Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
Politecnico di Torino
Archaeoastronomy
The Zenith Passage of the Sun
The tropics are the regions of the Earth that lie between the latitude lines of
the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. In this zone of the Earth,
we have the opportunity to see the zenith passage of the sun, that is, we can
see the sun passing at noon directly overhead.
The zenith passage happens on two days in the year. These days depend upon
the latitude of the place of observation. Let us note that, at the Tropic of
Cancer, the zenith passage happens on the day of the June solstice and at the
Tropic of Capricorn on that of the December solstice; at the equator, the
zenithal sun is observed on the two equinoxes.
When the sun passes overhead, the shadows disappear and the days when
this happens assume a sacred significance for the people that live and lived
within the tropics. Being the zenith passage so important, it is not surprising
that we can find it evidenced by the local architectures too. We have, for
instance, that some monuments possess a "zenith tube" at their apex, such as
at Angkor Wat, Cambodia. It is a vertical sighting tube inserted in the vault
of the structure, which produces in a dark chamber a perfectly perpendicular
beam of light when the sun is at the local zenith.
As we will see, alignments of monuments are also possible: we observed
them in Sanchi, India, at the Lion Rock in Sri Lanka, inAngkor Wat and at
the Sewu, Prambanan and Borobudur Temples in Java. We can observe
alignments at the Mesoamerican Sites of Tula and Chichen Itza. Here we
also show alignments to the sunrise of the zenithal sun at the Shwedagon
Pagoda and in the plan of Brasilia.
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
Torino, 31 December 2020
Cover image: Indonesia, Borobudur Temple, Courtesy Rbrudolph
https://pixabay.com/photos/indonesia-borobudur-temple-asia-531839/
1Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Abstract This paper discusses the solar orientation of the archaeological complex of Sigiriya, the Lion Rock, in Sri
Lanka. We can see that the axis of this complex is oriented with the sunset of the zenithal sun.
Keywords: Satellite Mas, Solar orientation, Archaeoastronomy
1. Introduction
Several ancient ceremonial structures are designed to
align with the repeating patterns of sun or moon or
even stars. We have the Stonehenge megalithic
monument for instance, which has alignments with
summer and winter solstices, and the Karnak temple
in Egypt, aligned again with the sun on solstices
[1,2]. Even the gothic cathedrals have a solar
orientation [3]. These huge buildings have their axis
aligned with the azimuth of the sunrise on a given
day of the year, probably the day of their foundation.
At latitudes above the tropical zone, the sun reaches
the highest noon altitude on the summer solstice and
the lowest one on the winter solstice. In any case, this
angle is below 90 degrees. But, when we are in the
tropical zone the sun reaches the zenith, that is an
altitude of 90 degrees. In this paper, we will show
that, besides the alignment with the sunrise and
sunset azimuths on solstices, we can have in the
tropical zone, an alignment with the zenithal sun, that
is a design of the site with the sunrise or sunset
azimuths of the day during which the sun reaches the
zenith. An example of this alignment is the Lion
Rock complex in Sri Lanka.
2. The Lion Rock complex
The ruins of a huge palace built by King Kassapa I
(477–495 CE) are on the top of a granite rock, known
as Sigiriya, the Lion Rock [4-8]. This site is in the
heart of Sri Lanka, dominating the neighboring
plateau, inhabited since the 3rd century BC, and
hosting some shelters for Buddhist monks [4]. A
series of galleries and staircases, having their origin
from the mouth of a gigantic lion made of bricks and
plaster, provide access to the ruins on the rock. In the
Figure 1, it is possible to see the site surrounded by a
wall
and
the
rock
inside.
Figure 1 – The Sigiriya complex as we can see in the satellite maps. On the right the Lion Rock
Sigiriya is a unique witness to the civilization of Sri
Lanka during the years of the reign of Kassapa [5].
The site is rich of frescoes, which originated a
pictorial style used for many centuries. However, the
fame of the site is mainly due to the fact that Kassapa
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna (Correspondence)
d002040@polito.it, amelia.sparavigna@polito.it
'2,LM6FL
I established his capital there in a fortified palace.
After the death of Kassapa, the site of Sigiriya
returned to the monks, and then was progressively
abandoned.
The Solar Orientation of the Lion Rock Complex in Sri Lanka
At the summit of the rock, there is the fortified palace
with its ruined buildings, cisterns and rock sculptures.
At the foot of the rock we find the lower city
surrounded by walls. The eastern part of it has not yet
been totally excavated. The western aristocratic part
of the capital of Kassapa I was embellished by
terraced gardens, canals and fountains.
The Gardens of the Sigiriya city are an important
characteristic of the site. They are divided into three
distinct forms: the water gardens, the cave and
boulder gardens, and the terraced gardens [4]. The
water gardens are in the central section of the western
precinct. They were built according to an ancient
garden form, of which they are the oldest surviving
examples.
The water gardens are connected with the outer moat
on the west and the large artificial lake to the south of
the Sigiriya rock. All the pools are also interlinked by
an underground conduit network fed by the lake, and
connected to the moats.
3. Solar orientation
In the Ref.4 it is told that the water gardens are built
symmetrically on an east-west axis. In fact, the
design of the gardens is symmetrical, however the
axis is not oriented on the cardinal east- west line: the
site is inclined of 9 degrees, as we can measure from
satellite
maps
(Figure
2).
Figure 2 – Measurement of the angle using the GIMP compass.
Since this angle is not negligible, it can correspond to
a specific azimuth of the sun.
Let us remember that the azimuths are formed by the
vector from the observer to the sun rising or setting
on the horizontal plane and a reference vector on this
plane. There are several web sites that allow knowing
the azimuth and the noon altitude of the sun and
moon at a specific location on a given day of the
year. For instance, one is the site in Ref.9. Using it,
we can obtain at Sigiriya, the following data for the
noon altitude and sunset azimuths given in the
following table. We see that we have the zenithal sun
on April 9 and on the First of September.
Date
April 8
April 9
April 10
August 30
September 1
September 2
Noon Altitude
89.4°
89.6°
89.5°
88.9°
89.2°
89.1°
http://www.ijSciences.com
Sunset Azimuth
277.6°
278.0°
278.4°
278.9°
278.2°
278.0°
We have that the azimuth is of 8 degrees with respect
the cardinal east-west direction. There is then the
difference of one degree with the measured angle of
the axis of the gardens.
We can also obtain the data on azimuth and noon
altitude form a web site that we have already used in
some papers (see for instance Ref.10 and references
therein): it is that of Sollumis.com [11]. This site
allows drawing on the Google satellite maps some
lines which show the direction and height of the sun
throughout the day. Thicker and shorter lines mean
the sun is higher in the sky. Longer and thinner lines
mean the sun is closer to the horizon. Using
Sollumis.com for instance, we can easily find solar
orientations in the layout of some Chinese Pyramids
burial complexes [10].
Let us use Sollumis.com on the site of the Lion Rock.
The results obtained are shown in the Figure 3. Here
we find a sunset azimuthal angle of 9 degrees with
respect the cardinal east-west axis, in agreement with
the measured angle (see the Figure 2).
Volume 2 - November 2013 (11)
61
The Solar Orientation of the Lion Rock Complex in Sri Lanka
Figure 3 – The direction of the sun during September 1 and April 11, given by Sollumis.com at Sigiriya. This site
provides a polar diagram, overlaying a satellite map, showing the directions of the sun for any day of the year. The
lines on the drawing show the direction and altitude of the sun. In the image it is given the sunset azimuth of 279
degrees, which corresponds to an angle of 9 degrees with respect the cardinal east-west direction. The highest value
of the noon altitude, all over the year, given by the software is 89°. We can then suppose a truncation of the true
value.
4. Conclusion
After this analysis on satellite images and azimuths,
we can conclude that the Sigiriya complex was
planned with respect of an axis oriented with the
sunset of the zenithal sun, that is, oriented with the
sunset of a day when the sun reaches the zenith. This
fact seems to indicate that, besides the solstices, in
the tropical zone the zenithal sun had a ritual
importance too.
References
[1] D. Alberge, Stonehenge was Built on Solstice Axis, Dig
Confirms, The Guardian, Sunday 8 September 2013
[2] A.C. Sparavigna, The Sunrise Amplitude Equation Applied to
an Egyptian Temple, arXiv:1207.6942 [physics.pop-ph]
http://www.ijSciences.com
[3] A.C. Sparavigna, Ad Orientem: the Orientation of Gothic
Cathedrals of France, arXiv:1209.2338 [physics.hist-ph]
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigiriya
[5]
UNESCO,
Ancient
City
of
Sigiriya,
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/202/
[6] Senake Bandaranayake and Madhyama Saṃ
Sigiriya: City, Palace, Gardens, Monasteries, Painting (Sri Lanka),
Central Cultural Fund, 2005
[7] R. H. De Silva, Sigiriya, Department of Archaeology, 1976
[8] Benille Priyanka, Meaning of the Sigiriya Paintings: Based on
Recent Archaeological Evidence, Godage International Publishers,
Jan 1, 2005
[9] Sun or Moon Altitude/Azimuth Table by the Astronomical
Applications Department of the U.S. Naval Observatory,
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/AltAz.php
[10] A.C. Sparavigna, The Chinese Pyramids and the Sun,
arXiv:1211.0915 [physics.hist-ph]
[11] www.sollumis.com
Volume 2 - November 2013 (11)
62
Sigiriya (Lion Rock), Sri Lanka
Courtesy: Poswiecie
https://pixabay.com/photos/sigiriya-sri-lanka-dambulla-459197/
Sparavigna, Amelia Carolina. (2015). On
the alignment of Sanchi monuments.
http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3405427
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Solar Alignments of the Planning of Angkor Wat Temple
Complex
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
To cite this version:
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna. Solar Alignments of the Planning of Angkor Wat Temple Complex.
Philica, Philica, 2016, pp.591. hal-01312473
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Cambodia, Siem Reap
Courtasy: Engin_Akyurt
https://pixabay.com/photos/cambodia-siem-reap-on-old-sunrise-2238000/
Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Summer and winter solstices and equinoxes had great importance in the cultures of peoples
all over the world, and these astronomical events had been widely considered in the planning of
monuments and other architectures. But in the tropical zone of the Earth, between the Tropics of
Cancer and Capricorn, we can see another relevant event, the zenith passage of the sun. In this paper
we will see that several examples are existing too, of the role of this astronomic event in the
architectures of tropical zone.
Solar Orientation, Solstices, Azimuth Passage, Architectural Planning, Archaeoastronomy.
Zenith is the point of the celestial sphere which is vertically above the observer. Only in the tropical
zone of the Earth, which is located in between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, we
can see the sun reaching the zenith. Anywhere outside tropics, this is impossible. Inside the tropical
zone then, the sun has, besides the astronomical events of solstices and equinoxes, also two zenith
passages. On the Tropical lines, only one passage is observed, coincident to one of the solstices. On the
Tropic of Cancer for instance, it happens on the summer solstice. At the equator, the zenith passage is
on the equinoxes.
The zenith passage of the sun, being the moment when it passes through the top point of the sky, is
easily observed using a gnomon, that is a straight vertical pole, because at that moment it casts no
shadow on the ground. Or, if we have a deep water well, we can see the sun reflected at noon by the
water at its bottom. Both these facts were well known to ancient people living in the tropical zone. And
in fact, Eratosthenes (c.276 BC – c.195/194 BC) used them to calculate the circumference of the Earth
[1]. Eratosthenes knew that at local noon on the summer solstice in Syene (the modern Aswan), the sun
was reflected by the water of a deep well. By the shadow of a gnomon in Alexandria, he measured the
angle of sun elevation at the noon on the same day and found it being 1/50th of a circle. Assuming that
the Earth was a sphere and that Alexandria was due north of Syene, he concluded that the meridian arc
distance from Alexandria to Syene was 1/50th of the Earth's circumference. From this distance, he
evaluated the circumference of the Earth.
Peoples all over the world recognized as very important astronomical events the summer and winter
solstices and the equinoxes and celebrated them consequently. It is not surprising then that these
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2767664
astronomical events had been also considered in planning of monuments and other architectures, which
are consequently displaying alignments with the direction of sunrise or sunset on these days. As
evidenced by several examples [2811], the planning of the architectonic structure becomes a symbolic
local horizon, a microcosm representing the apparent motion of the macrocosm that, thorough the year,
is revolving about its “axis mundi”, that is, the axis of the universe. In this paper we will discuss that
several examples of the role of the zenith passage of the sun are also existing, displayed by the
architectures of the tropical zone.
In the tropical zone, to solstices and equinoxes we have also to add, as relevant astronomic events, the
zenith passage of the sun. And in fact, we can find that pillars and wells exist, used by people to
observe what happens to light and shadows at the zenith passage of the sun. The people of pre8
Columbian Mexico had a specific “astronomical instrument" to observed this passage: a vertical zenith
sighting tube inserted in the vault of an underground structure. One of these instruments is at
observatory of Xochicalco, in the Mexican state of Morelos. The image in the Figure 1 illustrates how
it looks like the beam of light passing through the ceiling of the artificial cave of Xochicalco. A vertical
opening produces in a dark chamber a perfectly perpendicular beam of light when the sun is at the
local zenith. Besides the cave, at Xochicalco there is a white stone pillar in the ceremonial area that
could had been used to observe the shadow disappearing at the zenith passage of the sun (Figure 2).
Figure 1: This image illustrates how it looks the beam of light in a cave passing through a tube in its
ceiling.
Figure 2: A pyramid and the ceremonial pillar at Xochicalco, Mexico. Courtesy Maxtreiber,
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2767664
Wikipedia.
