Hello guys, back again with my alfa husada, I will now describe a place. I will explain is the Borobudur temple.
Borobudur Temple
Borobudur temple is a temple which became a pride of Indonesian
people because it is ever been included into the 7 wonders of the world. It
also becomes the largest Buddhist temple in the world. This temple is located
in Borobudur Village, Magelang, Central of Java, Indonesia. It is approximately
100 km from Semarang, 86 km from Surakarta, and 40 km from Jogjakarta. It was
found as a place of worship for the Mahayana Buddhist by Sailendra dynasty in
800 AD. It was first discovered by Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles in 1814. At that
time, it was found crushed and buried in the ground.
Originally, it has 10 levels which have overall height about 42
meters. However, after the reparation, the height of Borobudur become
approximately 34.5 meters with overall building area about 15,129 m2. The front
side of Borobudur temple is facing eastwards, although each side of the temple
has similar form. There are 3 main levels of the realm in Borobudur. The third
level is Kamadhatu (the realm of lust), Rupadhatu (tangible realm), and
Arupadhatu (formless realm).
There are so many reliefs on Borobudur’s wall which total is
about 1,460 panels. These reliefs tell about ancient stories written In
Sanskrit language and read by Mapradakisana way. Mapradakisana is a way to read
in accordance with the clockwise direction. The way to read the story is
starting from the east side of the gate at every level of the temple. There are
so many stories written on Borobudur’s wall. The first story on this relief is
Karmawibhangga which written on the foot of this temple. It tells about karma.
Karma is the law of cause and effect obtained by humans. This relief depicts
human actions both reprehensible and commendable along with what will they
have. The next relief is Laitawistara. These reliefs lined in the stairs on the
south side of temple. The numbers of this relief are 120 figures which
illustrate the story of the Buddha from birth to become a Buddhist. And then
last are Jataka and Awadana relief. This relief tells the story about Buddha
before he was born.
Besides decorated with reliefs, Borobudur also has so many
sculptures which become a symbol of the Buddha embodiment. The statues are
sitting cross-legged in the lotus position and show a certain hand gesture.
These are located at Rupadhatu level. There are 432 sculptures there which are
lined sequentially in every niche of this level. In the first row, there are
104 niches, in the second row there are 104 niches, in third row 88 niches, in
the fourth row 72 niches, and fifth rows 64 niches. Beside sculpture, Borobudur
temple also has Stupa. There are 72 Stupas at the level of Aruphadatu. Those
stupas are spread in the court at this stage. In the first court, there are 32
stupas, in the second court 24 stupas, and 16 stupas on the third court.
Since the discovery of Borobudur temple, there are so many
Buddhist statues theft. Originally, the amount of Buddha statues is 504
statues. More than 300 statues have been damaged. Most of the statues of Buddha
are headless because often being stolen to be used in a museum collection.
Thanks for reading
