A Borobudur ship is the 8th to 9th-century wooden double outrigger sailing vessel of Maritime Southeast Asia depicted in some

bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s of the Borobudur Buddhist monument in

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in t ...

, Indonesia. It is a ship of

Javanese people The Javanese ( id, Orang Jawa; jv, ꦮꦺꦴꦁꦗꦮ, ''Wong Jawa'' ; , ''Tiyang Jawi'' ) are an ethnic group native to the central and eastern part of the Indonesian island of Java. With approximately 100 million people, Javanese people ...

, derivative vessels of similar size still survived in East Java coastal trade at least until the 1940s.

Characteristics

The characteristics of the ships of the Borobudur temple include: Having outriggers that are not as long as their hulls, bipod or tripod mast with a canted square sail ( tanja sail), a bowsprit with a spritsail, rowing gallery (where people row by sitting or standing), deckhouse, have ''oculi'' (carved/bossed eyes), and quarter rudders. Some ships are depicted with oars, numbering at least 6, 8, or 9, and some others have none.

Common misconceptions

There are some common misconceptions about the Borobudur ship: # The ship depicted in the Borobudur temple is an Indian ship. This opinion is supported by Indian and Dutch scholars who attribute the influence of India to the kingdoms of the Nusantara Archipelago ("

Indianization Indianisation also known as Indianization, may refer to the spread of Indian languages, culture, diaspora, cuisines, economic reach and impact since India is one of the greatest influencers since ancient times and the current century has been ...

"), so the ship depicted in the temple must have come from India. This also stems from the notion that Javanese ships are inferior to Indian ships. This argument has been debunked, the Javanese were experienced navigators and built large ships, as early as the first millennium CE. The characteristics actually indicate Indonesian origin: The presence of outriggers, the use of canted sails with a lower boom, the use of bipod and tripod mast, and rowing galleries. # The ship was a Srivijayan ship or a Malay ship. In fact, there is absolutely no evidence to support this statement. In the

Srivijaya Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...

era, the type of watercraft is rarely recorded, the type of Malay boat recorded is the ''samvau'' (modern Malay: ''

Sampan A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed Chinese and Malay wooden boat. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. The design closely resembles Western hard chine boats like th ...

'') on the Kedukan Bukit inscription (683 AD) in

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. Another recorded watercraft is the ''lancang'', from 2 inscriptions on the northern coast of Bali written in the Old Balinese language dated 896 and 923 AD.Manguin, Pierre-Yves (2012). Lancaran, Ghurab and Ghali: Mediterranean impact on war vessels in Early Modern Southeast Asia. In G. Wade & L. Tana (Eds.), ''Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past'' (pp. 146–182). Singapore: ISEAS Publishing. Meanwhile, the Borobudur ship is only found in the Borobudur temple, which is a Javanese heritage, not Malay.Kumar, Ann (2012). 'Dominion Over Palm and Pine: Early Indonesia’s Maritime Reach', in Geoff Wade (ed.), ''Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past'' (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies), 101–122. # The Borobudur ship is a Majapahit ship. In fact, historical accounts of the main ships of Majapahit mention the

jong Jong may refer to: Surname *Chung (Korean surname), spelled Jong in North Korea *Zhong (surname), spelled Jong in the Gwoyeu Romatzyh system *Common Dutch surname "de Jong"; see ** De Jong ** De Jonge ** De Jongh *Erica Jong (born 1942), American ...

, malangbang, and kelulus, all of which do not have outriggers.

Plate renderings

Renderings of the five ships with outriggers in the Borobudur bas-reliefs (out of seven ships depicted in total) in

Conradus Leemans Conradus Leemans (24 April 1809 – 14 October 1893) was a Dutch Egyptologist. Early life Conradus Leemans was born in 1809 in Zalt-Bommel, Netherlands, and was the eldest son of physician Dr. Willem Leemans and Hillegonda Rachel Ganderheijden. H ...

's ''Boro-Boedoer'' (1873). Note that the ships are of different types. File:Borobudur Ship (Leemans, pl. ccli, 41).png File:Borobudur Ship (Leemans, pl. ci, 172).png File:Borobudur Ship (Leemans, pl. ciii, 176).png File:Borobudur Ship (Leemans, pl. cxxiii, 216).png File:Borobudur Ship (Leemans, pl. lxviii, 106).png

Replica

* The earliest replica of this ship was made in the Philippines in 1985, based on the Pontian boat structure. It is called Sarimanok (lucky little bird), used to sail to Java and Madagascar. * The least known replica was named Damar Sagara, completed in 1992. * The well known replica is housed at

Samudra Raksa museum Samudra Raksa Museum is a maritime museum that was built several hundred meters north of the 8th-century Borobudur Buddhist monument, within the Borobudur archaeological complex, Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The museum features and interprets ...

Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a ''bupati''. Magelang city covers an area of 18. ...

, Indonesia, built in 2003. It sailed to the Seychelles, Madagascar, South Africa and Ghana between August 2003 and February 2004. * One replica is moored on Marine March of

Resorts World Sentosa Resorts World Sentosa (abbreviation: RWS) is an integrated resort An integrated resort (IR) is a major resort property that includes a hotel with a casino, together with convention facilities, entertainment shows, theme parks, luxury r ...

dock in Singapore. * Borobudur relief serve as the basis for constructing "Spirit of Majapahit", a replica of Majapahit ship. This replica has received criticism from historians, because the ship used by Majapahit is jong while the Borobudur relief ship is an earlier vessel. * A replica of Borobudur ship was featured in the opening ceremony of the

Asian Games 2018 The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August ...

on 18 August 2018 in

Gelora Bung Karno Stadium Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium ( id, Stadion Utama Gelora Bung Karno; literally "Bung Karno Sports Arena Main Stadium"), formerly Senayan Main Stadium and Gelora Senayan Main Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located at the center of the Gel ...

, Jakarta.

In popular culture

* Borobudur ship and ship carving are featured in the ''

Age of Empires II ''Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings'' is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. Released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh, it is the second game in the '' Age of Empires'' series. ...

'' expansion pack, ''Rise of the Rajas'', and its remaster, '' Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition''. *Borobudur ship serve as the basis for the model of Majapahit Jong in video game ''

Civilization VI ''Sid Meier's Civilization VI'' is a turn-based strategy 4X video game developed by Firaxis Games, published by 2K Games, and distributed by Take-Two Interactive. The mobile port was published by Aspyr Media. The latest entry into the ''Civiliza ...

'', with double outriggers, double quarter rudders, and rowers.

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

Note: The following two links are dead. Could someone help please? * * * "From Indonesia to Africa - Borobudur Ship Expedition." Philip Beale. 2006.pd

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