For Meso8 and South America, several researchers have recognized and evidenced the importance of
the zenith passage [12818]. In [19,20], it is stressed that, among the ancient civilizations that recognized
the zenith passage, we have also those of the Andean people of Peru, that incorporated it into their
cosmology. The Andean people used pillars, such as the Chankillo Towers [18,21], as solar
observations and for their calendars.
Let us add to the pillar shown in the Figure 2, another monument that we can easily imagine the ancient
architects had built to observe the zenithal sun and for related ceremonial purposes too: it is the Gate of
the Sun of Tiwanaku (Figure 3). Being under the linter of this gate when the sun is at the local zenith,
an observed could see the shadow of it coincident to the base. Tiwanaku is a Pre8Columbian
archaeological site in western Bolivia. The site was first described by the Spanish conquistador Pedro
Cieza de León. He came to the ruins of Tiwanaku in 1549, while searching for the Inca capital
Qullasuyu [22]. During the time period between 300 BC and AD 300, Tiwanaku is thought to have
been a ceremonial center for the Tiwanaku empire to which people made pilgrimages.
Figure 3: The Gate of the Sun at Tiwanaku.
The zenith passage was important also for people of Asia. And in fact, in [24], we have shown that the
archaeological complex of Sigiriya, the Lion Rock, in Sri Lanka has its axis oriented to the sunset of
day of a zenith passage of the sun. Let us also consider the very important Buddhist religious center of
Sanchi, which has interesting astronomical orientations as discussed by N. Kameswara Rao [25]; it
possesses a particular alignment of stupas with the sunset direction on the summer solstice. Since
Sanchi latitude is close to the Tropic of Cancer, we have also that, on this day, the noon altitude is
about 90 degrees. Therefore, the alignment of stupas is also giving the sunset direction of the day of the
zenithal sun [26].
The first written mention of zenith passage in Indian literature comes from Varahamihira in the
6th century [27,28], who noted that in the kingdom of Avanti the day of summer solstice and zenith
passage were the same (the Avanti Kingdom of ancient India was described in the Mahabharata
epic). He further discussed that north of Avanti, no zenith passage occurs. Varahamihira wrote these
observations when he was in the ancient city of Ujjain, located at latitude of 23° 10′ 12″ N [27]. In
fact, as observed in [27], the ancient India had a “prime meridian” and a north8south “zero” line
of latitude crossing at Ujjain and running straight down to the island of Lanka.
The southern part of India is in the tropical zone such as another part of Southeast Asia, like the
Indochina. A very interesting paper is discussing the importance of zenith passage of the sun in the
architecture of the temples at Angkor Wat, Cambodia. The authors of this paper [27], Edwin Barnhart
and Christopher Powell, University of Texas, Austin, in August of 2010 and 2011 investigated the
importance of the zenith passage of the Sun for the ancient Khmer culture. They concluded the
research with a positive answer. "From architectural features and orientations to art panels and
monuments, the evidence that zenith passage was recognized permeates the entire city" [27]. According
to the authors, their idea "to search for evidence of zenith passage at Angkor” was inspired by prior
research in Mesoamerica. In [27], besides discussing the discoveries at Angkor, the authors are
proposing that the Hindu culture was also including some references to the zenith passage of the sun.
Barnhart and Powell have discovered that Angkor temples had vertical zenith sighting tubes too.
“Though it is not apparent from the outside, each one of the beehive shaped temples of Angkor are
hollow on the inside. Walking in and looking straight up, the roof is open all the way up to the top and
that top has a hole where the sun shines in. We were told by the temple attendants that the holes on top
of the roofs were there because the capstones had all been knocked off by erosion or more commonly
by looters searching for jewels. Finding these fallen capstones among the rubble around the temples
was our first surprising clue. Most capstones were beautifully carved as lotus flowers and all had a
hollow tube running down their axes. Each had a very straight, long tube that would have let only true
zenith passage sun light down into the temples. Whether or not this was their intention, functionally
this makes every single temple of this kind at Angkor a zenith tube” [27]. Besides the temples which
are beautiful artificial caves for the zenithal sun, the authors have observed that this architectural
complex possesses also alignments to mark the zenith passage at Angkor Wat.
Let us conclude observing that, besides in Meso8 and South America, the zenithal sun was important
also in the architecture of the tropical Asia as shown by the researches of Barnhart and Powell. Let us
add to these fundamental researches a quite recent paper [29] that had evidenced an alignment to the
sunrise of the day of the zenith passage of a temple, the Koh Ker temple, in an archaeological site in
northern Cambodia, about 120 kilometers from the ancient site of Angkor. In fact, the observations of
Barnhart and Powell and the alignment of this temple, are reinforcing the observation I made about the
Sigiriya complex, that is was a complex aligned to the sunset of the day of the zenithal sun.
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[12] Aveni, A. (2001). Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico, 2nd Edition. University of Texas Press.
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Aenith in Mesoamerica. Archaeoastronomy (Supplement to the Journal for the History of Astronomy
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[14] Broda, J. (2006). Zenith Observations and the Conceptualization of Geographical Latitude in
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Conference in Archaeoastronomy, edited by Todd Bostwick and Bryan Bates.
[15] Freidel, D., Schele, L. & Parker, J. (1993). Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the
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the Temple of the Sun. Archaeoastronomy, Vol. XIX, pp. 44873. University of Texas Press.
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Science, 315(5816), 123981243.
[19] Bauer, B., & Dearborn, D. (1995). Astronomy and Empire in the Ancient Andes, University of
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temples. arXiv preprint arXiv:1601.01473.
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The Zenith Passage of the Sun and the Architectures of
the Tropical Zone
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
To cite this version:
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna. The Zenith Passage of the Sun and the Architectures of the Tropical
Zone . Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering MMSE Journal. Open Access, 2017, 10 (May),
pp.1-12. 10.2412/mmse.20.89.933. hal-01519183
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Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, May 2017 – ISSN 2412-5954
The Zenith Passage of the Sun and the Architectures of the Tropical Zone
1
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna1, a
1 – Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
a – amelia.sparavigna@polito.it
DOI 10.2412/mmse.20.89.933 provided by Seo4U.link
Keywords: architecture planning, history of architecture and engineering, satellite images, solar energy software.
ABSTRACT. In ancient cultures all over the world, summer and winter solstices and equinoxes had a great importance.
These astronomical events had been widely considered in the planning of monuments and other architectures. But in the
zone of the Earth delimited by the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, we can see another relevant event, the zenith passage
of the sun. In this paper we will show that several examples are existing too, of the role of this astronomic event in the
architectures of tropical zone. To evidence this role, we will use a software developed for the best solar energy
management, which is showing azimuth and altitude of the sun on satellite maps.
Introduction. Zenith is the point of the celestial sphere which is vertically above an observer. Only
in the area of the Earth, which is delimited by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, we
can see the sun passing through the zenith. Anywhere outside the tropics, this is impossible.
Therefore, in the tropical zone the sun has, besides the astronomical events of solstices and equinoxes,
also two zenith passages. On the Tropical lines, only one passage is observed, coincident to one of
the solstices. On the Tropic of Cancer for instance, it happens on the summer solstice. At the equator,
the zenith passage is on the equinoxes.
The zenith passage of the sun, being the moment when it passes through the top point of the sky, is
easily observed using a gnomon, that is, by a straight vertical pole, because at that moment it casts no
shadow on the ground. Or, if we have a deep water well, we can see the sun reflected at noon by the
water at its bottom. Both these facts were well known to ancient people living in the tropical zone.
And in fact, Eratosthenes (c.276 BC – c.195/194 BC) used them to calculate the circumference of the
Earth [1]. Eratosthenes knew that at local noon on the summer solstice in Syene (the modern Aswan),
the sun was reflected by the water of a deep well. By the shadow of a gnomon in Alexandria, he
measured the angle of sun elevation at the noon on the same day and found it being 1/50th of a circle.
Assuming that the Earth was a sphere and that Alexandria was due north of Syene, he concluded that
the meridian arc distance from Alexandria to Syene was 1/50th of the Earth's circumference. From
this distance, he evaluated the circumference of the Earth.
Peoples all over the world recognized in the past as very important astronomical events the summer
and winter solstices and the equinoxes and celebrated them consequently. It is not surprising then that
these astronomical events had been also considered in planning of monuments and other architectures,
which are consequently displaying alignments with the direction of sunrise or sunset on these days.
As evidenced by several examples [2-11], the planning of the architectonic structure becomes a
symbolic local horizon, a microcosm representing the apparent motion of the macrocosm that,
thorough the year, is revolving about its “axis mundi”, that is, the axis of the world.
1
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Magnolithe GmbH. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
MMSE Journal. Open Access www.mmse.xyz
Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, May 2017 – ISSN 2412-5954
In this paper we will discuss that several examples of the role of the zenith passage of the sun are also
existing, displayed by some architectures of the tropical zone. To evidence the role of the zenith
passage in the proposed examples, we will use a software developed for the best solar energy
management, which is showing azimuth and altitude of the sun on satellite maps.
The Zenithal Sun in America. As previously told, in the tropical zone, to solstices and equinoxes
we have also to add, as relevant astronomic events, the zenith passage of the sun. And in fact, we can
find that pillars and wells exist, used by people to observe what happens to light and shadows at the
zenith passage of the sun.
The people of pre-Columbian Mexico had a specific “astronomical instrument" to observe this
passage: a vertical zenith sighting tube inserted in the vault of an underground structure. One of these
instruments is at the observatory of Xochicalco, in the Mexican state of Morelos. The image in the
Figure 1 (left) illustrates how it looks like the shaft of light passing through the ceiling of the artificial
cave of Xochicalco. A vertical opening produces in a dark chamber a perfectly perpendicular beam
of light, when the sun is passing through the local zenith. Besides the cave, at Xochicalco there is a
white stone pillar in the ceremonial area that could had been used to observe the shadow disappearing
when the sun reaches an altitude of 90 degrees (Figure 1, right).
Fig. 1. On the left: the image illustrates how it looks the shaft of light in a cave passing through a
tube in its ceiling, when the sun has its zenith passage in the sky. On the right: a pyramid and the
ceremonial pillar at Xochicalco, Mexico. Courtesy Maxtreiber, Wikipedia.
For Meso- and South America, several researchers have recognized and evidenced the importance of
the zenithal sun [12-18]. In [19,20], it is stressed that among the ancient civilizations that recognized
the zenith passage, we have also those of the Andean people of Peru, that incorporated it into their
cosmology. The Andean people used pillars, such as the Chankillo Towers [18,21], for solar
observations and for their calendars.
Let us add to the pillar shown in the Figure 1, another monument that we can easily imagine the
ancient architects had built to observe the zenithal sun and for related ceremonial purposes too: it is
the Gate of the Sun at Tiwanaku (Figure 2). Being under the linter of this gate, an observer could see
the shadow of it coincident to the base [22].
Tiwanaku is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia. The site was first described by
the Spanish conquistador Pedro Cieza de León. He came to the ruins of Tiwanaku in 1549, while
searching for the Inca capital Qullasuyu [23]. During the time period between 300 BC and AD 300,
Tiwanaku is thought to have been a ceremonial center for the Tiwanaku Empire to which people made
pilgrimages.
MMSE Journal. Open Access www.mmse.xyz
Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, May 2017 – ISSN 2412-5954
Fig. 2. The Gate of the Sun at Tiwanaku.
The Zenithal Sun in Sri Lanka. The zenith passage was important also for people of Asia. And in
fact, in [24], we have shown that the archaeological complex of Sigiriya, the Lion Rock, in Sri Lanka
has its axis oriented to the sunset of day of a zenith passage of the sun.
Sigiriya is a huge palace built by King Kassapa I (477–495 CE) on the top of a granite rock, the Lion
Rock [25,26]. This site is in the heart of Sri Lanka, dominating the neighboring plateau, inhabited
since the 3rd century BC, and hosting some shelters for Buddhist monks. A series of galleries and
staircases, having their origin from the mouth of a gigantic lion made of bricks and plaster, provide
access to the ruins on the rock. From the satellite images, it is possible to see the site surrounded by
a wall and the rock inside. At the summit of the rock, there is the fortified palace with its ruined
buildings, cisterns and rock sculptures. At the foot of the rock we find the lower city surrounded by
walls. The eastern part of it has not yet been totally excavated.
Fig. 3. The Sigiriya archaeological site in Sri Lanka. On the right, the Lion Rock. (Courtesy: Google
Earth).
The Gardens of Sigiriya are an important characteristic of the site. They are divided into three distinct
forms: the water gardens, the cave and boulder gardens, and the terraced gardens. The water gardens
are in the central section of the western precinct. They were built according to an ancient garden form,
of which they are the oldest surviving examples.
MMSE Journal. Open Access www.mmse.xyz
Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, May 2017 – ISSN 2412-5954
The design of these gardens is symmetrical, however the axis is not oriented along the cardinal eastwest line: the site is inclined of 9 degrees, as we can easily measure from satellite maps (Figures 3
and 4). Since this angle is not negligible, it can correspond to a specific azimuth of the sunset, different
from the direction it has on equinoxes.
Fig. 4. The direction of the sun on April 9, given by SunCalc.net, at Sigiriya. This site provides a
diagram, overlaying a satellite map, showing the sunrise (yellow line) and sunset (red line) of the sun
for any day of the year. As explained in SunCalc.net, the thin orange curve is the sun trajectory, and
the yellow area describes the variation of sun trajectories during the year. “The closer a point is to
the center, the higher is the sun above the horizon”. Courtesy: SuncCalc.net and Google Earth.
Let us remember that the azimuth angle is formed by the vector from the observer to the sun rising or
setting on the horizontal plane and a reference vector on this plane. There are several web sites that
allow to know the azimuth and the noon altitude of the sun and moon at a specific location on a given
day of the year. One is the site Sollumis.com. Using it, we can obtain at Sigiriya, the data for the noon
altitude and sunset azimuths. We find that we have the zenithal sun on April 9 and on the First of
September, and that the sunset azimuth on these day is coincident with the axis of the western gardens.
