The Sailendra dynasty ( IAST : Śailēndra derived from Sanskrit Śaila and Indra , “King of the Mountain”, also written Shailendra , Syailendra , Selendra or Çailendra ) is an Indonesiandynasty that reigned over the Old Kingdom of Mataram and Srivijaya , on the ‘ island of Java from the eighth century. Their reign is marked by a cultural renaissance of the region witnessed by the temple of Borobudur , now classified as World Heritage by Unesco .
The name of Sailendra is known by 3 inscriptions, found in two different regions:
- In the center of Java in Indonesia ,
- In the south of Thailand .
The first inscription to mention the name of Sailendra was found in the village of Sojomerto, on the north coast of the center of the island, in the kabupaten of Batang . Written in Old- Malay , it was dated mid vii th century 1 .
The second inscription, found near the village of Kalasan in central Java, engraved on the stone in pre- Devanagari script and dated 778 AD J. – C., relates the foundation, in the village of Kalaga, by a sovereign Sailendra, of a temple associated with a monastery.
The Sailendra kings ruled over part of Central Java until the end of the ix th century .
During this period, many Buddhist monuments were built such as:
- Borobodur , Mendut and Pawon in the Kedu Plain northwest of Yogyakarta
- Kalasan east of Yogyakarta
- other temples near Yogyakarta.
From this time also dates the construction of shivaites monuments, including Prambanan .
Some members of the Sailendra dynasty:
- Sri Kahulunan or Pramodawardani , son of Samaratungga.
A third inscription is on display at the Chaiya City Museum in southern Thailand. Dating from 697 AD ( AD 775 ), it appears on one side of a stele and proclaims that a king of Sriwijaya (now Palembang in South Sumatra , Indonesia) has erected a stupa at this place. The other side mentions the name of Sailendra.
The link between Sriwijaya, which was a major naval and commercial power in Southeast Asia , and the Sailendra is unclear. Links also seem to have existed with pre- Angkorian Cambodia .
Notes and references
- ↑ Soekmono, Chandi Borobudur