Lalitavistara, the Life of Budha

Welcome to Borobudur, one of the sacred Buddhist monuments and a World Heritage site. The grandeur and beauty of Borobudur hold unique historical significance for the Indonesian people. The Indonesian government has designated Chandi Borobudur as a major tourist attraction and a priority destination for both domestic and international visitors.

Chandi Borobudur attracts tremendous enthusiasm for visiting and exploring various narrative sources in thematic tours, with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of the building's history, architecture, and fine art.

Friendly tour guides will accompany you on this exciting opportunity, providing narrative and explanations as a token of appreciation for your study and participation in preserving, protecting, and preserving our ancestral cultural heritage.

The Wall of Lalitavistara
Source: Guidance Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Photo Screenshot arisguide.

Chandi Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. The splendor and unique architecture and beauty of its visual arts are reflected in its beautiful walls and balustrades, which hold high artistic value.

The carvings on the main walls of Borobudur, deeply meaningful to Buddhists, tell the story of the life of Siddhartha Gautama. This story is very beautiful and elegant in Buddhist culture, it is a story taken from the Lalitavistara manuscript/text.

Lalitavistara

Borobudur's temple is rich in relief narratives, with 1,460 narrative carvings and 1,212 beautiful and graceful decorative carvings. The aesthetic value of Buddhist culture is exemplified by the story on the main wall, depicting the life story of Siddhartha Gautama, taken from the Lalitavistara text.

Lalitavistara is a narrative or text depicting the life story of Siddhartha Gautama, depicted in a series of reliefs (but not a complete narrative), depicted and carved on the walls of Borobudur. It begins with the Buddha's descent from the Tushita Heaven and ends with his first sermon or sermon in the Deer Park (Taman Kijang) near the city of Banaras.

The Lalitavistara reliefs consist of 120 panels arranged in a row from the stairs of the main entrance to the east. To read these reliefs, visitors walk through a series of corridors on the main wall, performing the Pradaksina (circumambulation) procedure, walking clockwise around the corridors. Moving south, the relief panels on the second floor corridor of Borobudur's main wall begin with the upper row of relief panels.The Lalitavistara Sutra itself was written sometime between the first and third centuries CE. It contains several older aspects derived from oral legends, as well as later elements not found in earlier versions of the Buddha's story.

This text is well-known among Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists, but less so in Theravada Buddhism. Among all the relief panels at Borobudur Temple, the Lalitavistara relief panels are the most comprehensive in identifying the narratives of the relief panels.

A summary of the relief narratives in the Lalitavistara Sutra is as follows:

Lalitavistara

The Beginning of the Buddha's Final Birth

The relief panels on the main wall of the second corridor depict the time when the gods of the Tusita Heaven granted the Bodhisattva's wish to descend to earth and be reborn as a Buddha, with the goal of providing guidance and direction to humanity and returning them to the righteous path. This was done by incarnating as a human named Gautama Buddha, Siddhartha.

At the Kapilawastu royal palace, King Sudhodana and Queen Maya were having a deep conversation about their desire to have and have a son. This desire made them both meditate, to have children. At that time it is said, in the royal palace, Goddess Maya, the consort of Sudhodana, King Kapilavastu, dreamed of seeing a white elephant with six tusks, then infiltrated Queen Maya's body. The white elephant in a dream descended from the Tusita heaven riding on a lotus flower, which was none other than the Bodhisattva himself. At the same time, the gods expressed deep respect by worshiping him.

Then, due to the uninterpretable dream, Goddess Maya desired to tell King Sudhodana about it and its meaning. King Sudhodana, after pondering and contemplating the dream, finally decided to ask a wise man, a Brahma named Asita, for its meaning.

It was explained on that occasion that Goddess Maya, his queen, would receive a blessing: she would be pregnant with the child of the future king of the world. Goddess Maya was overjoyed, but her desire for her son to become a sage or Brahma had not yet been fulfilled.

Brahma's explanation, however, would be quite different, filling King Sudhodana's heart with joy. For quite some time, King Sudhodana had long desired a son who would be the next heir to the throne. King Sudhodana welcomed this joyous occasion and then shared it with Asita and the other Brahmins. In response, the gods offered paradise to Goddess Maya.

During her pregnancy, the king's life in the palace was filled with miracles. Among them, Goddess Maya was shown three palaces, or three places at once. These three palaces served to illustrate the Trikaya teachings: Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya.

Before the Buddha's birth, within the palace, Goddess Maya performed various miracles, such as healing the sick and disabled. Another miracle occurred within the palace when the lions and elephants outside the palace worshipped King Sudhodana.

As the birth approached, preparations were underway in the palace, where Goddess Maya traveled to give birth to the Bodhisattva. She delivered the Bodhisattva standing, holding onto a tree branch in Lumbini Garden.