In [24], we have shown this coincidence, also giving the satellite maps and the polar diagrams of the
solar azimuths from Sollumis.com. Here we show in the Figure 4 the same by using SunCalc.net
software.
On the Tropic of Cancer. Let us consider the very important Buddhist religious center of Sanchi,
India, because it has interesting astronomical orientations as discussed by N. Kameswara Rao [27];
the site possesses a particular alignment of stupas with the sunset direction on the summer solstice.
Since Sanchi latitude is very close to the Tropic of Cancer, we have also that, on this day, the noon
altitude of the sun is about 90 degrees. Therefore, the alignment of stupas is also giving the sunset
direction of the day of the zenithal sun [28]. In the Figures 5 and 6, we see the Sanchi religious
complex and the directions of sunrise and sunset on solstice.
The first written mention of the passage through the zenith of the sun in Indian literature comes from
Varahamihira in the 6th century [29,30], who noted that in the kingdom of Avanti the day of summer
solstice and zenith passage were the same (the Avanti Kingdom of ancient India was described in the
Mahabharata epic). He further discussed that north of Avanti, no zenith passage occurs. Varahamihira
wrote these observations when he was in the ancient city of Ujjain, located at latitude of 23° 10′ 12″
N [29]. In fact, as observed in [29], the ancient India had a “prime meridian” and a north-south “zero”
line of latitude crossing at Ujjain and running straight down to the island of Lanka.
MMSE Journal. Open Access www.mmse.xyz
Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, May 2017 – ISSN 2412-5954
Fig. 5. N. Kameswara Rao had investigated the orientation of Sanchi stupas [27], showing that they
could had been planned to be oriented towards the moonrise and the sunset on the day of Buddha
purnima (purnima means "full moon"), the birthday of Siddhartha Gautama. (Courtesy: Google
Earth).
Fig. 6. The image shows the direction of the sunset on summer solstice as given by SunCalc.net. We
find the alignment of two stupas along the sunset. Courtesy: SuncCalc.net and Google Earth.
Angkor Wat. A very interesting paper is discussing the importance of the zenith passage of the sun
in the architecture of the temples at Angkor Wat, Cambodia (Figure 7). The authors of this paper [29],
Edwin Barnhart and Christopher Powell, University of Texas, Austin, in August of 2010 and 2011
investigated the importance of the zenith passage of the sun for the ancient Khmer culture. They
concluded the research with a positive answer. "From architectural features and orientations to art
panels and monuments, the evidence that zenith passage was recognized permeates the entire city"
[29]. According to the authors, their idea "to search for evidence of zenith passage at Angkor” was
inspired by prior research in Mesoamerica. In [29], besides discussing the discoveries at Angkor, the
authors are proposing that the Hindu culture was also including some references to the zenith passage
of the sun.
MMSE Journal. Open Access www.mmse.xyz
Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, May 2017 – ISSN 2412-5954
Fig. 7. On the left, aerial view of the central structure. Courtesy Shyam tnj, Wikipedia. On the right,
the Angkor Wat surrounded by a moat used for helping stabilize the temple’s foundation [31].
Courtesy: Google Earth.
Fig. 8. Alignments on day of the summer solstice (upper panel) and on the day of one of the zenith
passage of the sun (25 April). Courtesy: SuncCalc.net and Google Earth. The azimuth of the sunrise
on the day of the zenithal sun is about 76.2 degrees.
Barnhart and Powell have discovered that Angkor temples had vertical zenith sighting tubes too.
“Though it is not apparent from the outside, each one of the beehive shaped temples of Angkor are
hollow on the inside. Walking in and looking straight up, the roof is open all the way up to the top
and that top has a hole where the sun shines in. We were told by the temple attendants that the holes
on top of the roofs were there because the capstones had all been knocked off by erosion or more
commonly by looters searching for jewels. Finding these fallen capstones among the rubble around
the temples was our first surprising clue. Most capstones were beautifully carved as lotus flowers and
all had a hollow tube running down their axes. Each had a very straight, long tube that would have
let only true zenith passage sun light down into the temples. Whether or not this was their intention,
functionally this makes every single temple of this kind at Angkor a zenith tube” [29]. Besides the
temples which are beautiful artificial caves for the zenithal sun, the authors have observed that this
MMSE Journal. Open Access www.mmse.xyz
Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, May 2017 – ISSN 2412-5954
architectural possesses also alignments to mark the zenith passage at Angkor Wat. In the Figure 8,
we can see two possible alignments. In the upper panel, it is given an alignment according to the
sunrise on the solstice, the lower panel is according to the sunrise on a day of zenithal sun.
The temples of Java. The temples we are considering for our discussion about the connection of the
zenith passage of the sun and architecture are the Sewu, Prambanan and Borobudur temples in Java.
The Sewu temple, an eighth century Buddhist temple complex, is predating the nearby Rara
Jonggrang, simply known as Prambanan, by over 70 years and the Borobudur by about 37 years. Prior
to the construction of these temples, probably the Sewu temple served as the main temple of the
kingdom [32]. Since Candi Sewu was built before the other two temples, we can suppose that it was
a model for them, in particular for what concerns the number of ancillary temples and stupas (in Java,
“candi” means “temple”).
Fig. 9. The zenith passage of the sun on 12 October 2016 at the Sewu temple complex. Courtesy
SunCalc and Google Earth.
Fig. 10. The solstice and the other zenith passage on 28 February (or first of March, the
Photographer’s Ephemeris software is giving for these days the same altitude of the sun) at the Sewu
temple complex. Courtesy SunCalc.net and Google Earth.
The Sewu temple complex occupies a large rectangular area with the sides oriented along the cardinal
directions (Figures 9 and 10). The complex has an entrance at each of the four cardinal points. The
main entrance is located on the east side. The temple is composed of 249 buildings, arranged in a
Mandala around the main central temple. Along the cardinal north-south and east-west axes of the
complex, between the second and third rows of smaller buildings, we find the apit (flank) temples.
The complex had a couple of apit for each cardinal direction; only the eastern couple is visible today.
In the Sewu temple complex, the alignment marking the passage through the zenith of the sun is given
by the central temple and one of the eastern apit temples [33]. The passage happens on 12 October
MMSE Journal. Open Access www.mmse.xyz
Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, May 2017 – ISSN 2412-5954
2016, and it is displayed by the SunCalc.net software as in the Figure 9. After the zenith passage of
October, the sun reaches the solstice of December and then it has the other zenith passage at the end
of February (or the first of March), as we can see in the Figure 10.
Counting the days between 12 October 2016 and 21 December 2016, inclusive of both these dates,
we have 71 days. From December 21 to the first of March 2017, we have a total of 71 days again.
From the first of March to June 21, 2017, inclusive of these days, we have 113 days.
Let us try to connect these numbers to the number of the temples in the complex. Actually, the first
and the second rows of the Sewu temple, those inside the couples of the apit temples, are composed
by 72 small ancillary temples (Perwara) (see Figure 11). It seems therefore that a connection of the
even number of Perwara to the number of the days from the zenith passage of October to the solstice
of December is possible.
Fig. 11. The central part of the temple contains the main temple and 72 ancillary temples.
Probably, the people who built the temple determined the zenith passage of the sun according to the
observation of the stars. For instance, “one can see that a particular star would always rise at a certain
point a few days before such or such a zenithal sun, hence it would be possible to know beforehand
the exact date of any given sun.” [34,35] It means that 71 days are 72 nights (inclusive counting), and
this legitimates the use of the corresponding even number, equal to the number of Perwara.
Fig. 12. The Prambanan temple as given by Google Earth.
A link between the number of ancillary temples and the number of the days from the zenith passage
of the sun to the June solstice had been proposed for the Prambanan temple [36] (see the temple
complex in the Figure 12). In [36], it is told that the temple complex of Prambanan had 224 ancillary
MMSE Journal. Open Access www.mmse.xyz
Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, May 2017 – ISSN 2412-5954
temples, connected to the number of 112 days after or before the June solstice. In the case of the Sewu
temple, it is the December solstice which is involved.
It is not simple to determine the number of ancillary temples of Prambanan from the satellite images,
because many of the smaller temples have been not yet restored. Let us follow the reconstruction
suggested by the symmetry that the temple probably had and by the image we find in [37]. We have
the Figure 13, in which we can see the 224 ancillary temples.
Fig. 13. Simulation of a satellite view of the reconstruction of the Prambanan temple, as proposed in
[37].
Fig. 14. Borobudur in Google Earth.
It seems therefore that the Sewu temple and the Prambanan are linked to astronomy; the Sewu temple
is connected to the sun moving about the December solstice, whereas the Prambanan is linked to the
sun moving between the zenith passages about the June solstice.
Let us consider the Borobudur temple too (Figure 14). Borobudur is one of the greatest Buddhist
monuments in the world. “The temple consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular,
topped by a central dome. The temple is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.
The central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated stupa” [38].
Again, we have the number 72; as we have previously told, it is equal to the even number of the days
passing from the zenith passage of October to the December solstice, and also from the December
solstice to the zenith passage on the end of February or the first of March.
It seems therefore that, for the people who built the temples, the astronomical year was based on
periods of even numbers of days with an inclusive counting: 72 days from the zenith passage of the
sun to the December solstice, and from this solstice to the zenith passage of the first of March. Then,
MMSE Journal. Open Access www.mmse.xyz
Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering, May 2017 – ISSN 2412-5954
there was another set of 112 days, from the zenith passage to the June solstice, and the same from this
solstice to the zenith passage of October. Adding these periods we have a total of 368 days. However,
the counting was inclusive, and then we have to remove some days. For instance, if we start the count
from the zenith passage of the first of March, we have to remove one day for the other zenith passage
and two days for the two solstices. We obtain 365 days.
However, let us note that a religious interpretation of the seventy-two temples of the Sewu central
structure exists, as for those of Borobudur. “Within the Buddhist Abhidharma philosophical schools,
the Sarvāstivādins identified three unconditioned Dharmas whose nature is free from the laws of
causation (asaṁskṛta) as well as 72 conditioned Dharmas (see Wayman 1997:269) which are subject
to the laws of causation (saṁskṛta). So one might conjecture that these 72 auxiliary shrines had
pertained to what Vilāsavajra had called the second circle of Mahāvairocana containing the divinities
belonging to the perfectly pure Dharmadhātu of Vairocana” [39].
Let us just add a comment: it is possible that people observed a coincidence between religion and
astronomy, and that the conditioned Dharmas were the days conditioned by the zenithal sun.
Summary. The examples discussed above, provide evidence of the importance of the zenith passage
of the sun. Many other sites had been discussed in literature and on web sites [40-50]. However, many
others require further investigations for what concerns the astronomical alignment.
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MMSE Journal. Open Access www.mmse.xyz
Sparavigna, Amelia Carolina, The Sewu
Temple and the Zenithal Passage of the
Sun (February 18, 2017). PHILICA Article
number 970, Available at SSRN: https://
ssrn.com/abstract=2920127
The Sewu Temple and the zenithal passage of the sun
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
Politecnico di Torino
Abstract: The Sewu temple is an eighth century Buddhist temple complex in Java. The layout of the complex is
a Mandala, oriented along the cardinal lines. Using ephemeris software, we discuss a connection of the
architecture to the zenithal passage of the sun.
Keywords: Archaeoastronomy, Zenithal Passage of the Sun, SunCalc, Photographer’s Ephemeris, Satellite
Images.
The Sewu temple is an eighth century Buddhist temple complex located 800 meters north of Prambanan in
Java. The original name of this temple was probably Manjusrigrha, that is, the House of Manjusri, a
Bodhisattva symbolizing the "gentle glory" of the transcendent wisdom [1]. Manjusrigrha was the largest
Buddhist temple in the Prambanan region, predating the nearby Rara Jonggrang, simply known as Prambanan,
by over 70 years and the Borobudur by about 37 years. Prior to the construction of these temples, probably the
Sewu temple served as the main temple of the kingdom [1].
The Sewu temple is located on a plain, between the Merapi volcano and the Sewu mountain range, in central
Java. This area possesses many archaeological sites, scattered only a few miles apart. As told in [1], this fact is
suggesting that this land served as an important religious and urban center. For a very long time, the Sewu
complex was buried by the volcanic debris of Mount Merapi. Nevertheless, the local people knew its
existence, being the ruins of the temple the subject of tales and legends [1]. In 1908, Theodoor van Erp, a
Dutch army engineer officer, initiated the clearing and reconstruction of the main temple [2]. Today, the
temple complex is not yet completely restored [1].
Figure 1: The East entrance to the temple complex, guarded by the twin statues of Dvarapala (Courtesy Street
View Google Earth).
The Sewu temple complex occupies a large rectangular area with the sides oriented along the cardinal
directions. The complex has an entrance at the four cardinal points. The main entrance is located on the east
side. Each of four entrances was guarded by twin statues of Dvarapala, armed guardians looking like fearsome
Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2920127
giants (Figure 1). In the Sewu temple complex there are 249 buildings, arranged in a Mandala around the main
central temple. This layout is displaying the Mahayana Buddhist view of the universe [1]. Along the cardinal
north-south and east-west axes of the complex, between the second and third rows of smaller buildings, we
find the apit (flank) temples [1]. The complex had a couple of apit for each cardinal direction; only the eastern
couple is visible today. The central main temple, which is the largest one, has the ground plan consisting in a
cross-shaped 20-sided polygon [1]. The cross-like layout, aligned along the four cardinal directions is made of
four structures projected outward the main temple; each structure has its own stairs and entrances, and is
crowned with stupas [1].
