No. 94

Borobudur

On land East & Southeast Asia

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Where: Indonesia
Built by: Shailendra dynasty
Era: 800s CE
Known for: The largest Buddhist monument, with 2,672 relief panels.
How it ended: Abandoned and buried under ash and jungle; uncovered in 1814.

Borobudur temple view from northwest plateau, Central Java, Indonesia. — Gunawan Kartapranata, Public domain

Painting title: "The Borobudur as Pilgrimage Site" (Dutch title: De Borobudur als bedevaartsoord). The painting reconstructs a scene of the Mahayana Buddhist temple in its heyday on Java island. Possibly in the 9th centu — Gijsbert Brandt Hooijer (1848 - 1934), Public domain

Borobudur stupas overlooking a mountain. For centuries, it was deserted — Heaven's Army (uploader at EN.Wikipedia), CC BY 3.0

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Background

Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur (Indonesian: Candi Borobudur, Javanese: ꦕꦤ꧀ꦝꦶꦧꦫꦧꦸꦝꦸꦂ, romanized: Candhi Barabudhur), is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, near the town of Muntilan, northwest of the city of Yogyakarta, in Central Java, Indonesia.

Constructed of gray andesite-like stone, the temple consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome. It is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and originally 504 Buddha statues. The central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated stupa. The monument guides pilgrims through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades. Borobudur has one of the world's most extensive collections of Buddhist reliefs.

Built during the reign of the Sailendra dynasty, the temple design follows Javanese Buddhist architecture, which blends the Indonesian indigenous tradition of ancestor worship and the Buddhist concept of attaining nirvāṇa. The monument is a shrine to the Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. Evidence suggests that Borobudur was constructed in the 8th century and subsequently abandoned following the 14th-century decline of Hindu kingdoms in Java and the Javanese conversion to Islam. Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparked in 1814 by Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British administrator of Java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. The largest restoration project was completed in 1983 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO, followed by the monument's listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and ranks with Bagan in Myanmar and Angkor Wat in Cambodia as one of the great archeological sites of Southeast Asia. Borobudur remains popular for pilgrimage, with Buddhists in Indonesia celebrating Vesak Day at the monument. Among Indonesia's tourist attractions, Borobudur is the most-visited monument.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.