Borobudur Temple
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Borobudur Temple is located on the island of Java in Indonesia. There are thousands of Buddhist temples of all shapes and sizes throughout Southeast Asia, but Borobudur is the largest Buddhist Temple in the world.
It is made up of nine stone platforms, each stacked one after the other, with the top consisting of a center dome. From the base working up, there are six square platforms and three circular ones. Decorating the temple are 2,672 relief panels (sculptured panels) and 504 Buddha statues. |
It is believed that this site is approximately 1,200 years old with construction starting around the 8th or 9th century. Just like most Buddhist temples, Borobudur is located in the highlands, which in this case, provides an amazing view of the landscape as the temple sits between two volcanoes. To really appreciate the view though, you need to make the journey to the top using one of the four structure stairways. Since each of the nine levels has its own pathway that loops back onto itself, all four stairways are accessible at each level, therefore, you are not confined to using only one stairway to reach the top level.
So many ancient sites around the world have been lost or forgotten at some point, only to be rediscovered later on. Borobudur is no different. It is believed that this area sat dormant for many hundreds of years. Inspired by stories of a lost structure deep in the jungle of central Java, a team of personnel lead by Hermann Cornelius located Borobudur Temple in 1814. It took approximately 20 years to unearth the entire complex, but it was not until the early 1900's that restoration began.
Now it is one of the main tourist attractions within Indonesia. Every year, people from all walks of life travel the globe to come visit this amazing area. This has been on our Destination Bucket List for years and in 2019 we were finally able to cross it off the list! It was an unforgettable experience to work our way up to the top, level by level. Upon reaching the temple summit we were greeted with large, bell shaped Stupas (a stupa is a shrine for the Buddha), 72 in total. All of these Stupas circle the central dome, with the largest ones being the closest to the dome. Even more fascinating is each one of the large 72 Stupas has a seated Buddha statue inside which can been seen through the small opening in the stone.
So many ancient sites around the world have been lost or forgotten at some point, only to be rediscovered later on. Borobudur is no different. It is believed that this area sat dormant for many hundreds of years. Inspired by stories of a lost structure deep in the jungle of central Java, a team of personnel lead by Hermann Cornelius located Borobudur Temple in 1814. It took approximately 20 years to unearth the entire complex, but it was not until the early 1900's that restoration began.
Now it is one of the main tourist attractions within Indonesia. Every year, people from all walks of life travel the globe to come visit this amazing area. This has been on our Destination Bucket List for years and in 2019 we were finally able to cross it off the list! It was an unforgettable experience to work our way up to the top, level by level. Upon reaching the temple summit we were greeted with large, bell shaped Stupas (a stupa is a shrine for the Buddha), 72 in total. All of these Stupas circle the central dome, with the largest ones being the closest to the dome. Even more fascinating is each one of the large 72 Stupas has a seated Buddha statue inside which can been seen through the small opening in the stone.
Just because the story is finished, does not mean the adventure is. We have additional content down below, along with an interactive comment section at the bottom of the page. Feel free to stay with us a little longer and continue your journey through Borobudur Temple.
Sources: Wikipedia.org | unesco.org
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