Figure 2: Sewu temple seen by Google Earth.
The layout of the temple complex, based on the four cardinal lines, is evident from the Figure 2. In previous
papers [3-6], we have shown that some structures, having a rectangular layout with the sides oriented along
the cardinal directions, can have references to the motion of the sun too. That is, we can observe alignments
along the sunrise and sunset on solstices. In their planning, the architectonic structures become a symbolic
local horizon, a microcosm which is representing the apparent motion of the macrocosm that, thorough the
year, is revolving about its “axis mundi”, the axis of the universe [3-6].
In the case of the Sewu temple, we do not see an evident alignment to solstices. However this temple has
another remarkable alignment, an alignment along the sunrise on the days of the zenithal passage of the sun.
Only in the tropical zone of the Earth, which is located in between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of
Capricorn, we can see the sun reaching the zenith. Anywhere outside tropics, this is impossible. Inside the
tropical zone then, the sun has, besides the astronomical events of solstices and equinoxes, also two zenithal
passages. On the Tropical lines, only one passage is observed, coincident to one of the solstices.
Like the alignments on solstices are relevant in architectures (see for instance [7-11]), we can find in the
tropical zone some allusions to the zenithal passage of the sun (see for instance [12] and references therein).
Examples of alignments along the sunrise on the days of the zenithal passage exist in the temple complex of
Angkor Wat in Cambodia [13] and in the archaeological complex of Sigiriya, the Lion Rock of Sri Lanka [14]. For
Angkor Wat, “from architectural features and orientations to art panels and monuments, the evidence that
zenith passage was recognized permeates the entire city" [15].
In the Sewu temple complex, the alignment is given by the central temple and one of the eastern apit temples.
Here in the following two images, the passage through the zenith of the sun on 12 October 2016 is displayed by
Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2920127
the SunCalc.net software. We can determine the date of this passage using the Photographer’s Ephemeris for
instance, a software used for planning outdoor photography.
Figure 3: The zenithal passage of the sun on 12 October 2016 (Courtesy SunCalc.net). The yellow straight line
gives the direction of the sunrise, the red line of the sunset. As explained in SunCalc.net, the thin orange curve
is the sun trajectory, and the yellow area describes the variation of sun trajectories during the year. “The closer
a point is to the center, the higher is the sun above the horizon”.
Figure 4: The zenithal passage on 12 October 2016 (Courtesy SunCalc.net): a detail.
Figure 5: The solstice and the other zenithal passage on 28 February (or first of March, the Photographer’s
Ephemeris is giving for these days the same altitude of the sun).
After the zenithal passage of October, the sun reaches the solstice of December and then it has the other
zenithal passage at the end of February (Figure 5).
Let us note that, counting the days between 12 October 2016 and 21 December 2016, inclusive of both these
dates, we have 71 days. From December 21 to the first of March 2017, we have a total of 71 days again. From
the first of March to June 21, 2017, inclusive of these days, we have 113 days. Let us try to connect these
numbers to the number of the temples in the complex. Actually, the first and the second rows of the Sewu
temple, those inside the couples of the apit temples, are composed by 72 small ancillary temples (Perwara)
(see Figure 6). It seems therefore that a connection of the number of Perwara to the number of the days of the
zenithal passage of the sun is possible.
Figure 6
The link between the number of ancillary temples and the number of the days from the zenithal passage of the
sun to the June solstice had been proposed for Prambanan [16]. In [16], it is told that the temple complex of
Prambanan has 224 ancillary temples, connected to the number of 112 days after or before the June solstice. In
the case of the Sewu temple, it is the December solstice being involved.
It seems therefore that, for the people who built the temples, the astronomical year was based on periods of
even numbers of days with an inclusive counting: 72 days from the zenithal passage of the sun to the
December solstice, and from this solstice to the zenithal passage of the first of March. Then, there was another
set of 112 days, from the zenithal passage to the June solstice, and the same from this solstice to the zenithal
passage of October. Adding these periods we have a total of 368 days. However, the counting was inclusive,
and then we have to remove some days. For instance, if we start the count from the zenithal passage of the
first of March, we have to remove one day for the other zenithal passage and two days for the two solstices.
We obtain 365 days.
It seems therefore that the Sewu temple and the Prambanan are linked to astronomy; the Sewu temple is
connected to the sun moving about the December solstice, whereas the Prambanan is linked to the sun moving
between the zenithal passages about the June solstice.
References
[1] Vv. Aa. (2017). Wikipedia, Sewu. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewu
[2] Dumarçay, J. (2007). Candi Sewu and Buddhist architecture of Central Java, Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia.
[3] Sparavigna, A. C. (2013). The Gardens of Taj Mahal and the Sun, International Journal of Sciences, 2(11),
104-107.
[4] Sparavigna, A. C. (2013). Solar Azimuths in the Planning of a Nur Jahan’s Charbagh, International Journal of
Sciences, 2(12), 8-10.
[5] Sparavigna, A. C. (2015). Observations on the Orientation of Some Mughal Gardens. Philica Article number
455. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2745160
[6] Sparavigna, A. C. (2013). Sunrise and Sunset Azimuths in the Planning of Ancient Chinese Towns,
International Journal of Sciences, 2(11), 52-59.
[7] Ray, T.P. (1989). The Winter Solstice Phenomenon at Newgrange, Ireland: Accident or Design? Nature,
337(6205), 343-345.
[8] Richards, J. C. (2007). Stonehenge: The Story So Far. English Heritage.
[9] Sparavigna, A. C. (2014). Solstices at the Hardknott Roman Fort, Philica, Article Number 442. Available at
SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2745184
[10] Sparavigna, A. C (2015). Light and Shadows in Bernini’s Oval of Saint Peter’s Square. Philica, Article number
540. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2742281
[11] Sparavigna, A. C. (2016). Roman Towns Oriented to Sunrise and Sunset on Solstices. SSRN. DOI :
http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2777118
[12] Sparavigna, A. C. (2016). The Zenith Passage of the Sun and its Role in the Planning of Architectures.
Philica, Article number 584. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2767664
[13] Sparavigna, A. C. (2016). Solar Alignments of the Planning of Angkor Wat Temple Complex. Philica, Article
number 591.
[14] Sparavigna, A. C. (2013). The Solar Orientation of the Lion Rock Complex in Sri Lanka. Int. J. Sciences,
2(11), 60-62.
[15] Barnhart, E. & Powell, C. The Importance of Zenith Passage at Angkor, Cambodia,
http://www.mayaexploration.org/pdf/angkorzenithpassage.pdf
[16] Levenda, P. (2011). Tantric Temples: Eros and Magic in Java, Nicolas-Hays, Inc., page 104, and references
therein.
Sparavigna, Amelia Carolina, A Short Note
About the Zenithal Sun and the Sewu,
Prambanan and Borobudur Temples in Java
(February 19, 2017). PHILICA Paper number
972, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/
abstract=2920124
A short note about the zenithal sun and the Sewu, Prambanan and Borobudur
temples in Java
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
Politecnico di Torino
Abstract: The layouts of the Sewu, Prambanan and Borobudur temples in Java are probably linked to the
passage through the zenith of the sun, as we can see counting the number of ancillary temples and stupas we
find in them.
Keywords: Archaeoastronomy, Zenithal Passage of the Sun, SunCalc, Photographer’s Ephemeris, Satellite
Images.
In [1], we have discussed the Sewu temple, an eighth century Buddhist temple complex of Java. We have seen
that the layout of the temple is a Mandala, oriented along the cardinal lines. Using ephemeris software, we can
easily see that there is a connection of the architecture to the zenithal passage of the sun [2]. We found an
alignment along the sunrise on the days of the zenithal passage. Moreover, the temple has in the first and
second rows of the Mandala a number of ancillary temples, seventy-two, which is also the even number of the
days passing from the zenithal passage of October to the December solstice (inclusive of the mentioned days),
and also from the December solstice to the zenithal passage on the end of February (or first of March) [3]. In
the Figure 1, we can see the temple and the seventy-two ancillary temples.
Figure 1: The Sewu temple and the 72 ancillary temples (Perwara).
As told in [4], the Sewu temple is predating the nearby Rara Jonggrang, simply known as Prambanan, by over
70 years and the Borobudur by about 37 years. Prior to the construction of these temples, probably the Sewu
temple served as the main temple of the kingdom [5]. Since Candi Sewu was built before the other two
temples, we can suppose that it was a model for them, in particular for what concerns the number of ancillary
temples and stupas (in Java, “candi” means “temple”).
In fact, a link between the number of ancillary temples and the number of the days from the zenithal passage
of the sun to the June solstice had been proposed for the Prambanan temple [6]. In [6], it is told that the
temple complex of Prambanan had 224 ancillary temples, connected to the number of 112 days after or before
the June solstice. In the case of the Sewu temple, it is the December solstice being involved.
It is not simple to determine the number of ancillary temples of Prambanan from the satellite images, because
many of the smaller temples have been not yet restored. Let us follow the reconstruction suggested by the
symmetry that the temple probably had and by the image we find in [7]. We have the Figure 2.
Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2920124
Figure 2: On the left we see the Prambanan temple as given by Google Earth. On the right, a reconstruction of
it made by the author.
Let us consider the Borobudur temple (Figure 3). As told in [8], Borobudur is one of the greatest Buddhist
monuments in the world. “The temple consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped
by a central dome. The temple is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The central dome
is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated stupa” [8].
Figure 3: Borobudur in Google Earth.
Again, we have the number 72, that, as we have previously told, is equal to the even number of the days
passing from the zenithal passage of October to the December solstice, and also from the December solstice to
the zenithal passage on the end of February or the first of March. May be, for the people who built these
temples (Sewu, Prambanan and Borobudur), the astronomical year was based on periods of even numbers of
days (or nights, see [3]) with an inclusive counting: 72 days from the zenithal passage of the sun to the
December solstice, and from this solstice to the zenithal passage of the first of March. Then, there was another
set of 112 days, from the zenithal passage to the June solstice, and the same from this solstice to the zenithal
passage of October. Adding these periods we have a total of 368 days. However, the counting was inclusive,
and then we have to remove some days. For instance, if we start the count from the zenithal passage of the
first of March, we have to remove one day for the other zenithal passage and two days for the two solstices.
We obtain 365 days.
Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2920124
It seems therefore possible that the temples here mentioned are linked to astronomy, the Sewu and the
Borobudur temples are connected to the sun moving about the December solstice, whereas the Prambanan is
linked to the sun moving between the zenithal passages about the June solstice.
However, let us note that there is a religious interpretation of the seventy-two temples of the Sewu central
structure, as for those of Borobudur. “Within the Buddhist Abhidharma philosophical schools, the
Sarvāstivādins identified three unconditioned Dharmas whose nature is free from the laws of causation
(asaṁskṛta) as well as 72 conditioned Dharmas (see Wayman 1997:269) which are subject to the laws of
causation (saṁskṛta). So one might conjecture that these 72 auxiliary shrines had pertained to what Vilāsavajra
had called the second circle of Mahāvairocana containing the divinities belonging to the perfectly pure
Dharmadhātu of Vairocana” [9]. In fact, it is possible that people observed a coincidence between religion and
astronomy, and that the conditioned Dharmas were the days conditioned by the zenithal sun [10].
References
[1] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Sewu Temple and the zenithal passage of the sun. PHILICA Article number 970.
[2] Let us remember that only in the tropical zone of the Earth, which is located in between the Tropic of
Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, we can see the sun reaching the zenith. Anywhere outside tropics, this is
impossible. Inside the tropical zone then, the sun has, besides the astronomical events of solstices and
equinoxes, also two zenithal passages. On the Tropical lines, only one passage is observed, coincident to one of
the solstices.
[3] Actually, the number of the days determined using ephemeris software are 71. However, as told in
http://www.4-ahau.com/en/Zenithal_Sun.html, for ancient people it was possible to determine the zenithal
passage according the observation of the stars. “Through the constant observation of the sky, one can see that
a particular star would always rise at a certain point a few days before such or such a zenithal sun, hence it
would be possible to know beforehand the exact date of any given sun.” It means that 71 days are 72 nights
(inclusive counting), and this legitimates the use of the corresponding even number.
[4] Vv. Aa. (2017). Wikipedia, Sewu. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewu
[5] Dumarçay, J. (2007). Candi Sewu and Buddhist architecture of Central Java, Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia.
[6] Levenda, P. (2011). Tantric Temples: Eros and Magic in Java, Nicolas-Hays, Inc., page 104, and references
therein.
[7]
Java
Heritage
Tour,
Layout
Candi
Prambanan.
Retrieved
February
12,
2017,
http://www.javaheritagetour.com/the-beautiful-of-prambanan-temple/layout-candi-prambanan/
[8] Vv. Aa. (2017). Borobudur, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur
[9] Long, M. E. (2015). An Eighth-century Commentary on the Nāmasaṅgīti and the Cluster of Temples on the
Prambanan Plain, in Central Java. NALANDA–SRIWIJAYA CENTRE, Working Paper Series, No.20 (Nov 2015).
