At present I am preparing a set of books that will cover all the narrative panels at Borobudur, with introductions, descriptions, stories and translations wherever possible. The books are dual language English and Bahasa Indonesian, and include photographs of all the panels.
Already published is Lalitavistara, The Life of the Buddha, a pdf of which can be downloaded from the Indonesian page on Photo Dharma. And this month I have also completed work on Gaṇḍavyūha, which is going to the printer soon.
A couple of times this year I have returned to Borobudur for further photography. This time it is in preparation for the 3rd book in the series, covering some of the Jātaka Stories that are found at Borobudur. The first of these books covers just one wall on the balustrade at Level 1, but it has 389 photos, on four pages.
These photos are some of some of the most appealing reliefs at the monument, and are organised into groups unfolding events from the story they depict. The first two pages cover the Jātakamālā, a collection of 34 stories written in classical Sanskrit by Ven Āryaśūra around the 4th century.
The 3rd page contains more Jātaka Stories, but many of which cannot be identified now. And the 4th page contains a set of very different reliefs which are like long tableau, stretched over five or more panels, featuring, in the majority of cases, a Buddha at the centre.
These photographs with their description in English are now published on Photo Dharma, and can be accessed from any of the following links:
All the photographs can be downloaded from the link on the page, and can be repurposed to create more Dharma works. I hope you enjoy the fruit of much labour!
