Introduction :
The Borobudur is a Mahayana Buddhist Stupa temple located in Magelang of the Central Java province in Indonesia. It is widely considered by many as one of the greatest buddhist monuments ever built with 55,000 square metres of lava rock with six square platforms below and three circle platforms on top decorated with 2672 relief panels and 504 statues of Buddha and a main dome Stupa right on top at the center of the Borobudur. Built in the 9th century, the Borobudur was designated as a World Heritage site since 1991 and is Indonesia’s single most visited tourist attraction excluding the island of Bali in the count. On June 2012, the Borobudur was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest Buddhist archaeological site in the world.
View of the Borobudur from far and the surrounding gardens
Image attribution to Anandajoti @ Wiki
Closer look at one side of the complex
Image attribution to tianyaka @ Flickr
Buddha statue in one of the half opened stupa looking down from the temple
Image attribution to Jeekc @ Wiki
Stupas around the temple
Image attribution to Bennylin @ Wiki
History :
The Borobudur was built between 750 AD and 842 AD to honour the glory of both Buddha and its found, king Bodhisattva. The temple was a sacred place for Buddhist prilgrams from the 9th to 14th century until the Javanese converted to Islamic religion which brought about the decline of Hindu kingdoms in Java. For centuries, the monument has been hidden under deep layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth until Sir Stamford Raffles learnt about the hidden monument and sent a team of Dutch Engineer HC Cornelius with 200 men to find the Borobudur. The monument was finally revealed after cutting and burning down of trees and digging away the earth. The whole complex was fully unearthed in 1835. A major restoration project in 1973 was funded by UNESCO and the Borobudur was once again open as a place of worship and pilgrimage for Buddhists and tourists.
Main stupa of Borobudur stands just behind
Wall cravings around the temple
Image attribution to Anandajoti @ Wiki
Really nice sunset scenery shot taken at the Borobudur
Image attribution to doliveck @ Flickr
View of the surroundings from the temple
Image attribution to beberonline @ Flickr
Getting there :
The nearest airport to the attraction is the Adisucipto International Airport (JOG) that serves the region of Yogyakarta and is well connected domestically as well as to nearby countries like Singapore and Malaysia. From the airport, it takes generally around one and a half hours on a taxi ride to the Borobudur which is 47 km away.