[10] In http://www.buddhadellamedicina.org/en/insegnamenti/borobudur, it is told (in Italian) that the
Borobudur temple was built “nel luogo dove Buddha manifestò il Mandala di Kalachakra e insegnò il «Tantra
della Ruota del Tempo» al Re indonesiano Suchandra. … Non si conosce esattamente la data di inizio dei lavori,
ma si presume che sia avvenuta intorno al 750 d.C. Venne voluto da un sovrano della dinastia Sailendra, che
chiamò a corte diversi yogi particolarmente ferrati nelle arti astrologiche e tantriche, quali l’architetto Guna
Dharma, che stabilì il luogo, la congiunzione astrologica e la disposizione nelle quattro direzioni (anzi nelle 10
direzioni, considerando le 4 principali, le 4 intermedie e le 2 «zenit e nadir»).” That is, the site is telling that the
temple was built where Buddha manifested the mandala of Kalachakra and taught the "Tantra of the Time
Wheel" to the Indonesian King Suchandra. … We do not know exactly the date when its construction began,
but it is presumed occurred around 750 A.D. It was built by a king of the Sailendra dynasty, who called to his
court several yogis particularly versed in astrology and tantric arts, such as the architect Guna Dharma, who
established the place, the astrological conjunction and the layout along the four cardinal directions (in fact, in
the ten directions, considering the four main directions (cardinal), the four intermediate and the two "zenith
and nadir" directions.
Borobudur Temple
Courtesy Reggaelooper
https://pixabay.com/photos/borobudur-temple-mini-macro-model-1593390/
The Ruins of the Buddhist Temples in the Progo Valley,
Borobudur, Mendut and Pawon, Described by Isaac
Groneman in his Book of 1912.
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
To cite this version:
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna. The Ruins of the Buddhist Temples in the Progo Valley, Borobudur,
Mendut and Pawon, Described by Isaac Groneman in his Book of 1912.. Philica, Philica, 2017.
hal-01674399
HAL Id: hal-01674399
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01674399
Submitted on 2 Jan 2018
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
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teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.
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The Ruins of the Buddhist Temples in the Progo Valley, Borobudur,
Mendut and Pawon, Described by Isaac Groneman in his Book of 1912.
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna (Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di
Torino)
Published in enviro.philica.com
Abstract
Here we discuss the book entitled Ruins of Buddhistic Temples in Praga Talley: Tyandis Barabudur, Mendut and
Pawon (available at archive.org/details/ ruinsofbuddhisti00gronrich), written by Isaac Groneman and published by
H.A. Benjamins, Semarang, in 1912. We discuss in particular the Groneman s observations concerning the
orientation of the temples, in reference to the path of the sun, and the descriptions of the statues, in particular
those concerning the mudras of Buddha. As a reader can easily see, the Groneman s book is an outstanding
report about the temples of Mendut, Pawon and Borobudur. It is essential for anyone who is studying the temples,
not only for the scholars, but also for those persons which are fascinated by the Javanese antiquity.
Keywords: Archaeology, Archaeoastronomy.
Isaac Groneman was a physician in the Dutch East Indies and Indonesia, who wrote many publications on
Javanese culture and antiquity. After the medical studies, in 1858 he left his homeland for the Dutch East Indies
and became the sultan's physician. Once in Java, Groneman was fascinated by the traditional Javanese culture,
and by the Hindu-Javanese monuments. He became the President of the Yogyakarta Archaeological Society [1],
and was involved directly in the excavation of the Prambanan temple near Yogyakarta.
Isaac Groneman had a profound interest for the religious context of Candi Borobudur [1]. He considered
Borobudur as a Buddhist sanctuary, obtaining support by King Chulalongkorn, at that time on his way to Java
heading to explore civilization [1]. Groneman invited the king to Borobudur and this was "the beginning of
friendship on the way to understanding the ancient Javanese heritage" [1]. And then, we find King Chulalongkorn
mentioned in Groneman's book of 1912, published by H.A. Benjamins, Semarang. The book is entitled "Ruins of
Buddhistic temples in Prägä valley: Tyandis Barabudur, Mendut and Pawon" (available at archive.org/details/
ruinsofbuddhisti00gronrich). In the title we find the word "tyandi", that is "candi", "temple".
The book is a remarkable discussion of the three temples, which are linked by a ritual relationship and by an
alignment of the sites. The temples of Mendut and Pawon are thought to have been early purification temples for
pilgrims going to Borobudur [2]. On the Vesak Day, a procession along the alignment of the temples goes from
Mendut to Borobudur. In his book, Groneman is following the same approach, and the first temple he discusses is
Candi Mendut.
Here we report only a few of the remarkable observations made by Groneman. The reader finds them quoted in
the following sections. I am reporting in particular the discussions concerning the orientation of the temples, in
reference to the path of the sun, and the descriptions of the mudras of the statues of Buddha. Actually, as
discussed in [3-5], the Borobudur temple can be linked to the zenith passage of the sun, and to the zenith is
referring a mudra of some of the Buddha’s statues at Borobudur. To conclude this introduction, let us stress that
the Groneman’s book is an outstanding report about the temples of Mendut, Pawon and Borobudur. This book is
therefore essential for anyone who is studying these temples, not only for the scholars but also for the persons
fascinated by the Javanese antiquity.
Tyandi Mendut
The description of Mendut starts from an observation. "The first striking thing we see is that, in contravention to
almost all other buddhistic buildings, the frontage of these ruins have not been placed opposite to the East, the
sunrise, but strange enough, opposite to the Northwest”. This Groneman’s observation leads us to consider that
the entrance of the temple is facing the processional walkway to Borobudur. Probably, the walkway started from a
royal palace further east of Mendut.
The Mendut temple possesses two sculptures before the entrance. To the left, the sculpture represents a princess
in a garden of fruit-trees, with a baby at her breast, and many children all round. To the right, we see “an Indian, —
not buddhistic — prince with much more children in such another garden”. The children have a crescent of the
moon on the hind part of their heads, but, as observed by Groneman, “both the children and their parents miss
everything that might have spoken of a buddhistic character”. Groneman tells that there are Dutch scholars who
suppose the prince to be the Buddha's father and the woman to be the Buddha's mother. However, a different
explanation of the sculptures was provided by the “buddhistic king of Siam”, Chulalongkorn. Before giving the
king’s explanation, Groneman continues the description of the gigantic images we can see in this temple.
Inside the temple we find an altar-shaped throne, and on the throne sits a colossal Buddha statue, dressed in the
manner of the southern Buddhists, having uncovered his right shoulder and arm. The hands before his breast
have the posture (mudra) of the Mahayanists, that is, the followers of the "Big Carriage" (Great Vehicle).
Groneman explains that this is the posture that the followers “of the northern church, generally (not always) give to
the first of their five Dhyani-Buddhas”.
In the Mendut temple, to the right of Buddha, we see a buddhistic prince seated on a throne, which is richly
decorated with nagas, lions, and elephants. He wears the monk's hood and a small Buddha image in his crown.
This characterises him as a Buddhist. The other prince that we see opposite him, to the left of the Buddha, seating
on an equally rich throne, doesn't wear a monk's hood. This characterises him as not buddhistic prince. The two
kings wear the prabha, or disk of light, on the back of their heads. The Siam's king, who visited Mendut in 1896,
interpreted the images as follow. One of the princes, who is wearing, “like he does himself, a Buddha image in his
crown,” was “perhaps the king of the buddhistic empire, under whose reign the Barabudur was built”. Further the
King supposed the other images to represent the not-buddhistic father and predecessor. The explanation of the
king “became so comprehensible and logical to me – tells Groneman - that I could not but accept and defend it
against others, and so I came to the hypothesis that the ashes of the two kings (but certainly the son's ashes) must
have been buried in this tyandi”.
Shailendra dynasty
A description of Mendut is given in [6], where we find that the temple was built around early ninth century AD.
Mendut is the oldest of the three temples, so it was built before Pawon and Borobudur [6]. From the Karangtengah
inscription, we known that the temple was built and finished during the reign of King Indra of Sailendra dynasty.
The inscription is dated 824 AD. It is telling that King Indra “built a sacred building named Venuvana”. The name
means "bamboo forest". Archaeologist JG de Casparis has connected the temple mentioned in Karangtengah
inscription with the Mendut temple [6,7].
The Shailendra dynasty was the name of an Indonesian dynasty that emerged in 8th century Java, whose reign
marked a cultural renaissance in the region [8,9]. As told in [8], Shailendras were active promoters of Mahayana
Buddhism and covered the Kedu Plain, also known as Probo Valley, of the Central Java, with several Buddhist
monuments. One is the colossal stupa of Borobudur. The Shailendras are considered to be a thalassocracy, that
ruled the maritime Southeast Asia [8]. But they have also promoted intensive rice cultivation on the Kedu Plain.
In [8] we can find that it is suggested that Shailendra was a native Javanese dynasty, and that the Sanjaya
dynasty was a branch of the Shailendras. So the members of the Shailendra family were initially the rulers of the
Medang Kingdom. As we can read in [8], the association of Shailendra with Mahayana Buddhism began after the
conversion of Panaraban or Panangkaran to Buddhism. The Tale of Parahyangan tells that the King Sanjaya
ordered his son, Rakai Panaraban or Panangkaran, to convert to Buddhism, “because their faith in Shiva was
feared by the people in favor of the pacifist Buddhist faith” [8]. Actually, this is in agreement to the King
Chulalongkorn’s observation.
Tyandi Pawon
After a detailed discussion of Mendut, Groneman continues describing Pawon. Leaving Mendut behind us, we
cross shortly after a small iron bridge built over the river Elo. Then, after having been ferried over the Progo river,
and moving westwards, we arrive at the “little dukuh of Brajanala … where we see the very small tyandi Pawon
before our having turned into the broad kenari-avenue which leads” to Barabudur. Groneman tells that in the past
this tyandi had been pulled down and afterwards rebuilt again. Its name, which means "kitchen", is “clear enough
to make us understand how the Javanese would have shown the striking contrast between this small temple and
the other more extensive one, as if it were a kitchen compared with a mansion or temple”. Then Groneman
explains why the temple was pulled down and then rebuilt.
The small ruin that Groneman sees has some conformity to the many grave temples, which are surrounding the
main temple of Candi Sewu, in Prambanan valley. “But this conformity is not a perfect one”. At Pawon, we find a
small square room with a small porch, “we enter by means of some narrow treads flanked by the Garuda-Naga
ornament, but this room is empty and unadorned”. Shallow niches exist in each sidewall, in correspondence of the
place where “once may have stood a pedestal and image”. Like in Candi Mendut, Groneman explains that the
niches may have been used to light the inner-part of the temple.
According to Groneman, this temple was a mausoleum built to receive an urn containing the ashes of a guru or
monk. As in the case of Mendut, Groneman observes that “It is an extraordinary thing that even the entrance of
this incontestably true buddhistic temple had not been made on the east side but to the west”. Again we find an
observation on the orientation of the temple. As we have already mentioned, this temple is on the processional
walkway to Borobudur.
Borobudur Temple in 2013 (Courtesy 22Kartika, Wikipedia)
Tyandi Barabudur
“After having walked through the umbrageous kenari-avenue and the village of Bara … we shall arrive within half
an hour at the hill upon which we see stand the pasanggrahan, and the colossal ruin”. It is an “enormous mass of
stone gradually developing itself in majestic lines and forms, in all the terraces, following each other in a regular
range of succession till we see rise in their centre the high cupola now covered again by a cone with three sunshades”.
It is a pilgrimage site and then “He who would approach this dagob to sacrifice his flowers to the Buddha, … was
obliged to mount all these terraces, and walk along these sculptures”. During this walk, the pilgrim can find in the
temple a “revival of the Buddha and his doctrine”, which is showing how to reach the nirvana, the “infinite not-to-be
as the end purpose of all life, and the deliverance of all the miseries of a sensual existence”. And then, let us
follow, as Groneman did, “the way the pilgrim took, and mount the hill which carries this heavy mass of stone”. So
Groneman starts the discussion of first terrace of the temple.
Then we arrive to the doorways.
Four doorways are present in the structure, which are leading to stairs, that according to Groneman are the weak
points of the architecture. At the foot of the doorway, there are naqa-heads, that “ended into outward turned
mythical monster-heads which, at first sight remind us of elephants rather than of snake-like animals”. Wilhelm von
Humboldt and other European examiners, like the Dutch scholar Leemans, considered these monstrous figures as
elephant's heads, “without perceiving however, that they changed into serpent's bodies when seen on the sideposts of the doorways”. Also Groneman had been misguided himself, and defended this error against the King of
Siam. But the King succeeded in convincing him, by logical argumentation, that the naga represents a power
inimical to Buddhism. The monster, according to the Siam opinion, is Rahu “who also tries to devour the sun
during every eclipse”. Very interesting this observation linking the temple to astronomy.
As explained in [10], eclipses are battles between Rahu and the Sun, Surya. The myth referring to these battles
concerns the amrita, the nectar of immortality, produced by the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. After this nectar has
been prepared, it is distributed to the gods, the devas. In [10], it is told that Rahu. an asura (semi-god), sitting
among the gods, was able to drink the amrita. But this fact was observed by Surya and Chandra, the Moon, and
Visnu was alerted. Visnu decapitated Rahu. Having drunk “just a bit of the amrita”, only Rahu’s head was made
immortal while his body died. It is the head of Rahu that attacks the Sun during the eclipses. The head swallows it,
but Rahu has no body to digest the sun, and then the eclipse ends and the sun appears again [10].
After reporting the King’s observation on Rahu, Groneman continues describing the first gallery. We see that the
two walls of the gallery are decorated with imageries which are richly framed. An “uninterrupted band of exquisite
festoons has been affixed above these sculptures under the cornice of the back-wall. … On the back wall we see
similar temple-groups, but all of them, even the small niche-temples, are crowned with dagobs and cones”.
Moreover we see rosettes and guirlandes with birds. On the five encircling walls of Borobudur, “we see no less
than 432 niches provided with Buddha-images … We now turn to the left in order to begin our walk along the
sculptures of the upper series of the back-wall. This wall is … showing us a comparatively well explained row of
following events which give us an idea about the life of the Buddha Siddharta, Gautama, the Shakyamuni, from
beginning to end”.
