Borobudur, or Barabudur, is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument consists of six square platforms topped by three circular platforms and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues/
Borobudur Buddhist complex may be the real wonder of the world. It corresponds to this rank on all criteria: scope, beauty, grandeur and picturesque. Built 1200 years ago, Borobudur survived the eruption of the nearby Mount Merapi, a change of policy and religion in Java and managed to survive in a great form even after the invasion of treasure hunters. Discovered this magnificent building, covered with layers of volcanic ash, but in 1815 the British, and in the XX century, the Dutch actively undertook its restoration. They say that one of the ideas was razvezti temple brick by brick in various museums around the world. But the idea was not supported.
Evidence suggests Borobudur was constructed in the 9th century and 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 Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British ruler of Java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through 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.
In the temple, there are about 500 figures of Buddha, which are composed of different hand signs, gestures toward the east side of the pyramid, they call earth to witness the correctness of his doctrine, on the south promise believers to fulfill all their wishes, on the west side were frozen in meditation, in the north inspire pilgrims go further on the path of salvation.
In Indonesia, “stupa” acquired a bell shape with a stone spire on top; there they were called “Dagobah.” The main Dagobah are seventy-two on the top three circular terraces, delicate and hollow inside. Under each Dagobah cross-legged sitting stone Buddha. Hiding sacred statues from the sight of a carved stone shells expresses the idea of detachment from the world, the Enlightened isolation from the ocean of life, his unalloyed peace.
Approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Yogyakarta and 86 kilometres (53 mi) west of Surakarta, Borobudur is located in an elevated area between two twin volcanoes, Sundoro-Sumbing and Merbabu-Merapi, and two rivers, the Progo and the Elo. According to local myth, the area known as Kedu Plain is a Javanese “sacred” place and has been dubbed “the garden of Java” due to its high agricultural fertility. During the restoration in the early 20th century, it was discovered that three Buddhist temples in the region, Borobudur, Pawon and Mendut, are positioned along a straight line. A ritual relationship between the three temples must have existed, although the exact ritual process is unknown/
In the niches of the five lower terraces Borobudur placed another four hundred twenty-nine statues. Idealized figures and faces, devoid of individual characteristics. All covered with curls round head, half-almond-shaped eyes, graceful hands. No details. No distinguishing features. Even age sitting in deep thought man with crossed legs can not be determined. All statues are equally calm, still broad-shouldered and thin waist.
Borobudur was built on a bedrock hill, 265 m (869 ft) above sea level and 15 m (49 ft) above the floor of a dried-out paleolake. The lake’s existence was the subject of intense discussion among archaeologists in the 20th century. In 1931, a Dutch artist and scholar of Hindu and Buddhist architecture, W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp, developed a theory that the Kedu Plain was once a lake and Borobudur initially represented a lotus flower floating on the lake.
After going five levels, as if we leave the earth and go outside to open concentric terraces, symbolizing the heavenly spheres – the second level of the temple. There is no other ornaments but symmetrically arranged figures hidden laced caps in the form of large bells.
The monument is the single most visited tourist area in Indonesia. In 1974, 260,000 tourists, of whom 36,000 were foreigners, visited the monument. The figure hiked into 2.5 million visitors annually (80% were domestic tourists) in the mid-1990s, before the country’s economy crisis. Tourism development, however, has been criticized for not including the local community on which occasional local conflict has arisen. In 2003, residents and small businesses around Borobudur organized several meetings and poetry protests, objecting to a provincial government plan to build a three-story mall complex, dubbed the “Java World”
