The Borobudur temple complex is located 42 km northwest of the city of Yogyakarta, the capital of Central Java and is the national pride of Indonesia. Borobudur is the largest monumental structure in the Southern Hemisphere, the third largest Buddhist-Hindu temple complex in the world after Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Shwedagon in Burma.
In the 7th-8th centuries, when Indonesia was under the strong influence of Indian culture, Buddhism became widespread in Central Java. And around 800, during the era of the Sailandar dynasty, the construction of the complex began.
Thousands of workers, artisans and sculptors were involved in the construction of the temple. It took about 75 years to build the artificial hill on which and around which Borobudur was built. And for the construction of the entire complex, more than 55 thousand cubic meters of stone were used, piled without the use of mortar.
The architectural design of the builders of the temple corresponds to the Buddhist worldview system. By its type, the temple resembles Buddhist stupas, but of this design, in which a square multi-stage base plays a special role, reproducing the Buddhist model of the world - a mandala.
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The central motive of Borobudur is the sacred Mount Meru - the legendary center of the universe in ancient Indian mythology. The foundation of the stupa is square, with a side of 118 m. The stupa has eight tiers: the lower five are square (symbolize the lower world), and the three upper ones are round (symbolize the upper, spiritual world). On the upper tier there are 72 small stupas around a large central one - golden, 15 m in diameter and 8 m high, symbolizing the golden peak of Mount Meru. Each stupa is bell-shaped. Inside the stupas, there are 504 Buddha statues and 1460 bas-reliefs on religious subjects.
The entire volume of the structure is approximately 55,000 square meters. m. The stupa was built of 2,000,000 stone blocks.
The "Processional Route" is approximately 5 km long and spirals to the top of the temple, sequentially bypassing all eight terraces. This spiral winds from right to left (movement from left to right means the path to evil). Steep stairs lead to the top of the temple, in the middle of each of the four sides. The elongated gates with pointed arches in the upper part form the entrance to each subsequent terrace. On the upper terraces there are several rows of lattice stone stupas. They are hollow inside, and each of them contains a figure of Buddha carved out of stone. The positions of the hands of the figures - mudra - correspond to various positions and symbols of Buddhist teachings.
The pilgrim on the way from the lower steps to the upper ones "comprehends the truth": in front of him, as he moves from the foot of the temple to the main stupa crowning the ensemble, the story of the life and teachings of Buddha unfolds, illustrated by more than 1,500 sculptures, reliefs and Buddhist symbols carved in stone. The three levels symbolize the three areas of residence - Kamadhatu (sphere of passions), Rupadhatu (sphere of forms) and Arupadhatu (sphere without forms).
The reliefs of the first tier depict scenes of the earthly life of the incarnate Buddha. The reliefs of the next tier tell about the life path of the bodhisattva saints seeking enlightenment. The highest spheres of spiritual knowledge are personified by the statues of the seated Buddha in niches along the edges of balustrades and Buddha on round terraces, hidden behind the lattice walls of stupas. Only the “inner vision” of the believer can see them completely. And, finally, they come to the stupa that crowns the very top as to the highest level of comprehension.
Several hundred reliefs represent illustrations to the ancient Indian epic legends of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as various scenes from the everyday life of Indonesia in the 11th century: peasants in the field, fishing boats in a stormy sea, scenes of military operations, everyday and genre scenes, dances, trained monkeys. Among the stone decoration of Borobudur, one can see the figures of fantastic animals: Makara - something like a hybrid of an elephant and a fish, and Kala, similar to a lion and possessing magical powers to ward off demons. Their sculptures adorn stone gutters, and small lions squeeze the monsters' mouths.
Initially, all these reliefs were painted with bright colors. But even today, after 12 centuries, Borobudur with all the variety of its pointed turrets, stone sculptures and Buddha statues remains an outstanding work of ancient art. The reliefs of Borobudur amaze with the perfection of sculptural technique, harmony of composition, beauty of images. Many of the relief details are of historical interest as original documents of that era. For example, images of ships with sails and balance beams tell of the shipping and trade that linked Indonesia to India and China.
For hundreds of years, Borobudur lay covered with volcanic ash and overgrown with jungle. How this unique monument was forgotten and abandoned is not yet clear. In the middle of the 20th century, it was suggested that after the eruption of Mount Merapi, misfortunes forced the inhabitants to leave their land and look for other habitats. The eruption occurred in 1006, but many scientists believe that the center of Javanese civilization moved to the Brantas Valley as early as 928. One way or another, why people left Borobudur remains a mystery.
In the 18th century, the upper terraces were only partially visible. Dutch colonial expeditions found other monuments, but did not mention Borobudur. Only in 1814 did Lieutenant Governor Stamford Raffles discover the monument during the British occupation of the island during the Anglo-Dutch War. When he arrived in Semarang, he received a message that a hill with a large number of carved stones had been discovered. The Dutchman Cornelius organized an expedition, he gathered a detachment of 200 people and cleaned the monument for a month and a half. His work was continued by others between 1817 and 1822. From 1835 the upper part of the monument was cleared away and the whole complex became well visible. In 1849-1853 the artist Wilsen worked on sketching the reliefs. His works were transferred to the Museum of Antiquity in Leiden. The complex was photographed in 1873. Then the structure of the complex was completely unclear,and in 1882 the cultural inspector proposed to completely disassemble the monument and place it in the museum.
Over the two centuries that have elapsed since the opening of Borobudur, many fragments of the monument have been removed from Indonesia and are now in museums in different countries. In 1907, Dutch archaeologists (led by Theodor van Erp) began to restore the temple, however, for a long time Borobudur was under the threat of complete destruction as a result of a landslide. The fortification of the hill on which the temple stands and major restoration work were carried out in the 1970s-1980s under the auspices of UNESCO. Now the Borobudur complex is included in the list of World Heritage Sites.