Image courtesy https://pixabay.com/it/users/reggaelooper-3002941/
Here we find a remarkable observation. “Let us begin our walk to the left of the eastern staircase in
order to return to our starting-point following the course of the sun of the northern hemisphere
(29), going through the South, West and North. This order of succession regulated after this sun,
we always find back on these and other Hindu ruins; more or less a witness of the northern origin of
Javanese Buddhism”. In the note (29), Groneman tells that he was the first (in 1887) to observe
this link to the apparent course of the sun seen by the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere. “It is
an important fact to those who believe the Buddha a sun-god”. Let us stress that Candi Borobudur
is placed in the tropical zone and therefore the path of the sun during the year is different from that
observed in the northern hemisphere at latitudes above the Tropic of Cancer [3-5]. Therefore, the
direction of the pilgrimage is honouring the northern origin of Buddha. For moving to reach the top
of the monument, also the King of Siam followed this direction.
“For convenience' sake, and in order to assist the visitor in finding” the sculptures, Groneman
counts them “from the preceding staircase or from the first till the ninth wall-angle, and begin with
the eastern staircase”. And then Groneman starts discussing the scenes related to Buddha’s life.
The discussion of all the other statues continues in the Chapters VIII and IX.
In Chapter X we arrive at the top of the monument, where we find three circular terraces. On the
first “we see stand 32 open worked dagobs or tyaityas; on the second there are 24, -and on the
third and highest 16, so altogether 72. And within this circle rises the majestic middledagob as the
only real dagob or stupa representing the leading idea, the final purpose of the whole ruin”. We can
also admire the surrounding mountainous landscape. The valley of Progo river lies westward “at the
foot of mount Menoreh, … and, to the east, of the high twin volcanoes Merbabu and Merapi, and, to
the north, of the Sumbing, the highest volcano of this part of Central Java”.
Image Courtesy Pandu Adnyana, Wikipedia.
Mudras of Buddha
I found the book of Groneman when searching for some discussion about the statues of Buddha and
the fact that they have different mudras, that is, positions of the hands, linked to North, East,
South, West and Zenith, which represent the five cardinal compass points according to Mahayana.
As told by Wikipedia [11], at Borobudur, "the first four balustrades have the first four mudras:
North, East, South and West, of which the Buddha statues that face one compass direction have the
corresponding mudra. Buddha statues at the fifth balustrades and inside the 72 stupas on the top
platform have the same mudra: Zenith. Each mudra represents one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas;
each has its own symbolism". The reference given for this discussion is [12].
In the Chapter XI we find what Groneman tells about the statues representing Buddha. We can see
that all the statues are in a sitting posture with crossed legs, “almost in the same posture the
Javanese call sila, but upright”. The statues are dressed with a thin mantle uncovering their right
arms and shoulders. They have the tiara, the round hair-knot, “on their heads all covered with short
curls. Even the urna, the little tuft of hair on their fronts is still to be seen on many a sculpture, and
on the other ones, less accurately hewn, they are forgotten”. For what concerns the posture of all
the statues, Groneman notes that it is showing resignation and peace, “and may speak of the later
final dissolving in the nirvana, the joy and painless not-to-be”.
About the mudras of the statues of Buddha we find a detailed discussion.
"Among the sculptures placed opposite the five zones of heaven, the East, South, West and North
and the Zenith, there is to be seen a slight difference in the posture of the right hands, and
something more difference in the posture of the two hands with regard to those sculptures we see
on the round terraces”.
All the sculptures on the five encircling walls have their left hands in their laps, with the palm on the
right foot. Then Groneman describes in details the corresponding postures of the hands, the
mudras. For what concerns the sculptures of the open worked tyaityas on the three round terraces,
the statues raise their two hands before the epigastric region, “the left one with the palm and the
bent finger-tips in an upward direction, the right one with the palm to the left and the fingers bent
over those of the other hand”. Moreover, these statues “all miss the glory”.
One of the 72 statues of Buddha in open worked tyaityas on the three round terraces. Photographer Giovanni Boccardi. For the
UNESCO Connected Open Heritage project.
Groneman tells that there is still another sculpture, unique of its kind. It had been found in the
middle-dagob. It is a Buddha image corresponding in size to all other sculptures, but the posture of
the hands “tallied with those on the eastern lower walls”. After a discussion about this specific
statue, Groneman distinguishes the statues into three groups: 1. 432 Buddhas in the open templeniches on the five encircling walls, which are seated on lotus-thrones and crowned with glories. 2.
72 Buddhas in the open worked tyaityas on the three round terraces, without any glory or lotusthrone. 3. The only Buddha of the large dagob entirely sequestered, without glory or throne.
Groneman is then mentioning Wilhelm Von Humboldt, telling that he was the first who considered
five of the six Buddhas, to be the representations of the five Dhyani-Buddhas. “Especially in the
posture of the hands there is some conformity between five of the six Barabudur-images and the
five Dhyani-Buddhas such as we see them hewed in Asia”. Moreover Groneman is mentioning Alfred
Foucher.
According to Foucher, there are seven groups of mudras. They are: 1) the bhunisparsya mudra
(East); 2) the vara-mudra (South); 3) the dhyani-mudra (West); 4) the abhaya-mudra (North); 5)
in the 64 niches on the fifth and highest wall the vitarka-mudra (the gesture of discussion); and
among the 72 cupolae of the 3 circular terraces, 6) the dharma-tyakra-mudra (mark of distinction).
Finally, we find the only sculpture from the wholly closed dagob, hewed in the bhumi-sparsyamudra. After referring about these mudras, Groneman stresses that a slight difference exists
between Foucher's ideas and his own ideas, which are supported by the observations of King
Chulalongkorn.
Let us conclude our article on the Groneman’s book - a book essential for anyone who is studying
Borobudur - as he concluded his discussion on the mudras. He tells that in Borobudur, we can find
Buddha hewed as preacher, “preaching the doctrine to all people, and consequently towards all the
regions of heaven”. According to Groneman the fact that this preaching preacher “has been placed
upon the highest wall” of the monument is easy to understand, because the preaching of the
doctrine is the highest expression of Buddhism, “and possibly referred to both the world of the four
zones of heaven and to the one of the celestials in the zenith”.
References
[1] http://borobudurpark.com/en/borobudur-colonial-period/ Retrieved 30 December 2012.
.
[2] Norbert C, Brockman. Encyclopedia of Sacred Places, 2nd Edition. Pag.59.
.
[3] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). A short note about the zenithal sun and the Sewu, Prambanan and Borobudur temples in Java.
PHILICA Article number 972. Published on February, 2017.
.
[4] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun and the Architectures of the Tropical Zone. Mechanics,
Materials Science & Engineering MMSE Journal. Open Access, 2017, 10 (May), pp.1-12. Also available at
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01519183v1
[5] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun at Candi Borobudur. PHILICA Article number 1197. Published
on 25th December, 2017.
.
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendut Retrieved 30 December 2017.
[7] Daigoro Chihara (1996). Hindu-Buddhist architecture in Southeast Asia. p. 125. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shailendra_dynasty Retrieved 30 December 2017.
[9] Zakharov, Anton O. (August 2012). The Sailendras Reconsidered (PDF). Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Singapore.
[10] Deepak Sarma, Contributor Huffintonpost. When Rahu Swallows the Sun: The Eclipse According to One Hindu Myth,
Published 17 August 2017.
.
[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur Retrieved 30 December 2017.
.
[12] Roderick S. Bucknell & Martin Stuart-Fox (1995). The Twilight Language: Explorations in Buddhist Meditation and
Symbolism. UK: Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-0234-2.
Information about this Article
Published on Sunday 31st December, 2017 at 16:44:01.
The full citation for this Article is:
Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Ruins of the Buddhist Temples in the Progo Valley, Borobudur, Mendut and Pawon, Described by Isaac
Groneman in his Book of 1912.. PHILICA Article number 1204.
The Zenith Passage of the Sun at Candi Borobudur
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
To cite this version:
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna. The Zenith Passage of the Sun at Candi Borobudur. Philica, Philica,
2017. hal-01677101
HAL Id: hal-01677101
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01677101
Submitted on 8 Jan 2018
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.
L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents
scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non,
émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de
recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires
publics ou privés.
The Zenith Passage of the Sun at Candi Borobudur
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna (Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di
Torino)
Published in enviro.philica.com
Abstract
Here we discuss the link of the 72 stupas on the top platform of the Borobudur temple to the number of days
between the solstice and the zenith passage of the sun. This link is strengthened by the recent find of an alignment
of Borobudur and the satellites Mendut and Pawon temples, along the sunset azimuth on the day of zenith passage
of the sun, proposed by G. Magli in arXiv.
In some previous papers [1-8], I have discussed alignments to sunrise/sunset azimuths on
the days of the zenith passage of the sun, for architectural complexes in the tropical zone.
In [1], I considered Sigiriya, the Lion Rock in Sri Lanka. I showed that the main axis of this
archaeological complex is aligned along the sunset azimuth on the two days of zenith
passage of the sun. Also in the case of the Buddhist complex of Sanchi [2], which is at the
latitude of the Tropic of Cancer, we have an alignment along the sunset of the day of
zenith passage, the summer solstice (the solstice alignment was found by Kameswara Rao
[9]). At the Mesoamerican sites of Tula and Chichen Itza [8], again, we have alignments
along the sunset azimuth of the zenith passage of the sun (the alignment of Chichen Itza
is well-known and was discussed in [10,11]).
Of the temples of Sewu, Prambanan and Borobudur in Java, I wrote in [5-7]. In [5], it is
discussed in particular the Sewu temple, an eighth century Buddhist temple complex of
Java. The layout of the temple is a Mandala, oriented along the cardinal lines. Using
ephemeris software, we can easily see that there is an alignment along the sunrise on the
days of the zenith passage. Moreover, the temple has in the first and second rows of the
Mandala a number of ancillary temples, seventy-two, which is also the even number of the
days passing from the zenithal passage of October to the December solstice (inclusive of
the mentioned days), and also from the December solstice to the zenithal passage on the
end of February (or first of March).
The Sewu temple is predating the nearby Rara Jonggrang, simply known as Prambanan,
by over 70 years and the Borobudur by about 37 years. Prior to the construction of these
temples, probably the Sewu temple served as the main temple of the kingdom [12]. Since
Candi Sewu was built before the other two temples, we can suppose that it was a model
for them, in particular for what concerns the number of ancillary temples and stupas (in
Java, “candi” means “temple”).
Let us consider the Borobudur temple (Figure 1), one of the greatest Buddhist monuments
in the world. “The temple consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular,
topped by a central dome. The temple is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504
Buddha statues. The central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside
a perforated stupa” [13]. In the Figure 1 (right panel), we can see the 72 stupas on the
top platform of the temple.
Figure 1: Borobudur (left image, Courtesy Gunawan Kartapranata; right image, Courtesy
Google Earth).
Again, we have the number 72; as we have previously told, this number is equal to the
even number of the days passing from the zenithal passage in October to the December
solstice, and from the December solstice to the zenithal passage on the end of February or
first of March. In fact, in [6], I stressed the possibility that the number of the ancillary
temples or stupas in the temples of Sewu, Prambana and Borobudur, had a calendrical link
to the path of the sun.
In [13], where the Candi Borobudur is discussed, we can find another important evidence
for the link of the 72 stupas to the zenith of the sun. The link is concerning the mudras of
the statues of Buddha. "At first glance, all the Buddha statues appear similar, but there is
a subtle difference between them in the mudras, or the position of the hands. There are
five groups of mudra: North, East, South, West and Zenith, which represent the five
cardinal compass points according to Mahayana. The first four balustrades have the first
four mudras: North, East, South and West, of which the Buddha statues that face one
compass direction have the corresponding mudra. Buddha statues at the fifth balustrades
and inside the 72 stupas on the top platform have the same mudra: Zenith. Each mudra
represents one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas; each has its own symbolism" [13].
Another link to the zenith passage of the sun is an alignment of three temples, Borobodur
and the satellites Mendut and Pawon temples, along the sunset azimuth on the days of
zenithal sun, alignment proposed by G. Magli in arXiv [14]. In [13], we read that "During
the restoration in the early 20th century, it was discovered that three Buddhist temples in
the region, Borobudur, Pawon and Mendut, are positioned along a straight line. A ritual
relationship between the three temples must have existed, although the exact ritual
process is unknown". In [14], G. Magli has proposed that the line indicated the azimuth of
the sunset on the days of zenithal sun (let us note that, for the line of the three temples,
an alignment along sunrise was proposed too in [15]). It is easy to test the alignment
proposed by Magli using software such as SunCalc.org for instance. Using date 12 October,
as in [6], we can see the alignment as in the Figure 2. Actually, SunCalc.org and the
Photographer's Ephemeris give this day for the zenith passage.
Figure 2: The alignment of the three temples along the sunset on a day of zenith passage
of the sun, obtained by means of SunCalc.org.
For what concerns the architecture of Borobudur, let me add to the references also the
very interesting article [16] on the algorithm used for building the temple.
References
[1] Sparavigna, A. C. (2013). The Solar Orientation of the Lion Rock Complex in Sri Lanka, arXiv:1311.2853,
published in the International Journal of Sciences, 2013, Volume 2, Issue 11, Pages 60-62. DOI:
10.18483/ijSci.335
[2] Sparavigna, A. C. (2015). On the alignment of Sanchi monuments. PHILICA Article number 543. Published on
22nd November, 2015.
[3] Sparavigna, A. C. (2016). The Zenith Passage of the Sun and its role in the Planning of Architectures.
PHILICA Article number 584. Published on 13th April, 2016.
[4] Sparavigna, A. C. (2016). Solar Alignments of the Planning of Angkor Wat Temple Complex. PHILICA
Article number 591. Published on 23rd April, 2016.
