On the way to Jogjakarta, we stop to visit Borobudur Temple (another World Heritage Site) which was built between the end of the 7th and the beginning of the 8th century and was the spiritual centre of Buddhism in Java for about 150 years. It was then lost due to a huge volcanic eruption of Mt. Mengi which caused massage damage and deaths in the area. Most people left Central Java for many years after that. Borobudur was “rediscovered” by a European in the 18th century, but the locals always knew it was buried there. A mountain temple, it had been covered by years of volcanic ash, which served to preserve most of its beautiful relief carvings. My ticket stub indicates that this is “The biggest Buddha temple in the world”.
The monument (118 metres or 387 ft) on each side, has nine platforms: six square platforms topped by three circular platforms; and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside a perforated stupa. Each stupa is bell-shaped and pierced by numerous decorative openings. The site was abandoned following the 14th century decline of Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in Java, and the Javanese conversion to Islam. Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparked in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British ruler of Java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians.”
My first site of the massive temple
It is HUGE !
I'm walking in volcanic ash !
I find out that Mt Merapi (28 km away) erupted again recently in October 2010 and smothered Borobudur with about 2.5 cm (1 inch) of ash. The ash from the eruption spread about 50 million cubic meters of gaseous ash (most powerful eruption in the century ) killing 138 people and destroying many villages.
Getting close to the bottom of the temple
One of the corners at the base. The photo of the relief below is from this corner.
Bas relief(most partially covered )“The hidden footing contains reliefs, 160 of which are narratives describing the real Kāmadhātu. The remaining reliefs are panels with short inscriptions that apparently provide instructions for the sculptors, illustrating the scenes to be carved. The real base is hidden by an encasement base, the purpose of which remains a mystery. It is thought that the real base had to be covered to prevent a disastrous subsidence of the monument into the hill.” My guide tells me that the temple was so massive, that before it was even finished the base started to "blow out, hence the additional wall covering the beautiful reliefs. When the restorations were carried out (at least 3 of them) the archeologists took pictures of the hidden reliefs before covering them up again.
The entire temple is built of lava stone. Since the consistency of the stone varies, in colour and in density, some of the carvings have remained relatively intact while others have deteriorated.
One of the niches holding one of the 504 seated Buddhas
The gargoyles that also serve to drain the water from the inner walkways
Gargoyles serve as water drainage.You can see the different colouration in the stones on this photo.Based on the composition of each stone, they were either easily eroded, or very resistant to erosion.Hence some of the bas reliefs are either almost obliterated, or beautifully preserved.
One of the walkways on one of the 6 square platforms
Looks like these guys may have been related to the Incas ! Yvette, Juana & Claude: Check out the cut stones and how closely they fit.
One of the beautifully preserved carvings
Walls and walls of sculpted panels. You can see the colour variations.
And some of the relief carvings are quite deep. It looks like they are ready to walk out of the panel.
More Buddha niches
And finally we reach the top levels where the perforated stupas are located
And within the stupas there used to be Buddhas. This is one of the rare ones left. (Taken by poking my camera through one of the holes)
This one has been left uncovered
The details are beautiful.... and check out the view from the top of this step pyramid temple
You can see for miles and miles. Actually see the mountains in the distance.
We make our way back down through different sets of stairs and passages.
but the carvings are still beautiful. Bottom right looks like a ship !
This one could be a biblical scene.... if it wasn't a Buddhist temple.
And we are back down. It is a remarkable work of art and engineering. It rivals Anghor!
From there we drove a short distance to visit Mendut Temple, which was built as a Hindu temple and later converted to a Buddhist temple.
But I'm more impressed by the size of this tree on the site of Mendut Temple. How's that for BIG !
That's me walking towards it; and I'm not even there yet.
Near Mendut Temple
From there it was only about a one hour drive to the city of Jogjakarta. We arrive early for a change and I get to relax in the hotel room. It advertises that it has wifi access in the rooms, but it is only a local area connection; it can’t access the internet. I end up using the hotel computer in the lobby so that I can reserve a hotel in Bali for my 2 week stay there.
I have dinner at the hotel; a bit expensive but delicious and I treat myself to a glass of wine.This is Muslim country, most hotels I am staying at do not offer alcoholic beverages and I ALMOST feel guilty about ordering it, especially during Ramadhan…..but…….HEY.... I'm not Muslim !
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