Borobudur Temple - One of The World Wonder Heritages You Should Visit

Monday, March 15, 2010

Borobudur Temple - One of The World Wonder Heritages You Should Visit

This Buddhist temple has 1460 relief panels and 504 Buddha effigies in the complex. Millions people want to visit this temple which included in World Wonder Heritages.

Borobudur was built by King Samaratungga, one of the king of Old Mataram Kingdom, descendants of Wangsa Sailendra. Based on Kayumwungan's epigraph, revealed that Borobudur is a place of worship which was build on May 26th, 824. Borobudur means a mountain having terraces (Budhara), while the other says that Borobudur means monastery on the high places.

Borobudur-shaped by 10 levels of terraces. Its was 42 meters height before being renovated and now is 34,5 meters after the renovation because the lowest level was used as a foundation. Six lowest level are square shape and circular shape for three floors upper and then highest level of Buddhist Stupa facing to the west. Each level represents the stage of human life. In accordance with of Buddha Mahayana, anyone who wants to reach the level of Buddha must go through each of those life stages.

The base of Borobudur, called Kamadhatu, symbolizes the human are still bound by lust. Four levels above mentioned Rupadhatu represents humans who have set themselves free from lust but still tied to appearance and shape. At these levels, a statue of Buddha placed in open space. Meanwhile, three levels above where the Buddhist stupa placed in the holes is called Arupadhatu, symbolizing human beings that have been freed from lust, appearance, and shape. The top part is called Arupa symbolizes nirvana, where Buddha is residing.

Each terrace has beautiful relief panels. Relief that can read coherently when you walk in a clockwise direction (toward the left of the entrance of the temple). The relief panels tell the legendary story of Ramayana. In addition, there are relief panels describing the condition of society at that time. For example, relief of farmers' activity reflecting the advance of agriculture system and relief of sailing boat representing the advance of the time the cruise was centered in Bergotta (Semarang).

All relief panels in Borobudur temple reflect the teachings of the Buddha. Hence, this temple functions as educating the media for people who want to learn Buddhism. You can walk through each narrow passage in Borobudur in order to understand the philosophy of Buddhism. Atisha, a Buddhist from India in the 10th century, had visited the temple that was built 3 centuries before Angkor Wat in Cambodia and 4 centuries before the Grand Cathedrals in Europe.

By visiting Borobudur and having Buddhist manuscripts from Serlingpa (King of Sriwijaya), Atisha was able to develop Buddhism. He became head of Vikramasila monastery and taught Tibetans of practicing Dharma. Six scripts from any Serlingpa reduced to a core doctrine called "The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment" or better known by the name Bodhipathapradipa.

One of the questions unresolved yet about Borobudur is how the condition around the temple was built and why the temple was found in a buried state. Some peoples say Borobudur initially stood surrounded by a swamp and buried because of the eruption of Merapi (The most active mount in Jogjakarta). Essentially from Calcutta inscription reads 'Amawa' means sea of milk. The word is then interpreted as Merapi lava. Some other says that Borobudur buried in the cold lava of Merapi.

With all the grandeur and mystery, that's why many people around the world want to visiting Borobudur. Besides enjoying the temple, you can walk around to the villages around Borobudur, such as Wanurejo Karanganyar and you can see peoples make statues and crafts. You also can go to the top of Watu Kendil to view the panorama of Borobudur from the top of hill.