Indonesia
Borobudur Temple
10000 Rupiah
A place that has over 17,000 islands and dozens of languages among 300 different cultural groups can be hard to represent on one banknote. Even on a whole series of banknotes, such an endeavor is improbable. Choices must be weighed and made, and sometimes the results can be, to our foreign perceptions, quite striking. Such was the case for me with the Indonesian 10,000 rupiah banknote issued in 1975.
The front of the banknote depicts a stone relief carving from a wall within the Borobudur temple on the Indonesian island of Java. Thought to have been built during the 8th and 9th centuries with interlocking stones without mortar and is considered to be the most famous Buddhist temple in the world. This temple has no places for worship but was built with ten levels which represent ten levels of the Bodhisattva (an enlightened being) that need to be attained to achieve Buddhist enlightenment perfection. The temple pilgrims are wound up and up through the passageways on a journey towards a higher consciousness. The intricate carvings along the way relate the Buddha’s teaching and many events that happened throughout his life. Other carvings relate a love story of a bird-woman called Manohara and a prince named Sudhana. These all relate stories of morality, karma and spiritual awakening. In all, there is said to be 2,672 carved panels that would stretch a length of more than six kilometers, or 3.75 miles.
On this banknote the one panel chosen to highlight the front was the relief of Queen Maya, the wife of Śuddhodana, king of the Shakya kingdom, riding in a carriage. The backstory to this is one probably known to most people of the Buddhist faith, but not so much for the rest of us. It was around 624 BC when Queen Maya was travelling to her family home in Devadaha, where a famous holy pond was located, as she was planning to give birth to her child there. Along the way, her labor started just before they got to their destination, about 7 kilometers away, in Lumbini. It was here that she wound up giving birth to her son, Siddhartha Gautama. Maya evidently died about a week later, and Guatama was raised by his aunt.
Gautama’s history is long and way too much to be summarized here, so suffice it to say that Gautama would eventually renounce his affiliation with the royal family becoming a wandering ascetic. Ascetics were, and are, those who refuse worldly possessions and attachments, wandering the world in an effort to seek spiritual goals. He eventually wound up in India at Bodh Gaya where, sitting under a bodhi tree, he attained enlightenment and became the Buddha.
The Bodhi Tree in India where Gautama is said to have attained enlightenment and became the Buddha. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The reverse of this banknote shows a striking image of what most westerners would think of as a monster: a mask of the Batara Kala on the island of Bali, Indonesia.
While attending Borobudur, before rising through the winding layers of the temple, one must first pass through a temple gate under a monstrous carved creature that looks like it is ready to eat you up. This is Batara Kala, and it represents time.
A postcard depiction of Kala on a cave entrance.
Traditional Javanese mythology does depict Kala as the god of time and destruction, ruling the underworld in a cave. But to limit Kala to being the god of time would be a mistake. Kala is much more than the simple passage of time, but rather represents the effects of time on mankind, and here represents the change that you will undertake while visiting the temple and reviewing the life of Buddha in the Borobudur’s stone carvings. Yes, Kala can represent the devouring of humans at the end of their lifespan, but it also represents the death of the self through changes over time.
Javanese dancers, one costumed as Batara Kala.
It is not surprising then to find that children, who are under the constant flux of change both physically and emotionally, are highly susceptible to Kala’s influence. Children’s birthday celebrations are said to be important as they can be taken by Kala, in body or in spirit. Another important celebration is Ruwatan, where one’s debts to Kala are cleansed, and are often performed with a shadow puppet performance.
A Wayang puppet of Batara Kala. Courtesy of the Tropenmuseum
It is important to understand that Batara Kala is not being worshipped, but is instead being appeased – for a time, at least. For Batara Kala is an essential element here. Despite his appearance, his actions should not be considered as evil. Kala does not go after the innocent or try to lure people into sin; he is time. Time that devours all, good and evil, equally. If Kala did not perform his essential function, there would be no death, and importantly to the Buddhist faith, no rebirth, no way for people to undertake the karmic reckoning which allows them to confront consequences of their life’s actions. It is this karmic reckoning which helps ones spirit to grow and change over time, and through reincarnation, which can lead to personal enlightenment. If one were to die without this reckoning, one would be stuck in the underworld with Kala for eternity.
Borobudur temple was until the middle ages when it fell into disrepair and was abandoned. Reasons for this are thought to be largely due to the relocation of political capital to a different location on Java. In 1815 it was rediscovered, buried under accumulations of volcanic ash. In the 1970’s the Indonesian government rebuilt the temple with assistance from UNESCO. Borobudur Temple received UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1991.