[5] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Sewu Temple and the zenithal passage of the sun. PHILICA Article number
970. Published on 18th February, 2017.
[6] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). A short note about the zenithal sun and the Sewu, Prambanan and Borobudur
temples in Java. PHILICA Article number 972. Published on February, 2017.
[7] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun and the Architectures of the Tropical Zone.
Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering MMSE Journal. Open Access, 2017, 10 (May), pp.1-12. Also
available at https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01519183v1
[8] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun at the Mesoamerican Sites of Tula and Chichen Itza.
PHILICA Article number 1162. Published on 18th November, 2017. Also available at https://hal.archives-
ouvertes.fr/hal-01649936v1
[9] Kameswara Rao, N. (1992). History of Astronomy: Astronomy with Buddhist stupas of Sanchi, Bull. Astr.
Soc. India 20:87-98.
[10] Vv. Aa. (2017). Passage of the Sun, WHS. Available at
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/connection/Passage+of+the+Sun
[11] Mendez, A., Barnhart, E. L., Powell, C., & Karasik, C. (2005). Astronomical Observations from the Temple
of the Sun. Available at http://www.mayaexploration.org/pdf/observations_temple_sun.pdf
[12] Dumarçay, J. (2007). Candi Sewu and Buddhist architecture of Central Java, Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia.
[13] Vv. Aa. (2017). Borobudur, Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur Retrieved on 25 December
2017.
[14] Magli, G. (2017). Archaeoastronomy of the Sun path at Borobudur. arXiv:1712.06486 (Submitted on 18 Dec
2017).
[15] Long, M., & Voute, C. (2008) Borobudur: Pyramid of the Cosmic Buddha , Printworld, NY.
[16] Situngkir, H. (2105). Borobudur was Built Algorithmically. BFI Working Paper Series, WP082010.
arXiv:1508.03649 (Submitted on 13 Aug 2015).
Information about this Article
Published on Monday 25th December, 2017 at 17:47:18.
The full citation for this Article is:
Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun at Candi Borobudur. PHILICA Article number 1197.
Chichén Itzá
Courtesy Makalu
https://pixabay.com/photos/mexico-chichén-itzá-pyramid-3774303/
The Zenith Passage of the Sun at the Mesoamerican
Sites of Tula and Chichen Itza
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
To cite this version:
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna. The Zenith Passage of the Sun at the Mesoamerican Sites of Tula and
Chichen Itza. Philica, Philica, 2017. hal-01649936
HAL Id: hal-01649936
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01649936
Submitted on 28 Nov 2017
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
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teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.
L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
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publics ou privés.
The Zenith Passage of the Sun at the Mesoamerican Sites of Tula and
Chichen Itza
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
(Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino)
Abstract
Using software SunCalc.org we can easily observe the alignments of buildings along the direction of the
sunset on the day of the zenith passage of the sun, at two Mesoamerican sites. These sites are those of
Tula and Chichen Itza.
The tropics are the regions of the Earth that lie between the latitude lines of the Tropic of Cancer and the
Tropic of Capricorn. In this zone of the Earth, we have the opportunity to see the zenith passage of the sun,
that is, we can see the sun passing at noon directly overhead. The zenith passage happens on two days in the
year. These days depend upon the latitude of the place of observation. Let us note that, at the Tropic of
Cancer, the zenith passage happens on the day of the June solstice and at the Tropic of Capricorn on that of
the December solstice; at the equator, the zenithal sun is observed on the two equinoxes.
When the sun passes overhead, the shadows of objects and persons disappear. As explained in [1], the days
when this happens assume a sacred significance for the people that live and lived within the tropics. "A
number of legends identify it as a time when the way is open into the upper world" [1]. In some Guatemalan
villages, the two dates of zenith passage, which are coincident to the period of rains, are marked by ancient
rituals. Also in ancient Hawai’i - Ref.1 explains - the zenith passage of the sun was a moment of great sacred
power.
Being the zenith passage so important for people in the tropical zone [2-8], it is not surprising that we can find
it evidenced by the local architectures too [3,9-13]. We have, for instance, that some monuments possess a
"zenith tube" at their apex [10,14]. It is a vertical sighting tube inserted in the vault of the structure , which
produces in a dark chamber a perfectly perpendicular beam of
light when the sun is at the local zenith.
Alignments of monuments are also possible: we observed them at Sanchi, India [15,16], at the Lion Rock in
Sri Lanka [17], at Angkor Wat [18] and at the Sewu, Prambanan and Borobudur Temples in Java [19,20].
Alignments of the monuments in the Mesoamerican site of Chichen Itza are well known [21,22]. "El Castillo
appears to be oriented so that the west plane of the pyramid faces the "Zenith passage" [21]. Here we show
this alignment using software SunCalc.org and satellite images. This software is an online application used to
"to ascertain the sun movement with interactive map, sunrise, sunset, shadow length", and other data. About
the use in archaeoastronomy for the simulation of shadows by means of SunCalc.org, we discussed in [23]
Before observing the alignment of El Castillo, let us consider the site of Tula. Here we show the alignment of
the Palacio Quemado (the Burnt Palace) along the sunset on the day of the zenith passage of the sun. In this
manner, we can add the site of Tula to the other sites where a worship of the zenithal sun existed.
The site of Tula. Tula was an important regional center, that became the capital of the Toltec Empire in the
period between the fall of Teotihuacan and the rise of Tenochtitlan [24]. The site is close to the city of Tula de
Allende. "The main attraction is the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl which is topped by four, four metre high basalt
columns carved in the shape of Toltec warriors … The feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl is linked to this city,
whose worship was widespread from central Mexico to Central America at the time the Spanish arrived" [24].
The pyramid of Quetzalcoatl is also known as the pyramid of the Morning Star [25]. The other main structures
of the site include another pyramid, two Mesoamerican ballcourts and several large buildings. One of them is
the Palacio Quemado (the Burnt Palace) [25]. If we used the SunCalc.org software, we can see that the
Palacio Quemado has an orientation along the sunset on the two days of the zenith passage of the sun. The
Figure 1 is a screenshot of the result given by the software. We see two lines giving the directions of sunrise
and sunset. We have also the curve representing the apparent motion of the sun in the sky. When this line is
passing through the site, it means that at noon the sun passes through the zenith. In the Figure 1, we can see
that the sunset direction corresponds to the long axis of the Palace.
Figure 1: Alignment of the Palacio Quemado (Tula) along the sunset on the day of the zenith passage of the
sun.
Influence of Tula. In [24], we find mentioned that there is evidence of Tula influence in other parts of
Mesoamerica [26]. "One of the most debated questions is what, if any, relationship there might be between
Tula and Chichen Itza far to the south in the Yucatan Peninsula". This debate exists because there are
similarities in various art and architectural styles. "It is certain that neither could have conquered the other,
but there is evidence that they may have been connected through trade networks " [26]. Ref.24 tells also that
the planning of Tula was adopted by some Aztec city-state rulers for their urban centers [26].
After observing the Figure 1, we can add the alignment along the sunset of the zenithal sun as a link to the
architecture of Chichen Itza.
Chichen Itza. It was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people. The archaeological site is located in
the Yucatan. As told in [27], the site displays several architectural styles, "reminiscent of styles seen in
central Mexico and of the Puuc and Chenes styles of the Northern Maya lowlands. The presence of central
Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central
Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result
of cultural diffusion" [27].
We have mentioned above one of the monuments of the site, El Castillo. It is the Temple of Kukulkan, a Maya
deity represented as a feathered serpent similar to the Aztec Quetzalcoatl. It has the form of a step pyramid,
consisting of a series of nine square terraces. This pyramid was superimposed to an old temple [27,28]. In the
Figure 2, we see a screenshot of software SunCalc.org. We see the alignment mentioned in [21,22].
Figure 2: Alignment of El Castillo (Chichen Itza) along the sunset on the day of the zenith passage of the sun.
Conclusion. Here we have shown the peculiar alignment of El Castillo at Chichen Itza using software
SunCalc.org and satellite images. By means of this software, we can find that another Mesoamerican site, that
of Tula, exists where a building is aligned along the sunset on the day of the zenith passage of the sun. This
building is the Palacio Quemado. This reference to the zenithal sun is an architectural aspect which is notably
linking the two Mesoamerican sites.
References
[1] Vv. Aa. (2017). Zenith Passage of the Sun. At http://what-when-how.com/ancient-astronomy/zenithpassage-of-the-sun/
[2] Aveni, A. (2001). Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico, 2nd Edition. University of Texas Press.
[3] Aveni, A., & Hartung, H. (1981). The Observation of the Sun at the Times of Passage through the Zenith in
Mesoamerica. Archaeoastronomy (Supplement to the Journal for the History of Astronomy 12), 3, S51-S70.
[4] Broda, J. (2006). Zenith Observations and the Conceptualization of Geographical Latitude in Ancient
Mesoamerica: A Historical and Interdisciplinary Approach. Proceedings of the Oxford Seven Conference in
Archaeoastronomy, edited by Todd Bostwick and Bryan Bates.
[5] Freidel, D., Schele, L. & Parker, J. (1993). Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman’s Path.
William Morrow Paperbacks.
[6] Mendez, A., & Karasik, C. (2014). Centering the world: zenith and nadir passages at Palenque.
Archaeoastronomy and the Maya, 97. Draft available at
http://www.academia.edu/2368146/Centering_the_World
[7] Malmström, V. H. (2014). Cycles of the Sun, Mysteries of the Moon: The Calendar in Mesoamerican
Civilization, University of Texas Press.
[8] Selin, H. (2008). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western
Cultures, Springer Science & Business Media.
[9] Aveni, A. F., Milbrath, S., & Lope, C. P. (2004). Chichen Itza's legacy in the astronomically oriented
architecture of Mayapan. Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics, 45(1), 123-143.
[10] Barnhart, E., & Powell, C. The Importance of Zenith Passage at Angkor, Cambodia. Available at web site
www. mayaexploration. org/pdf/angkorzenithpassage. pdf.
[11] Šprajc, I. (2004). Astronomical Alignments in Río Bec Architecture. Archaeoastronomy, 18, 98-107.
[12] Aveni, A. F., & Gibbs, S. L. (1976). On the orientation of precolumbian buildings in central Mexico.
American Antiquity, 41(4), 510-517.
[13] Aveni, A. F. (1981). Tropical archaeoastronomy. Science, 213(4504), 161-171.
[14] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun and the Architectures of the Tropical Zone .
Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering MMSE Journal. Open Access, 2017, 10 (May), 1-12. Available HAL,
hal-01519183
[15] Kameswara Rao, N. (1992). History of Astronomy: Astronomy with Buddhist stupas of Sanchi, Bull. Astr.
Soc. India 20:87-98.
[16] Sparavigna, A.C. (2015). On the alignment of Sanchi monuments. Philica article number 543.
[17] Sparavigna, A.C. (2013). The Solar Orientation of the Lion Rock Complex in Sri Lanka. arXiv preprint
arXiv:1311.2853. Published in International Journal of Sciences, 2013, 2(11):60-62 DOI: 10.18483/ijSci.335
[18] Sparavigna, A. C. (2016). Solar Alignments of the Planning of Angkor Wat Temple Complex (April 23,
2016). PHILICA, Article number 591. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2769261
[19] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Sewu Temple and the Zenithal Passage of the Sun (February 18, 2017).
PHILICA Article number 970. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2920127
[20] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). A Short Note About the Zenithal Sun and the Sewu, Prambanan and Borobudur
Temples in Java (February 19, 2017). PHILICA Paper number 972. Available at SSRN:
https://ssrn.com/abstract=2920124
[21] Vv. Aa. (2017). Passage of the Sun, WHS. Available at
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/connection/Passage+of+the+Sun
[22] Mendez, A., Barnhart, E. L., Powell, C., & Karasik, C. (2005). Astronomical Observations from the Temple
of the Sun. Available at http://www.mayaexploration.org/pdf/observations_temple_sun.pdf
[23] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Role of the Shadows in a Bronze Age Stone Circle (October 14, 2017).
SSRN e-Journal. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3053130
[24] Vv. Aa. (2017). Tula (Mesoamerican site), in Wikipedia. At
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tula_(Mesoamerican_site)
[25] Vv. Aa. (2017). Tula, The Temple Trail. At http://thetempletrail.com/tula/
[26] Smith, M. E. (2007). Tula and Chichen Itza: Are we Asking the Right Questions?. Twin Tollans: Chichen
Itza, Tula and the Epiclassic to Early Postclassic Mesoamerican World, 579-617. Available at
http://www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/1-CompleteSet/MES-07-TulaChichen.pdf
[27] Vv. Aa. (2017). Chichen Itza, in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza
[28] Willard, T.A. (1941). Kukulcan, the Bearded Conqueror : New Mayan Discoveries. Hollywood, California:
Murray and Gee. OCLC 3491500.
Information about this Article Published on Saturday 18th November, 2017 at 19:00:34.
The full citation for this Article is:
Sparavigna, A. C.(2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun at the Mesoamerican Sites of Tula and Chichen Itza. PHILICA Article number 1162.
Burma Myanmar Rangoon Temple
Courtesy dMz
https://pixabay.com/photos/burma-myanmar-rangoon-temple-803442/
The Shwedagon Pagoda and the Zenith Passage of the
Sun
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
To cite this version:
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna. The Shwedagon Pagoda and the Zenith Passage of the Sun. Philica,
Philica, 2018. hal-01700519
HAL Id: hal-01700519
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01700519
Submitted on 4 Feb 2018
HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.
L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents
scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non,
émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de
recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires
publics ou privés.
The Shwedagon Pagoda and the Zenith Passage of the Sun
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna (Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di
Torino)
Abstract
Here we discuss the orientation of the Shwedagon Pagoda, the gilded stupa situated on Singuttara Hill in
Yangon, Myanmar, and a possible link with the sunrise on the days of the zenith passage of the sun.
