INDONESIA: Borobodur
Borobudur Temple, rising up from the plains of Central Java, is one of the
greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. It was built during the Sailendra
dynasty (AD 750 -842) by what was clearly a huge workforce of sculptors and
masons needed to carve the two million blocks of bluish-grey andesite stone.
It is not known when it ceased to be an active Buddhist pilgrimage centre.
Possibly its inhabitants fled volcanic eruptions, or perhaps it was
abandoned when the population converted to Islam in the 11th century. For
whatever reason, for centuries Borobodur lay buried under volcanic ash until
an expedition, mounted in 1814 by Sir Stamford Raffles, the British Governor
of Java, began exposing the awesome monument. Borobudur is a stepped
pyramid, with a central apex rising nearly 30 m above ground-level via six
concentric terraces, each representing an aspect of the Buddhist cosmology.
A pilgrim`s journey begins at the base, ascending steadily upwards, via
narrow corridors and stairways adorned with thousands of panels covered in
bas-reliefs, depicting scenes from the life of Buddha. The top terrace
originally featured 500 statues of Buddha, seated in the lotus position,
with a further 72 of Him meditating in small, bell-shaped stupas. Local
belief says that touching the finger and toe of a particular Buddha, through
the apertures, will bring good luck. The Borobodur Temple complex has been
restored by UN funding and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1991.