Mahayana Buddhist Temple, Indonesia

Address

Mahayana Buddhist Temple Jl. Badrawati, Kw. Candi Borobudur, Borobudur, Kec. Borobudur, Magelang, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia

Diety

Mahayana Buddhist

Introduction

Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, not far from the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indonesia. It is the world’s largest Buddhist temple. The temple consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome. It is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated stupa. Built in the 9th century during the reign of the Sailendra Dynasty, the temple design follows Javanese Buddhist architecture, which blends the Indonesian indigenous cult of ancestor worship and the Buddhist concept of attaining Nirvana. The monument is a shrine to the Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage.The monument is a shrine to the Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The pilgrim journey begins at the base of the monument and follows a path around the monument, ascending to the top through three levels symbolic of Buddhist cosmology. Borobudur has one of the largest and most complete ensembles of Buddhist reliefs in the world. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. Its ruins. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO, followed by the monument’s listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Puranic Significance

There are no known records of construction or the intended purpose of Borobudur. The duration of construction has been estimated by comparison of carved reliefs on the temple’s hidden foot and the inscriptions commonly used in royal charters during the 8th and 9th centuries. Borobudur was likely founded around 800 AD. This corresponds to the period between 760 and 830 AD, the peak of the Sailendra dynasty rule over Mataram kingdom in central Java he construction has been estimated to have taken 75 years with completion during the reign of Samaratungga in 825. It was during this time that many Hindu and Buddhist monuments were built on the plains and mountains around the Kedu Plain. The Buddhist monuments, including Borobudur, were erected around the same period as the Hindu Shiva Prambanan temple compound. In 732 AD. A strong state was formed in Central Java in the 8th century. Later, its kings, known as the Mataram Kingdom, took the Indian title of Silentirar (Mountain King). Borobudur is one of the most famous temples built by them. It was built by Samaratunga in the 8th century. In the middle of the 9th century, the Silent Kingdom brought the Srivijaya kingdom under its umbrella. Majestic temple was gradually buried in the ground in the 11th century due to lack of maintenance. Evidence suggests that with the fall of the Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in Java in the 14th century, Islam intervened in Java and abandoned Borobudur. Archaeologists have excavated and renovated the temple over 100 years ago. It was rediscovered in 1814 by Thomas Raffles, the British ruler of Java . The monument has since been renovated several times. Between 1975 and 1982, a large-scale reconstruction project was carried out jointly by the Indonesian government

Special Features

The temple is considered to be a holy place of Buddhism and covers an area of 55,000 square meters. The temple was built using about 196,800 stones. The temple has ten floors. The layers are arranged in the shape of a pyramid. The walls of the temple are adorned with biographical paintings of the Buddha. The highlight of the temple is that it looks like a small hill from a distance and looks like a lotus from a height. The monument serves as a temple to the Buddha and is also a place of Buddhist pilgrimage . Pilgrims begin at the bottom and ascend through three platforms around it. According to the so-called Buddhist cosmology, it refers to three stages. During the trek, pilgrims walk along stairs and walkways lined with 1,460 embossed walls and retaining walls .