Borobudur Temple

        Borobudur is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. Founded by a king of the Saliendra dynasty, it was built to honour the glory of both the Buddha and its founder, a true king Bodhisattva. The name Borobudur is believed to have been derived from the Sanskrit words vihara Buddha uhr, meaning the Buddhist monastery on the hill. Borobudur temple is located in Muntilan, Magelang, and is about 42 km from Yogyakarta city.

This famous Buddhist temple, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, is located in central Java. It was built in three tiers: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. The walls and balustrades are decorated with fine low reliefs, covering a total surface area of 2,500 m2. Around the circular platforms are 72 openwork stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha. The monument was restored with UNESCO's help in the 1970s.

Borobudur temple is located in Magelang, Central Java, about 40 km from Yogyakarta. Borobudur has 10 levels consisting of six levels of a square, 3 levels of a circular and a main stupa as the peak. At each level there are several stupas. Altogether there are 72 stupas in addition to the main stupa. In every stupa there is a statue of Buddha. Ten levels of Buddhist philosophy the ten levels of Bodhisattva who must pass to reach the perfection of the Buddha in nirvana. This perfection is symbolized by the main stupa at the top level. Borobudur structure when viewed from above form a mandala structure that describes the Buddhist cosmology and human thinking.

On the fourth side there is a temple gate and stairs to the level above it like a pyramid. This illustrates the Buddhist philosophy that all life came from rocks. Stone became sand, then a plant and then into an insect, then a wild animal and pets, and the last to be human. This process is known as reincarnation. The final process is to be the soul and finally into nirvana. Each stage in the process of enlightenment is based on the Buddhist philosophy of life depicted in the reliefs and sculptures in the entire temple of Borobudur.

This huge building just a giant pile of stone blocks which have a total height of 42 meters. Each stone spliced ​​without using cement or adhesive. These stones are only connected by the pattern and stacked. The base of Borobudur Temple is about 118 m on each side. The stones are used approximately 55 000 cubic meters. All the stone was taken from the river around Borobudur. These stones are cut and spliced ​​and transported to a pattern like lego games. All without using glue or cement.

While the relief began to be made after the completion of rocks stacked and connected. Reliefs found on the temple walls. Borobudur has 2670 different relief. Relief is read clockwise. This relief depicts a story that I read it starts and ends at the gate to the east. This suggests that the main gate of the Borobudur temple facing east like most other Buddhist temples.