Avadana Relief: The Story of a Man Named Sudhana

In the reliefs of Borobudur Temple, there is a story about a man named Sudhana who sat beside a lotus pond. There, he found a fairy named Manohara and her sister bathing. Previously, Sudhana had learned a spell from a wise man to paralyze Manohara. He succeeded in immobilizing Manohara by isolating her, while the other fairies flew into the sky. One of the fairies saw Manohara, surprised that she did not fly with them.

The story goes that Manohara married Sudhana and lived in the palace with Sudhana and her father, who was also a king. However, the women of the palace were jealous of Manohara's beauty and planned to kill her while Sudhana was on a military expedition. But before that could happen, Manohara gained the power of flight and escaped from the palace.

Another story tells of a just king who forbade killing. The god Indra wanted to test the king by transforming into an eagle and chasing a dove into the palace. Then, the king forbade the eagle from killing the dove, but the eagle said that if it did not eat meat, it would die of starvation. The good king Sibi offered a piece of his own flesh so that the eagle would not eat the dove. Sibi cut off parts of his body one by one, but Indra made the scales so that the body parts did not weigh as much as the dove. Finally, King Sibi offered his entire body. At that moment, Indra acknowledged King Sibi's kindness and restored him to his original state.

Another story, Rudrayana and King Bimbisari, depicts the fate of a king who defies Buddhist monks. In this relief, jewels and gold fall from a vase floating in the sky just before the evil king's city is destroyed. Immediately, many people try to collect the treasure. It is also explained that two ministers had been warned of the impending disaster and filled their small boats with jewels to plan their escape. The king, unaware of the impending doom, is depicted seated on a throne in front of a building representing the remains of the city.