia to Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. There they have adopted a Malay roof style. The resulted roof having much less curve than the original form and blunter ends on the eaves.

Tri Angga

I have found two different answers to this question but I think it has the same meaning to it.

High, middle and low – Tri Angga means having “three parts”. It can also be represented by the human body, building, structures, town planning and the environment in which the Balinese live amongst them. Besides that, high- sacred mountains, which form a ridge from east to west through the centre of the island, middle- where most of the Balinese live, low- is the sea is an example how the Tri Angga of Bali as a whole place are divided.

Another answer that I found- Tri Angga is part of the Tri Hita Karana or known as Atma, Angga and Khaya. Tri Angga is a system of dividing zones or areas in the traditional architecture of Bali.

1. Utama- Parts which is positioned at the highest- head

2. Madya- Parts which is positioned in the middle- body

3. Nista- Parts which is positioned at the lowest- leg


In my opinion, Tri Angga is the method of placing spaces or system of diving/arranging in hierarchal terms (by hierarchy).

Bali God House

Wat

WAT is a buddhist sacred precinct with monks' quarters, the temple proper, an edifice housing a large image of Buddha, and a structure for lessons. For example in Cambodia, a Wat us used to refer to all kinds of places of worship.
Wat generally refers to a Buddhist place of worship, but the technical term is Wat Pootasasna.


A typical Buddhist wat consists of the following buildings(taken from wikipedia):

• chaidei or chedi-usually conical or bell-shaped buildings, often containing relics of Buddha
• vihan - a meeting and prayer room
• mondop - a usually open, square building with four arches and a pyramidal roof, used to worship religious texts or objects
• sala - a pavilion for relaxation or miscellaneous activities
• bot - the holiest prayer room, also called the "ordination hall" as it is where new monks take their vows. Architecturally it is similar to the vihara; the main differences are the eight cornerstones placed around the bot to ward off evil. The bot is usually more decorated than the viharn.
• bibiloteca - Tripitaka library where Buddhist scriptures are kept
• drum tower
• bell tower
• multipurpose hall is a building in a wat. In the past this hall was only for monks to study in, as parian is a Pali word meaning 'educated monk' or 'monk student'.

Mandala

Mandala is a Sanskrit word that means “circle”. The mandala form is often taken in the Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions in their sacred art. Circle and Squares are the basic form of Hindu and Buddhist mandalas. The forms are square with four gates containing a circle with a center point. The four gates of mandala are loving, kindness, compassion, sympathy and equanimity.There are spiritual and ritual significance in both Buddhism and Hinduism in the concentric diagram of the mandalas. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of aspirants and adepts, as a spiritual teaching tool, for establishing a sacred space, and as an aid to meditation. mandala has become a generic term for any plan, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically.

Mandala in Hinduism
- is two or three dimensional geometric composition used in meditative rituals.
- it is thought to be the adobe of the deity.
Mandala in Buddhism
- mandala can be found in the form id stupa.
- such mandala consist of an outer circular mandala and an inner square or sometimes circular. Mandala with an ornately decorated mandala "palace" placed at the centre.
- mandalas are commonly usde by tantric Buddhist as an aid of meditations/sacred place.

Mandala system- layout of Candi Borobudur

Dugong hahaha Dougong lah!

Dougong is a timber frame structure which is commonly constructed in traditional Chinese architecture because the walls of the buildings aren’t load bearing types. The concept of the dougong is the interlocking of brackets. By placing the a large wooden block on a column to provide a solid base for the bow shaped brackets that support the beam above it. Besides that, the function is to give extra support to the increased weight of horizontal beams that span the vertical column by transferring weight on horizontal beams over a larger area to the vertical columns. The interlocking process can also be repeated many times. Multiple dougong also let structures to be more elastic.
Owing to hierarchical restrictions in feudal society, the dougong structure can be found only in the prominent buildings such as palace and temple halls. To identify the importance of the buildings, it can be determined by the number of layers of these bracket stucture.
In addition, the dougong structure is highly resistant to earthquakes. It could hold the wood structure together even though brick walls would collapse in the same earthquake. This helped so many ancient buildings to stand intact for hundreds of years.

The Great Demak Mosque

Salam, :)

The assignment given was to find about the tiered roof of Masjid Agung Demak.

Masjid Agung Demak terletak di pekan Demak, Central Jawa, Indonesia.
Masjid itu melambangkan keagungan yang dicapai kesultanan Demak sebagai kesultanan Islam di Pulau Jawa selain daripada menjadi mercu tanda kepada syiar Islam. Masjid ini ada antara masjid yang tertua di bina di Nusantara. Sealain itu, masjid ini juga telah di dirikan oleh 9 para wali atau wali Songo.
The mosque was built in 1428.

Unlike other mosques in the middle east, Masjid Agung Demak  is built from timber also known as kayu balak. The tiered roof is supported by four huge teak pillars. Because of this, the mosque is rather small compared to other type of modern mosques in Indonesia.


The Great Demak Mosque has many meanings to its design. One of the important feature of the mosque is the roof. The three tiered roof resembles to every whom beriman,starting from the stage of Mukmin, Muslim and Muhsin or Iman, Islam and Ihsan.

There are many other aesthetic meanings to the design of The Great Demak Mosque. Mainly based from the values of Islam,eg, the 5 rukun of Islam and Iman. What interest me is that how people at that century/year/age was able to design a building of simplicity, well honestly without the wow effect unlike some other old buildings that I have seen but yet with a high aesthetic value/ meaning.
Amazing. 

To read more 
http://bacaanku.web44.net/index.php?pilih=news&mod=yes&aksi=lihat&id=78
http://www.waspbook.co.cc/2010/08/masjid-agung-demak-monumen-walisanga.html
or just search under Majid Agung Demak.

Wasalam.