first title rather disjointed for this article ran nearly three lines as he tried to carry this Kassian Cephas (a) was the first professional photographer Javanese; (. R 1855-1877) (b) at the request of Sultan Hamengkubuwono VI, was appointed official photographer to the court of Yogyakarta; (C) has photographed many Javanese Hindu monuments of civilization in Central Java.
Born in Yogyakarta, he became a student of Christina Petronella Philips-Steven, a Protestant missionary in Jogjakarta. In 1860, he was baptized and took the name Cephas. Later, he began using Cephas as his surname. Cephas married Dina Rakijah, a Christian Javanese woman in a church in Yogyakarta on January 22, 1866. The couple raised a daughter and three son: (b 1866). Naomi, Shem, Fares (1872 b.) (B 1870). and Jozef (b. 1881). Shem, his eldest son, became a photographer and painter in his father's workshop. A biography of Peter, called Cephas, Yogyakarta sultan Photography service by Gerrit Knaap, published by the Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (KITLV), Leiden, 1999 presents a selection of 98 images: portraits the royal family, court dances, city views, and of course the Borobudur.
easy access to court allowed Cephas produce a documentary work on its buildings, among others, the Taman Sari Water Castle (now one of the main attractions of Yogyakarta). He also recorded the various keraton (royal court) dances and other cultural expressions of the court. He also was able to indulge in portrait photography of members of the royal family and the Sultan himself.
As official photographer of the court, he immortalized the interactions of the court with the colonial officers and visitors. An example of the latter is the record of the visit of King Chulalongkorn of Thailand in Jogjakarta, in thanks for the king presented him with a case of three jewel buttons.
His most important work was, however, related to many ancient monuments and buildings in central Java. This includes, firstly, the complex at Prambanan Jonggrang Lara, he photographed so precisely that these photos could be used later for restoration of temples. And secondly, the photographs of the hidden foot Borobudur.
Borobudur was discovered in 1814 by H. C. Cornelius, a Dutch officer in the Engineering Corps. At the request of the Lieutenant Governor-General Thomas Stanford Raffles, Cornelis was sent to investigate the existence of a large monument on a hill in the jungle near the village of Bumisegoro. It took Cornelius and his 200 men two months to cut down trees, burning vegetation and dig away the earth and ash from Mount Merapi to reveal the monument. But because of the danger of collapse, Cornelis could not unearth all galleries. The report its findings to Raffles including various drawings.
Borobudur before the restoration, in the late 1800s
Hartmann, a Dutch administrator of the Kedu region, continued the work of Cornelius, and in 1835, the entire complex was finally unearthed. His interest in Borobudur seemed more personal than official. Hartmann did not submit reports of its activities, in particular, the alleged story that he discovered the large statue of Buddha in the main stupa. In 1842, Hartmann conducted an official investigation of the main dome, but what he discovered is unknown and the main stupa remains empty.
The site was used for some time, largely as a source of artifacts for "souvenir hunters" and income for thieves. In 1882, the chief inspector of cultural property recommended that Borobudur be entirely disassembled and reliefs to be seen in museums. This was based on his belief that the monument was largely unstable. The government ordered a new thorough investigation be undertaken to assess the actual condition of the complex. The resulting report fortunately recommended that the site be left untouched.
Borobudur has, however, remains a source of memories; parts of his sculptures were looted, some even with the colonial government consent. In 1896, King Chulalongkorn, who visited Java and Yogyakarta, requested and was allowed to take home eight cartloads of sculptures from Borobudur. Many of them are now on display in the hall of Art of Java National Museum Bangkok.
Due to the absence of written documents about Borobudur construction, much of the monument is still shrouded in a cloud of uncertainty. And when, in 1885, a hidden structure under the base of the temple was accidentally discovered by Isaac Groneman, first president of the Archaeological Union, a new layer was added to the unknown.
The hidden foot was originally the first level of the temple; it contains 160 relief panels. Why this first level was closed and turned into a new foundation is not known. One theory says that during construction it was necessary to prevent the collapse of the monument. Another is that the original database was not properly designed. Whatever the reason, the 160 panels (not all of them completed when the first original level was locked) were locked in a new foundation.
In 1891, at the request of Sultan Hamengkubuwono VII, the panels were photographed by his court photographer, Kassian Cephas. It should be emphasized that these photographs are the only ones in existence that depict the panels. The hidden foot was open panel by panel, and after being photographed again closed. The budget for the year was prepared by the colonial administration, but for unknown reasons, Cephas received 3,000 guilders 9000 budget Maybe it was estimated that a native (photographer) operates at a cost level different, or perhaps the original plan to produce 300 photographs were considered excessive and unnecessary. Ultimately, 160 photographs panels were produced, plus four other giving an overview of the site.
Sultan Hamengkubuwono VI
For a long time we did not know what was depicted in the reliefs of the hidden foot. Only in 1929 was the French orientalist, Sylvain Levi (1863-1935), able to connect the panels to the Buddhist text Mahakarmawibhangga, which had been discovered in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 1922. Apparently, the reliefs illustrate the theory karma- the idea that the actions of an individual determines his destiny, in the here and now, or in a future life! Although some may be deciphered, but the meaning of others is still under discussion. The reading of the reliefs of the sequence begins the stairs of the East and skirts the temple clockwise. The panels are to be read from right to left.
In the southeast corner, the hidden foot was left open to provide an overview of what remains hidden.