At Plaosan Lor, several types of structures were built
in the early ninth century C.E. The two principal re-
maining buildings consist of approximately identical
two-storied edifices with rectangular floor plans, each
divided into three rooms. Against the east wall of each
edifice, facing west, was a low stone bench upon which
nine images were placed, three in each cella. The cen-
tral images, probably of bronze, have all disappeared.
They were flanked by other figures of stone that still
remain. Among the bodhisattvas tentatively identified
are Mañjus ́r, Avalokites ́vara, MAITREYA, and Ksiti-
garbha.
Mañjus ́rwas an important figure in the Javanese
Buddhist pantheon. Among the most beautiful surviv-
ing images is a silver Mañjus ́rfrom the village of
Ngemplak. Another popular subject was Jambhala, god
of wealth. Other important artistic expressions from
this culture include vajra(thunderbolts) and ghanta
(bells), sometimes combined into a single object. These
may have been associated with the cult of Mahavairo-
cana Sarvavid, who became important around the sec-
ond half of the ninth century.
Central Javanese civilization suffered a catastrophic
decline in the early tenth century. What caused the de-
cline is not clear, but complex art was no longer pro-
duced there. It took more than three hundred years
before a new wave of Buddhist art arose in Java, by
which time the center of activity had shifted toward
the east.
During this gap in the Javanese record, the Suma-
tran kingdom of S ́rvijaya also came to an end. Dur-
ing the eleventh and twelfth centuries, two other
important complexes of Buddhist art arose on that
island. One complex, at an isolated hinterland site
known as Muara Takus, consists mainly of a stupa of
unusual elongated shape, made of brick, together with
several other foundations of now-ruined structures.
No statuary has been reported from Muara Takus, but
pieces of inscribed gold foil attest to the site’s esoteric
affiliation.
The other important site, Padang Lawas, in the hin-
terland of North Sumatra, consists of numerous brick
complexes scattered over a wide area. Statuary and in-
scriptions from Padang Lawas indicate affinities with
KALACAKRABuddhism: a shattered Heruka image andINDONESIA, BUDDHISTART INRelief sculpture depicting the entourage of Mara surrounding the Buddha at the great eighth- and ninth-century Buddhist site of Borobudur
in Java, Indonesia. © Charles and Josette Lenars/Corbis. Reproduced by permission.