At the moment the Bodhisattva was born, two streams of water descended from the sky, one cold and the other warm. These streams then poured down on Siddhartha's body. Siddhartha was born clean and spotless, standing upright and immediately walking north. The place where he stood was filled with lotus flowers.

A week after the birth, it is said that Empress Goddess Maya died.

Siddhartha's Childhood and Adolescence

Asita again predicted that Prince Siddhartha would one day become a saint, the Buddha. This prophecy filled King Sudhodana with anxiety, as he feared that if his son grew up, he would become the Buddha. This would leave the kingdom of Kapilavastu kingless and without a successor.

Therefore, the ascetics advised King Sudhodana that Prince Siddhartha should be kept away from four events of life. Otherwise, his life would lead him to become an ascetic or Buddhist saint.

From his childhood, the prince demonstrated a distinct intelligence and cleverness, growing up to be a child of great intelligence. By the age of seven, he was drawn to the study of knowledge. It is said that the prince's face was filled with a radiant light, so much so that upon his first schooling, his teacher fainted upon seeing his radiant face.

At the age of 16, it was time for Siddhartha to find a match. He gave her a ring and married Princess Yasodhara, whom he had chosen after winning several competitions. For this victory, he was given the honor of being granted three magnificent and special palaces: the Winter Palace (Ramma), the Summer Palace (Suramma), and the Rainy Palace (Subha).

This was done by his father, Sudhodana, in response to the words and advice of the ascetic, who advised his son not to be allowed to see four events of life.

Four Encounters and Siddhartha's Great Renunciation

After a while, Siddhartha's life as a king's son, residing in three magnificent palaces, fully equipped with everything he needed, was fulfilled. Siddhartha enjoyed all the luxuries of food, drink, clothing, loyal servants, and was constantly guarded by royal guards. However, this didn't improve his life, as he grew bored of being confined to the palace. Therefore, he began to think about seeing things outside the palace.

One day, the Bodhisattva desired to see the outside world and asked permission to walk outside. Life outside the palace was very different. He encountered some royal guards and saw four significant and real conditions of life: the elderly, the sick, the dead, and the holy.

Seeing this, it dawned on Siddhartha that he was truly feeling deeply sad. A moment of contemplation, his desire to know led him to question the meaning of life. He reasoned that meeting the holy man would be a testament to the sacred life that would truly answer the meaning of life.

Throughout his life, his thoughts and contemplation of the four lives he had witnessed led him to live in various forms of worldly existence for 10 years. Siddhartha's inner turmoil continued until, at the age of 29, he was finally freed, coinciding with the birth of his first child.

One night, his desire to leave the palace was met with an opportunity. The Bodhisattva decided to leave. A horse escort accompanied him to Siddhartha's aid, determined to seek and achieve the ultimate renunciation and live as an ascetic.

The Bodhisattva felt his body weakening, and death threatened to take his life. However, because of his strong will and determination, the Bodhisattva finally continued his asceticism under the Bodhi tree.

The story also depicts various deceptions, including the attempts of the Goddess Mara to stop and thwart his asceticism. However, despite all the Bodhisattva's efforts, a miracle occurred, and all the dangers that arose to thwart his asceticism were warded off by transforming each temptation into a flower.

And then, the time came for the Bodhisattva to attain perfect enlightenment. The Bodhisattva would receive the supreme wisdom that would guide his final salvation and become a Buddha on the full moon of the eighth day of the twelfth month in 531 BC.

Upon attaining perfect enlightenment, his body radiated light. The blue light signified devotion, the yellow light represented wisdom and knowledge, the red light signified compassion and mercy, and the white light signified purity.After the Bodhisattva attained perfect enlightenment, he courteously met his five friends who had accompanied him and adopted them as his first disciples. It is said that on this auspicious occasion, these five disciples were the first to hear the Buddha's sermon, the teachings of salvation.

Lalitavistara

Source: Guidance Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide.

Traveling and visiting with the aim of getting to know Borobudur better, learning its history, participating in themed tours, and exploring Borobudur as a sacred Buddhist structure is truly special. Admiring its grandeur and architectural beauty is a form of appreciation and participation in preserving and protecting Borobudur, a world cultural heritage site. Chandi Borobudur is the largest monument in the world.

Read the complete narrative and materials about Borobudur Temple by visiting it and make your trip more enjoyable, explore the thematic narrative of Borobudur culture in more detail with Pamong Carita. Reading becomes more enjoyable, delving into the narrative in more detail and reading in English is indeed fun and also seems very interesting to translate into an easy and flexible language. Get detailed readings at Welcome to Borobudur Temple, the fabric of life in Buddhist culture. Explore and admire the beauty of fine art in images and photos at PHOTO IMAGE BOROBUDUR.