These days are also linked to the Festival of the Full Moon of the month of Kason, the second month of
the traditional Burmese calendar. In Myanmar, this is the festival of the Vesak Day of Buddha.
The Shwedagon Pagoda, also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda or the Golden Pagoda, is a gilded
stupa situated on Singuttara Hill, in Yangon, Myanmar. This Pagoda is the most sacred Buddhist
temple in Myanmar. Wikipedia tells that historians and archaeologists consider the pagoda built by
the Mon people between the 6th and 10th centuries AD [1]. However, a tradition exists which is
telling that the Shwedagon Pagoda was constructed more than 2,600 years ago. In this manner,
the Golden Pagoda would be the oldest Buddhist stupa in the world [2]. This tradition is described
in detail at the web site [3].
As explained in [3], the pagoda's beauty derives from the geometry of its shape and of the
surrounding structures and by its golden glow (see Figures 1 and 2). The pagoda rises 99 m on the
Singuttara Hill (51 m), above the city. The stupa is plated with solid gold bars. Its tip is set with
diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and other gems and golden bells. At the very top, there is a single 76carat diamond.
Figure 1: The south-eastern side of Shwedagon Pagoda. Image Courtesy: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen.
Figure
2: A monk is walking on the facade. Image Courtesy: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen.
For what concerns the architecture of this temple, Ref.3 is telling that, from an aerial view of it
(Figure 3), we can see that the Stupa has four small pagodas “at the 4 cardinal point" [3], 64
pagodas encircling the base, a plinth, terraces and an octagonal base. Actually, as we can see from
the figure, the complex is not cardinally oriented.
Figure 3: Shwedagon Pagoda in Google Earth.
Wikipedia [4] explains that the temple has four entrances, each leading up a flight of steps to the
platform on Singuttara Hill. These entrances are guarded by a pair of giant leogryphs, the chinthe.
It is customary to circumnavigate Buddhist stupas in a clockwise direction. "In accordance with this
principle, one may begin at the eastern directional shrine, which houses a statue of Kakusandha,
the first Buddha of the present kalpa (Sanskrit word meaning an aeon). Next, at the southern
directional shrine, is a statue of the second Buddha, Konagamana. Next, at the western directional
shrine, is that of the third Buddha, Kassapa. Finally, at the northern directional shrine, is that of the
fourth Buddha, Gautama" [4]. In [5], we can find more details on the temple and the statues and
shrines we can find there.
In [3], we read that the many religious festivals linked to the Myanmar lunar calendar are drawing
people to pagodas. Among the most important festivals mentioned in [3] we find the Festival on the
Full Moon Day of the Myanmar month Tabaung (February-March), and the Myanmar New Year
Festival in April. We find also the Buddha Day Festival, known as Kason Festival, in the month of
Kason (April-May). The Festival of the Kason Full Moon day is the Vesak Day in Myanmar. During
this festival, people "carry earthen pots filled with water and flowers to offer to banyan trees, in
memory of the Buddha. Legend goes that the holiday falls on the hottest day of the year. Buddhists
in Burma use water to cool off and protect the holy tree, under which the Buddha achieved
enlightenment" [6]. Let us note that Kason is popularly called the water-pouring month.The Kason
Festival marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha (Vesak)[7]. This day is more
universally known as Vesak, and is celebrated in countries where Buddhism is widely practised, such
as India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
It is remarkable that, in Myanmar, the Vesak holiday is considered “the hottest day of the year”.
However, what is, symbolically, the hottest day of the year? For the tropical zone, we can imagine it
as a day of zenith passage of the sun. In some previous papers [8-16], we have discussed that the
layout of the architectures of tropics can show some links or even alignments along the directions of
sunrise/sunset on the days of the zenith passage of the sun. Therefore, let us consider again the
image in the Figure 3, and try to investigate if we can find in this layout of the Shwedagon complex
a link to the zenithal sun and, consequently, a link to the “hottest day of the year”, that popularly,
in Myanmar is the day of the Kason Festival.
As we have already told, the Shwedagon complex has not the main axes aligned along the northsouth and east-west directions. These axes have an angle of about 16 degrees from the cardinal
axes. So AB axis in the Figure 3 is not aligned along the direction of sunrise/sunset on equinoxes. It
corresponds to a sunrise azimuth of 74 degrees. In Yangon, this is the azimuth of the sunrise on the
days from the First of May to May 3 (according to software sollumis.com). From May 3 to May 12,
the noon altitude of the sun is greater than 89 degrees.
Using another software, the SunCalc.org software that, like sollumis.com, is an online application
which can be used to ascertain the sun movement with an interactive map, we can see that we
have the zenith passage of the sun on May 7 (the other day of zenith passage is August 5). So we
can tell that AB axis of the Shwedagon temple is aligned along the sunrise of the first day of a
period during which the sun has an altitude equal or greater than 89 degrees. That is, symbolically,
it could be the first of the hottest days of the year. Now, let us consider the Full Moon Day of Kason.
In 2018, it will be on 29 April [17]. Using SunCalc.org, for April 29, we obtain the Figure 4. We see
that axis AB in Figure 3 is practically coincident with the direction of the sunrise on the Kason Day
2018 (sunrise azimuth 75 degrees).
In 2017, the Kason Day was on May 10 [18], and in 2016 it was on May 20. Since the Festival is
determined by the full moon, its date changes year after year. Of course, the directions of the
sunrise on these days are rather different, and therefore, we cannot have a specific alignment
according to the Festival. But, since the lore goes that the Full Moon of Kason is linked to “the
hottest day of the year”, we can conclude telling that the temple complex of the Shwedagon Pagoda
was probably planned with an alignment along the direction of the sunrise on the day which
represent the beginning of the period of the hottest days of the year, that is, the period during
which we have the zenith passage of the sun.
Figure 4: Sunrise direction on the day of the Kason Festival, 29 April 2018 (Courtesy SunCalc.org).
References
[1] Pe Maung Tin (1934). The Shwe Dagon Pagoda. Journal of the Burma Research Society. 1–91.
[2] Hmannan Mahayazawindawgyi. The Great Glass Palace Chronicle. Royal Historical Commission
of Burma. 1832.
[3] http://www.shwedagonpagoda.com/index.htm
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shwedagon_Pagoda
[5] Billinge, T (2014). Shwedagon Paya. The Temple Trail. Retrieved 2014-12-29.
[6] https://www.irrawaddy.com/lifestyle/vesak-day-rangoon.html
[7] http://www.buddhanet.net/vesak.htm
[8] Sparavigna, A. C. (2013). The Solar Orientation of the Lion Rock Complex in Sri Lanka,
arXiv:1311.2853, published in the International Journal of Sciences, 2013, Volume 2, Issue 11,
Pages 60-62. DOI: 10.18483/ijSci.335
[9] Sparavigna, A. C. (2015). On the alignment of Sanchi monuments. PHILICA Article number 543.
Published on 22nd November, 2015.
[10] Sparavigna, A. C. (2016). Solar Alignments of the Planning of Angkor Wat Temple Complex.
PHILICA Article number 591. Published on 23rd April, 2016.
[11] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Sewu Temple and the zenithal passage of the sun. PHILICA
Article number 970. Published on 18th February, 2017.
[12] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). A short note about the zenithal sun and the Sewu, Prambanan and
Borobudur temples in Java. PHILICA Article number 972. Published on February, 2017.
[13] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun and the Architectures of the Tropical
Zone. Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering MMSE Journal. Open Access, 2017, 10 (May),
pp.1-12. Also available at https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01519183v1
[14] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun at the Mesoamerican Sites of Tula
and Chichen Itza. PHILICA Article number 1162. Published on 18th November, 2017. Also available
at https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01649936v1
[15] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun at Candi Borobudur. PHILICA, Article
number 1197.
[16] Sparavigna, A. C. (2017). The Ruins of the Buddhist Temples in the Progo Valley, Borobudur,
Mendut and Pawon, Described by Isaac Groneman in his Book of 1912. PHILICA Article number
1204.
[17] https://www.officeholidays.com/countries/myanmar/index.php
[18] https://evisa.moip.gov.mm/public_holiday.aspx
Information about this Article
Published on Monday 29th January, 2018 at 22:39:09.
The full citation for this Article is:
Sparavigna, A.C. (2018). The Shwedagon Pagoda and the Zenith Passage of the Sun. PHILICA Article number 1233.
The Zenith Passage of the Sun in the Plan of Brasilia
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
To cite this version:
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna. The Zenith Passage of the Sun in the Plan of Brasilia. Philica, Philica,
2018. hal-01712828
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The Zenith Passage of the Sun in the Plan of Brasilia
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
(Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino)
Published in enviro.philica.com
Abstract
In this article we show that the Monumental Axis of Brasilia is oriented along the sunrise direction on the days
during which it happens the zenith passage of the sun. This fact could be a mere coincidence. However, since the
plan of the town is considered as highly symbolic, this alignment could have been intended as a good omen for the
town, to reach the zenith of prosperity and power.
Brasilia is the federal capital of Brazil, founded on April 21, 1960. The capital was planned by Lucio Costa, Oscar
Niemeyer designed its civic buildings, and Roberto Burle Marx was the landscape architect. In 1957, an
international jury selected the layout proposed by Costa, in spite of the fact that his plan was not as detailed as the
plans presented by other architects. It “was chosen by five out of six jurors because it had the features required to
align the growth of a capital city" [1,2]. The initial plan proposed by Costa was transformed over time, but most of
its features have survived [2].
In [2], the item of Wikipedia is telling that the foundation of Brasilia, as a “representation of the conquest of an
extensive region in Brazil” inspired the symbolism of the plan. In it, Costa used a cross-axial design to indicate “the
possession and conquest of this new place” [2,3]. The cross is made by the two principal components of the plan,
the Monumental Axis and the Residential Axis (Figures 1 and 2). The Monumental Axis was designated for the
political and administrative activities. For the design of the residential apartment blocks, inspiration came form Le
Corbusier’s Ville Radieuse of 1935 and from the superblocks on the North American Radburn layout, 1929 [4,2].
Figure 1. Brasilia as seen from the International Space Station (Courtesy NASA).
Figure 2. Brasilia from Google Earth, oriented as in the Pilot Plan drawn by Lucio Costa.
The crossed layout of the town is often described as a dragonfly, an airplane or a bird [1,2]. In the framework of an
architectural perspective, the airplane-shaped plan was certainly an homage to Le Corbusier [2]. About the
symbolism of Costa's design of Brasilia, we find other information in [5]. There, it is told that in the cross of the
town, besides the above-mentioned symbols, some scholars have also found "a reference to the cross of the early
Portuguese conquerors, the bow and arrow of the native populations of Brazil, or the jet shape as a symbol for
future innovation" [6]. In the case of the bow and arrow, the arrow is the Monumental Axis and the bow the
Residential Axis.
In both the items of Wikipedia, [2] and [5], it is told that the Monumental Axis "points east to west", but this
orientation is not that of the cardinal points of the compass. In the satellite images, the Monumental Axis is forming
with the cardinal North-South direction an angle of about 108 degrees. 107 degrees is the angle of the azimuth of
the sunrise on the days of the zenith passage of the sun, that is, of those days during which the sun reaches the
zenith (Figures 3 and 4). These days are February 5 and November 5 (Brasilia is between the Equator and the
Tropic of Capricorn, and there the sun has two zenith passages). Actually, the Axis is so large that, if we observe
the sunrise from its western end, we can see the sun at the other end of the avenue (see the simulation obtained
by means of Google Earth in the Figure 5).
Figure 3: Using SunCalc.org, we can determine the zenith passages of the sun. Here it is shown the sunrise
direction on February 5 (yellow line). The red line represents the direction of the sunset. The shaded area contains
the apparent motion of the sun during the year.
Figure 4: A detail of the orientation, from SunCalc.org.
Figure 5: Simulation of the sunrise on February 5, observed from the western end of the Axis (TV tower and
buildings included).
In the tropical zone, the zenith passage of the sun had influenced the ancient architectures [7]. Therefore, we can
consider that also the plan of Brasilia was influenced by the sun and its zenith passage. Of course, the fact that the
directions of the Axis and of sunrise are so close could be a mere coincidence; however, since the plan of Brasilia
is considered as having a highly symbolic meaning, the alignment of the Monumental Axis could have been
intended as a good omen for the future life of the town, that of reaching the zenith of prosperity and power.
References
[1] Epstein, David (1973). Brasilia: Plan and Reality: a study of planned and spontaneous urban development.
University of California Press. ISBN 0520022033. OCLC 691903.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brasília
[3] Wong, Pia (1989). Planning and the Unplanned Reality: Brasilia (Master of City Planning, 1988). IURD Working
paper series. 499. University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Urban & Regional Development. OCLC 21925988.
[4] Deckker, Thomas (2016). Brasília: Life Beyond Utopia. Architectural Design. 86 (3): 88–95.
doi:10.1002/ad.2050. ISSN 1554-2769.
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lúcio_Costa
[5] Barnitz, Jacqueline, & Frank, Patrick (2015). Twentieth-Century Art of Latin America: Revised and Expanded
Edition. University of Texas Press. p. 188. ISBN 9781477308042.
[6] Sparavigna, Amelia Carolina (2017). The Zenith Passage of the Sun and the Architectures of the Tropical
Zone. Mechanics, Materials Science & Engineering Journal, 10 (May), 1-12.
Information about this Article
Published on Wednesday 14th February, 2018 at 20:33:04.
The full citation for this Article is:
Sparavigna, A. C. (2018). The Zenith Passage of the Sun in the Plan of Brasilia. PHILICA. Article number 1242.