INDONESIA BOTANICAL GARDENS

Indonesian Kebun Raya Indonesia, byname Bogor Botanical Gardens tropical garden in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. It is renowned for its research on regional flora. The 215-acre (87-hectare) site was first used by the Dutch for introducing tropical plants from other parts of the world into the region. In 1817 it was converted into a botanical garden and served as a training ground for specialists in tropical botany. A large area of the original rainforest on which the garden was founded has been preserved in its natural state, providing excellent specimens for scientific study. The garden also has outstanding collections of palms, bamboos, cacti, orchids, and ornamental trees. It administers three other large gardens: the Cibodas Botanical Garden (founded 1862) in West Java, the Purwodadi Botanical Garden in East Java, and the Eka Karya Botanical Garden (1959) on the island of Bali. The grounds of the Kebun Raya are adjacent to a luxurious palace that is an occasional residence of the Indonesian president. Cultural life Indonesia exhibits a rich diversity of cultural forms that range from those of the old Malay, which are preserved mainly in the remote interiors of Sumatra and Borneo, through the traditional Javanese and Balinese forms, which are heavily influenced by the Hindu stories of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, to the modern culture that has evolved from this complex heritage. The American art historian Claire Holt, in Art in Indonesia (1967), has divided cultural life into three overlapping spheres: the Heritage, which includes the statues and monuments of the ancient cultures; Living Tradition, which covers the traditional theatre using shadow plays (wayang kulit), puppets (wayang golek), or human actors (wayang orang or wayang wong) and the use of new media to express traditional concepts as in the painting and sculpture of Bali; and Modern Art, which encompasses new forms of painting, sculpture, drama, and dance. For much of the population, particularly in the rural areas, Living Tradition is a valid term; for the cultural heritage centred around traditional, highly stylized, and semi-ritualistic forms, such as the shadow play, strongly influences all aspects of their lives. The ancient culture From the 8th through the 10th century AD, extensive temple complexes (tjandis; candis) were built in central Java, most of which are now buried or in ruins. The government is actively engaged in restoration. The remains of the first of the great central Javanese monuments, the Saivite temple of the Diyeng (Dieng) Plateau, date to the early 8th century. The Sailendra dynasty, which ruled Java and Sumatra (8th9th century), built the great Mahayana Buddhist monuments, including that of Borobudur, around AD 800. Late in the 9th century the kings of Mataram built the Hindu monuments around Prambanan. Lara Yonggrang (Lara Jonggrang) Temple, commonly called Prambanan Temple, is the best-preserved of a series of Hindu temple complexes in the region. It consists of six main temples; three large ones along the west, dedicated to Siva, Vishnu, and Brahma, contain fine statues. Of the three smaller temples along the east, the middle one contains a statue of Nandi, the bull of Siva. The main temples are heavily ornamented with stone carvings of the gods and other heavenly beings, and there is a series of relief panels depicting the Ramayana story. Borobudur is often considered the most significant monument in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the finest Buddhist monuments in the world. It stands on a hill about 20 miles northwest of Yogyakarta and rises to a height of 115 feet from its base, which measures 403 feet square. The monument consists of a lower structure of six square terraces and an upper structure of three circular terraces, combining the ancient symbols of the circle for the heavens and the square for the earth. In the centre of each side of the square terraces is a staircase leading to the next level. The inner wall on each level has niches containing statues of Buddha, whose life is depicted in the bas-reliefs that cover both inner walls and balustrades. The circular terraces are not decorated and contain 72 bell-shaped stupas, each containing a statue of Buddha. In the centre of the upper terrace is the main stupa, which stands 23 feet high. It was opened in 1842, but no statues or relics were found. Between the 10th and 16th centuries, the centre of power shifted to eastern Java. Literature in ancient Javanese (kawi) flourished during this period, and a number of large temple complexes were constructed, none of which, however, approached the grandeur of Borobudur or Prambanan. The most imposing complex is Panataran Temple near Blitar, which was constructed at the peak of the Majapahit period in the 14th century. With the ascendancy of Islam in the 16th century, the temples fell into ruins, and the main continuity of Hindu influence shifted to Bali.