Unfinished Buddha
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The Unfinished Buddha is a statue which is believed to have originated from the largest stupa of Borobudur. It is currently located in Karmawibhangga Museum.
The Unfinished Buddha is so-called because of its incomplete nature; the hands of the statue are not fully carved, the right arm is longer than the left and one of the shoulders is bigger than the other.[1]
History
The large central stupa that crowns the Borobudur monument has a hollow chamber within, that is completely walled off from the outside. When opened during the monument's restoration, it was found to contain an unfinished Buddha image that may represent a transcendent spiritual state.[2][better source needed]
Although the original location of the statue has been a matter of dispute, it is now appears that the statue was probably originally in the stupa: there is, however, a possibility that it might not have been established there as a religiously significant item. Some scholars argue that the statue is unfinished because it was deemed flawed. Rather than destroy a Buddha statue, the supervisor of the project may have placed it in the stupa simply to get rid of it.[3]
From 1907 to 1911, Theodore Van Erp supervised the restoration of Borobudur. He found the main stupa was empty, but discovered the Unfinished Buddha buried in the dirt inside it. Because there was no proof regarding its origin at the time, Van Erp had it put under a pili tree next to the temple. He believed that the statue was a failed one and was thrown away. His opinion was supported by Prof. Soekmono in 1973, because the statue was never mentioned in the time of Borobudur's recovery in the era of Raffles in 1814.[1]
Van Erp's action didn't go without negative critics by some archeologists, they commented that he should put it back inside the stupa instead of leaving it outside the temple. According to Bernard Kempers, this statue was intentional left unfinished, and from the Chinese record of 604 CE, there was a same misshaped Buddha statue in India.[1]
In 1994, Prof. Soekmono wrote an archeological journal in which he told the true reason why he didn't put the statue back inside the main stupa. The reason is that they would have had to partially dismantle the stupa which was restored by Van Erp, and that that action would clash with the spirit of reconstruction of that time. But he believed that the misshaped statue was indeed originated from the inside of the main stupa. Based on Serat Centhini chapter 105 verses 8–9, Prof. Soekmono found a story about the statue. One night, Mas Cebolang, the main character of Serat Centhini, was sleeping next to the main stupa of Borobudur and saw a big Buddha statue which was unfinished. Cebolang asked why there was the unfinished statue in the top, and he considered that those statue was intentionally left broken.[1]
| 105. Sinom | Javanese language[4] | Translation [5] |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Umiyat kurungan sela tinarancang alus rêmit nglêbête kurungan sela isi rêca gêng satunggil nanging panggarapnèki kintên-kintên dèrèng rampung saranduning sarira kathah kang dèrèng cinawi kang samya myat langkung eram ing wardaya |
An holey stone cage finely sculpted inside the stone cage only contain a single statue but the manufacture seems unfinished the whole body many have not been carved all who see were awe inside their heart |
| 9 | Mas Cêbolang angandika paran darunane iki rêca agung tur nèng pucak têka tan langkêp ing warni yèn pancèn durung dadi iku bangêt mokalipun baya pancèn jinarag êmbuh karêpe kang kardi mara padha udakaranên ing driya |
Mas Cebolang said why is it a big statue on the top the form is unfinished if it really is unfinished that is very impossible whether it was intentional who knows the intention of the creator let's think inside our heart |
Now the statue can be seen at Karmawibhangga Museum which is built on the ground of the Archeological Park created around Borobudur during the restoration sponsored by the Indonesian government and UNESCO that began in the 1970s.[3]
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