The temple of Borobudur, located outside Yogyakarta in central Java, has an aura of heavenly tranquility and mysticism – in spite of the thousands of visitors climbing all over it, the swarms of vendors outside the complex. It may, however, be easier to catch this aura on a weekday morning, than during weekends and holidays...
Wandering around in the walled galleries, one may enjoy reliefs telling stories, for instance from Sakyamundi Buddha's lives. Or study the different mudra, or hand gestures, of the many Buddha statues around the vast, pyramid-shaped site. Or admire the many figures found there.
The heaven-like atmosphere is found at the top three terraces, though, among the seventy-two Buddhas enclosed in bell-shaped stupas.
Borobudur was built during 200 years, on a hill, of more than a million large blocks of volcanic rock, and was finished about year 830. It stands twenty-six meters tall, and 113 meters wide. 1,460 panels of reliefs have been carved, and 504 Buddha statues have been sculptures for the monument. A Hindu king started the construction, while a Buddhist completed it. Then Islam arrived, and the temple was forgotten, to be discovered by the British and finally restored by the Indonesians, as a "dead monument".
