Borobudur in Indonesia, Java resort
Rating: 9,3/10 (5129 votes)  Borobudur is the world's largest Buddhist temple complex located in Indonesia on the island of Java, about 40 km from Yogyakarta. The temple complex was built in the period from 750 to 850, its name is translated as"Buddhist temple on the mountain." It was at this time that Buddhism spread widely in Indonesia, which was professed, in particular, by the emperors from the powerful Sailandar clan, who decided to immortalize their names in history, creating the most ambitious architectural project by the standards of those times. Borobudur was built by thousands of workers, the artificial hill around which the temple is located was poured over 75 years, and the construction of the building itself took more than 55 thousand cubic meters of stone. Borobudur is a kind of stepped pyramid, the height of which is 34 meters. The lower part of the pyramid symbolizes the"lower world", that is, the Earth, and consists of five stone platforms surrounded by balustrades, the area of which decreases with height. The top of the structure represents the same slabs of stone, but in the form of circles, which means the higher, spiritual world. Along the edges are 72 dagobas (spiers with a sphere at their base). The central dagoba, symbolizing the top of the sacred Mount Meru, according to legend, was 18 meters high and consisted of pure gold. Curious is the fact that if you look at Borobudur from above, it turns out that the temple is nothing more than the famous"diagram of the universe" mandala - a sacred Buddhist symbol denoting the unity of heaven and earth. On the other hand, in the very steps of the complex, another religious concept is laid - the teaching of the sacred path leading to the Buddha himself. / p> Borobudur is often called the"encyclopedia of Buddhism in stone." The fact is that a pilgrim walking along the five-kilometer “processional road” leading to the top of the temple can study the life of the Buddha, carved in stone, represented by numerous sculptures and bas-reliefs, the total number of which exceeds one and a half thousand. For many centuries, the center of the entire Javanese civilization was located near Borobudur, and the temple complex itself was actively used, however, in the first half of the 10th century, people for unknown reasons left the temple built with such difficulty and moved to another place. In 1006, abandoned Borobudur was partially destroyed by a violent volcanic eruption and almost completely covered with ash. Borobudur remained hidden from human eyes for 830 years, after which, quite by accident, was discovered by Lieutenant Governor Stamford Raffles - a famous British orientalist - during the Anglo-Dutch war. By 1835, most of the temple complex had been cleared of ash, earth and jungle, and sketches of the bas-reliefs made a lot of noise in Europe. Despite the sensationalism of the discovery, the historical monument was plundered with terrible force by both colonists and local kings, who took away statues and ornamental elements from the temple in whole carts. The first restoration of Borobudur was carried out in 1907-19011 by Theodore van Erp, the second - in the period from 1973 to 1984 by UNESCO. A titanic work was done under the auspices of this organization: the entire structure was dismantled and reassembled, strengthening the foundation and subjecting all drawings, bas-reliefs and sculptures to a thorough restoration. We also recommend reading Cologne Tourm in Germany, resort of Cologne Topic: Borobudur in Indonesia, Java resort. |
