by Gabriella
Indonesia is one of the countries rich in ancient heritage. A lot of historical sites are scattered in different provinces - Borobudur is one of them, for sure. Since 1991, Borobudur has been listed as the world heritage site by UNESCO. fm
Built by King Samaratungga from the Syailendra Dynasty, who ruled the Mataram Kingdom in Central Java in9th century, Borobudur took around 100 years to finish. The name of Borobudur, as some people say, means "a mountain having terraces" (budhara), while others say that Borobudur means "monastery on a high place."
Using andesite stones taken from a river, the glorious temple is 118 m wide on each side and 42 m high, and has 10 levels - 6 levels of square platforms, 3 levels of circles and one main stupa (where the main Buddha statue is placed) on top. The andesite stones were cut, shaped, carried to the construction siye by thousands of workers, then were put together according to the architect's plan without using any adhesive materials or cement! After all the stones had been put together, the artists carved reliefs all over the walls. There are 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues in all. But sadly, most of the Buddha statues today are headless.
History has it that Borobudur had been abandoned for centuries, and was finally unearthed in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. Since then Borobudur has undergone several restorations. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO, following which the monument was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The great temple, which amazingly survived for centuries and is still standing, is visited by people from all over the world. Every year during full moon in May (r June in a leap year), Buddhists from various countries commemorate Vesak Day at this place. Vesak is celebrated as the day of birth and death of Siddhartha Gautama and the time when he obtained the highest wisdom to become the Buddha Shakyamuni.
Enjoying the stunning view of Borobudur and watching people celebrating Vesak at this temple is surely a memorable experience. If you want to experience it yourself, you should fly to Yogyakarta's Adusucipto, the airport closest to the site - although Borobudur is actually located in Magelang, Central Java. From the airport you can take a cab to the temple, which is about an hour's drive away. there a lot of hotels and inns at rates of around Rp 150.000 - 250.000 a night in the vicinity. Are you ready to have a glorious time?
Glossary : Andhesite (n) : fine-grained volcanic rock
sumber : c'n s
