Abstract

The Central Javanese period, from the sixth to the tenth centuries, has been thought of as one of two competing dynasties, the Buddhist Śailendra and the Hindu Sañjaya. Within this paradigm, the two most impressive monuments in ancient Java, Borobudur and Loro Jonggrong (also known as Candi Prambanan), have accordingly been regarded as the symbols that represent the hostile relationship of these two dynasties and their two religions. Although this viewpoint remains dominant in the literature and in discussions of the Central Javanese period, recent archaeological research and epigraphic sources are beginning to offer a distinctly different picture.

In this regard, my dissertation attempts to establish this new theory of the relationship between Borobudur and Loro Jonggrong, on the one hand, and between the Śailendra and the Sañjaya dynasties, on the other hand, based on a thorough analysis of the artistic and architectural elements of the two monuments. Chapter one examines the earlier perspective of the Central Javanese period and points out several problems on reading the period as one of two rival dynasties. This is followed by a comparative analysis on the different modes of narrating stories in ancient Java (chapter two), succeeded by a stylistic analysis on the narrative reliefs and three-dimensional sculptures from Borobudur and Loro Jonggrong (chapter three). I finally focus on the architectural decorations on the stūpa motif and the kāla-makara motif (chapter four) in ancient Java.

Based on my research, I maintain that the construction of Loro Jonggrong was earlier than has traditionally been acknowledged, and was in fact contemporaneous to that of Borobudur. In addition, based on artistic similarities between these two monuments, the distribution of Buddhist and Hindu temples in Central Java, and the consistency of artistic and architectural developments during the Central Javanese period, I argue that this period should be read as a period of one dynasty, not of two competing dynasties. Accordingly, Borobudur and Loro Jonggrong should be recognized as being symbolic of the peaceful relationship between Buddhism and Hinduism in ancient Java; the connection between the two dynasties and the two religions cannot be viewed as antagonistic.