Borobodur Temple

Borobodur Temple is the largest Buddhist monument in the world. Built in the time of King Samaratungga of Sailendra Dynasty in the year 824. Borobudur was built 300 years before Angkor Wat in Cambodia and 400 years before the grand cathedrals of Europe. Borobudur has a 123x123 m² with 504 statues of Buddha, 72 and 1 overlay stupa stupa. Form beraksitektur Gupta temple that reflects the influence of India. After a visit here you will understand why Borobudur has an attraction for visitors and is an icon of Indonesia's cultural heritage. This temple as if a giant puzzle that is composed of 2 million blocks of volcanic stone, carved in such a way as to interlock with each other.

International agencies of the UN that UNESCO recognized once praised as one of the Borobudur Buddhist monument in the world. In this temple there are 2672 relief panels which when compiled lined the length is 6 km. Ensemble relief is the most comprehensive in the world and an unparalleled artistic value and every scene is a complete masterpiece.

Since the mid-ninth century to the early 11th century, Borobudur become a Buddhist pilgrim from China, India, Tibet, and Cambodia. Borobudur Temple became one of the most important historical trail in the development of human civilization. The splendor and grandeur of the architecture Borobudur is the world treasures and priceless awesome.

Borobudur consists of 1460 relief panels and 504 stupas. However, panels that are seen apparently incomplete because there were 160 panels were intentionally dumped because relief is considered vulgar and obscene. The panels were located on the bottom, contains scenes Karmawibhangga Sutra (causation). There is also a state that hoarding bottom to strengthen the foundation from the beginning found to have very damaged.

Borobudur Temple was built during the 75 years under the leadership of architect Gunadarma with 60,000 cubic meters of volcanic rock and Progo Elo River, located about 2 km east of the temple. When the metric system was not yet known and the unit of length used to build the temple of Borobudur is a tuning that is calculated by spreading your thumb and middle finger or measure the length of the hair from the forehead to the base of the chin.

Based on the inscriptions Karangtengah and Kahulunan, historian JG de Casparis estimate Borobudur is the founder of the dynasty king of ancient Mataram dynasty named Samaratungga, and building this temple around 824 AD The giant new building could be completed at the time of her daughter, Queen Pramudawardhani. Borobudur Development is expected to take half a century.

Initially, the temple was thought to be a place of worship. J.G. de Casparis estimates that Bhūmi Sambhāra Bhudhāra ra in Sanskrit which means" Hill set ten levels boddhisattwa virtues ", was the original name of Borobudur. Some historians also stated that Borobudur name is derived from the Sanskrit "Vihara Buddha Uhr" which means "Buddhist monastery on the Mount".

The temple is located in Central Java, on a hilltop overlooking lush rice fields between hills tenuous. Coverage area is very large, measuring 123 x 123 meters. Borobudur temple apparently was built on top of an ancient lake. First, the area is the estuary of the various streams. Because lava buried sediments then become plain. At the end of the eighth century, King Samaratungga of Sailendra dynasty built Borobudur Temple which then led architect named Gunadharma hinggga completion of the year 746 Saka or 824 AD. This monument is a stunning Buddhist architecture and the second largest after the Ankor Wat temple in Cambodia.

The building area is 15,129 m² Borobudur, composed of 55,000 m³ of stone, consisting of 2 million pieces of rocks. The average stone size 25 x 10 x 15 cm. Long pieces of stone the whole 500 km with a stone total weight of 1.3 million tonnes. The walls of Borobudur Temple surrounded by pictures or relief which is a series of stories in 1460 terususun panel. The length of each panel is 2 feet. So if a series of reliefs that stretched the length of approximately 3 km relief totaled. The temple has 10 levels, with 1-6 levels of a square, while the round 7-10. Contained statues around the temple amounted to 504 pieces. Meanwhile, the high temple of the soil surface to the tip of the main stupa was 42 meters, 34.5 meters but now lives after being struck by lightning. The top part at the level of the 10 there are great stupa 9.90 m in diameter, with a height of 7 m.

Borobudur temple like building a pyramid of Cheops at Gizeh Egypt, difference, Borobudur has kepunden staircase pattern. Architecture and building stone temple is really unparalleled. This temple was built without using cement. The structure as a whole row of lego that is concurrent to one another and no glue at all. Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles discovered Borobudur in 1814 in a damaged condition and ordered that the site be cleaned and studied thoroughly. The existence of Borobudur in fact has been known to the local population in the 18th century which were previously buried material of Mount Merapi.

Borobudur restoration project on a large scale and then starting from 1905 until 1910. With the help of UNESCO, the second restoration to rescue Borobudur was carried out from August 1913 until 1983. The temple has remained strong despite the past ten centuries unkempt. In the 1970s the Indonesian Government and UNESCO worked together to restore the grandeur of Borobudur. Improvements were made take eight years to complete and today Borobudur is one of the wonders and treasures of Indonesia and the world is valuable.

Various disciplines involved in the reconstruction effort undertaken by the Borobudur temple Teodhorus van Erp 1911, Prof. Dr. C. Coremans 1956, and Prof.Ir. Roosseno 1971. We should appreciate their efforts to lead the restoration of the temple because many challenges and difficulties is not easy. Borobudur finally established in 1991 as a World Heritage by UNESCO.

Borobudur temple is decorated with stone carvings in relief representing an overview of the life of Buddha. Archaeologists claim that Borobudur temple has 1460 relief panels along the wall circuits and platforms. Relief is the largest and most complete in the world so that the value of art is unparalleled. The reading of these stories are always the starting relief, and ends on the east side gate at every level. The story starts from the left and right ends at the gate.

This monument is a shrine and pilgrimage places of the Buddha. Level ten temples symbolizing the three divisions of the Buddhist cosmic system. When you start out on their journey through the temple grounds to get to the top, they will pass the three levels of Buddhist cosmology and is essentially a "clone" of the universe according to Buddhist teaching consists of 3 major parts, namely: (1) Kamadhatu or the world of desire; (2) Rupadhatu or shaped the world, and (3) Arupadhatu or formless world. The whole monument itself resembles a giant stupa, but seen from above form a mandala. Great Stupa at the top of the temple is 40 meters above the ground. The main dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues inside perforated stupa.