The Pieces Played
Were Long And Complicated, And Some Of The Players Were Mere
Boys, Who Took Their Parts With Great Precision.
The general
effect was very pleasing, but, owing to the similarity of most of
the instruments, more like a gigantic musical box than one of our
bands; and in order to enjoy it thoroughly it is necessary to
watch the large number of performers who are engaged in it.
The
next morning, while I was waiting for the men and horses who were
to take me and my baggage to my destination, the two lads, who
were about fourteen years old, were brought out, clothed in a
sarong from the waist downwards, and having the whole body
covered with yellow powder, and profusely decked with white
blossom in wreaths, necklaces, and armlets, looking at first
sight very like savage brides. They were conducted by two priests
to a bench placed in front of the house in the open air, and the
ceremony of circumcision was then performed before the assembled
crowd.
The road to Wonosalem led through a magnificent forest in the
depths of which we passed a fine ruin of what appeared to have
been a royal tomb or mausoleum. It is formed entirely of stone,
and elaborately carved. Near the base is a course of boldly
projecting blocks, sculptured in high relief, with a series of
scenes which are probably incidents in the life of the defunct.
These are all beautifully executed, some of the figures of
animals in particular, being easily recognisable and very
accurate. The general design, as far as the ruined state of the
upper part will permit of its being seen, is very good, effect
being given by an immense number and variety of projecting or
retreating courses of squared stones in place of mouldings. The
size of this structure is about thirty feet square by twenty
high, and as the traveller comes suddenly upon it on a small
elevation by the roadside, overshadowed by gigantic trees,
overrun with plants and creepers, and closely backed by the
gloomy forest, he is struck by the solemnity and picturesque
beauty of the scene, and is led to ponder on the strange law of
progress, which looks so like retrogression, and which in so many
distant parts of the world has exterminated or driven out a
highly artistic and constructive race, to make room for one
which, as far as we can judge, is very far its inferior.
Few Englishmen are aware of the number and beauty of the
architectural remains in Java. They have never been popularly
illustrated or described, and it will therefore take most persons
by surprise to learn that they far surpass those of Central
America, perhaps even those of India. To give some idea of these
ruins, and perchance to excite wealthy amateurs to explore them
thoroughly and obtain by photography an accurate record of their
beautiful sculptures before it is too late, I will enumerate the
most important, as briefly described in Sir Stamford Raffles'
"History of Java."
BRAMBANAM. - Near the centre of Java, between the native capitals
of Djoko-kerta and Surakerta, is the village of Brambanam, near
which are abundance of ruins, the most important being the
temples of Loro-Jongran and Chandi Sewa. At Loro-Jongran there
were twenty separate buildings, six large and fourteen small
temples. They are now a mass of ruins, but the largest temples
are supposed to have been ninety feet high. They were all
constructed of solid stone, everywhere decorated with carvings
and bas-reliefs, and adorned with numbers of statues, many of
which still remain entire. At Chandi Sewa, or the "Thousand
Temples," are many fine colossal figures. Captain Baker, who
surveyed these ruins, said he had never in his life seen "such
stupendous and finished specimens of human labour, and of the
science and taste of ages long since forgot, crowded together in
so small a compass as in this spot." They cover a space of nearly
six hundred feet square, and consist of an outer row of eighty-
four small temples, a second row of seventy-six, a third of
sixty-four, a fourth of forty-four, and the fifth forming an
inner parallelogram of twenty-eight, in all two hundred and
ninety-six small temples; disposed in five regular
parallelograms. In the centre is a large cruciform temple
surrounded by lofty flights of steps richly ornamented with
sculpture, and containing many apartments. The tropical
vegetation has ruined most of the smaller temples, but some
remain tolerably perfect, from which the effect of the whole may
be imagined.
About half a mile off is another temple, called Chandi Kali
Bening, seventy-two feet square and sixty feet high, in very fine
preservation, and covered with sculptures of Hindu mythology
surpassing any that exist in India, other ruins of palaces,
halls, and temples, with abundance of sculptured deities, are
found in the same neighbourhood.
BOROBODO. - About eighty miles westward, in the province of Kedu,
is the great temple of Borobodo. It is built upon a small hill,
and consists of a central dome and seven ranges of terraced walls
covering the slope of the hill and forming open galleries each
below the other, and communicating by steps and gateways. The
central dome is fifty feet in diameter; around it is a triple
circle of seventy-two towers, and the whole building is six
hundred and twenty feet square, and about one hundred feet high.
In the terrace walls are niches containing cross-legged figures
larger than life to the number of about four hundred, and both
sides of all the terrace walls are covered with bas-reliefs
crowded with figures, and carved in hard stone and which must
therefore occupy an extent of nearly three miles in length! The
amount of human labour and skill expended on the Great Pyramid of
Egypt sinks into insignificance when compared with that required
to complete this sculptured hill-temple in the interior of Java.
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