Welcome to Chandi Borobudur
Welcome to Chandi Borobudur, one of the sacred buildings of Buddhism as a World Cultural Heritage site. The splendor and beauty of Borobudur has its own historical value for Indonesian people. The government has designated Borobudur as a major tourist attraction, a priority tourist destination for local and foreign visitors.
Traveling and visiting Borobudur have enthusiasm aims to know its monument more closely, learn about its history and admire the splendor and beauty of architectural art, as an appreciation and participation in maintaining and protecting the world cultural heritage site of Borobudur.
Your journey to Borobudur will send to an excellent trip with the hospitality of Pamong Carita who will guide you on a special tour to visit and explore history, admiring the beauty of the arts and architecture of Chandi Borobudur more closely.
Step into Borobudur
Borobudur is a world cultural heritage site, the Mahayana Buddhist temple is located in Borobudur, Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The location of the temple is approximately 99 kilometers southwest of Semarang, 86 kilometers west of Surakarta, and 40 kilometers northwest of Yogyakarta City.
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Welcome to Borobudur Source: Guiding technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto screenshot arisguide. |
Welcome to Borobudur
Buddhist temple located in Borobudur, Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The location of the temple is approximately 100 km southwest of Semarang, 86 km west of Surakarta, and 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Yogyakarta City.
Borobudur is located on a hill on a plain surrounded by two pairs of twin mountains; Mount Sundoro-Sumbing to the northwest and Merbabu-Merapi to the northeast, to the north there is the Tidar hill, and to the south there is the Menoreh hill range, and is located near the confluence of two rivers, namely the Progo River and the Elo River to the east.
Commemorative stone for the restoration of the Borobudur temple - an imperfect Buddha statue behind which is placed a chhatra or three-layer parasol at the top of the main stupa of Borobudur.
Surrounding of Borobudur
According to Javanese legend, the area known as the Kedu plain is a place that is considered sacred in Javanese belief and is revered as the 'Garden of the island of Java' because of its natural beauty and the fertility of the land.
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Borobudur viewed from Dagi hill Source: Guiding technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto screenshot arisguide. |
Apart from Borobudur, there are several Buddhist and Hindu temples in this area. During the discovery and restoration in the early 20th century, other Buddhist temples were discovered, namely Mendut and Pawon Temple which were stretched in a straight line. Initially it was thought to be just a coincidence, but based on local folklore, there used to be a stone-paved road fenced with balustrades on both sides that connected these three temples.
There was no physical evidence of a stone-paved and fenced road and perhaps this is just a fairy tale, but experts suspect that there is indeed a symbolic unity of these three temples. These three temples (Borobudur – Pawon – Mendut) have similar architectural styles and decorations and indeed come from the same period which strengthens the suspicion that there is a ritual connection between these three temples, however, how the religious ritual process of pilgrimage is carried out is not yet known for certain.
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Apart from the Mendut and Pawon temples, several ancient relics were found around Borobudur, including various pottery finds such as pots and jugs which show that there used to be several residential areas around Borobudur. Ancient finds around Borobudur are now stored in the Borobudur Museum, which is located to the north of the temple next to the Samudra Raksa Museum.
Not far to the north of Pawon Temple were found the ruins of a former Hindu temple called Banon Temple. In this temple, several statues of the main Hindu gods were found in fairly good condition, namely Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma and Ganesha. However, very few of the original stones of Banon Temple were found so reconstruction was not possible. At the time of their discovery the Banon statues were transported to Batavia (now Jakarta) and are now kept in the National Museum of Indonesia.
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Borobudur has circular terraces decorated with rows of stupas. Source: Guiding technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto screenshot arisguide. |
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Circular terraces decorated with rows of stupas of Borobudur. Source: Guiding technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto screenshot arisguide. |
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Relief on the wall hallway of Borobudur Source: Guiding technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto screenshot arisguide. |
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Borobudur viewed circular terraces decorated with rows of stupas. Source: Guiding technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto screenshot arisguide. |
Ancient lake
Unlike other temples which are built on flat land, Borobudur is built on a hill with a height of 265 m (869 ft.) above sea level and 15 m (49 ft.) above the base of an ancient lake that has dried up. The existence of this ancient lake became the subject of heated debate among archaeologists in the 20th century; and raises suspicions that Borobudur was built on the edge or even in the middle of a lake.
In 1931, an artist and expert on Hindu Buddhist architecture, W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp, put forward the theory that the Kedu Plain was once a lake, and Borobudur was built to symbolize a lotus flower floating on the surface of the lake. The lotus flower, either in the form of padma (red lotus), utpala (blue lotus), or cumuda (white lotus) can be found in all the iconography of Buddhist religious art. Its often held by Bodhisattvas as a symbol (regalia symbol), as a seat for the Buddha's throne or as a stupa pedestal.
The architectural form of Borobudur itself resembles a lotus flower, and the Buddha's posture at Borobudur symbolizes the Lotus Sutra which is usually found in Mahayana school Buddhist religious texts (a Buddhist school which later spread to East Asia). The three circular courtyards at the top of Borobudur are also thought to symbolize lotus flower petals. However, Nieuwenkamp's theory, which sounds extraordinary and fantastic, has received many objections from archaeologists.
On the land around this monument, archaeological evidence has been found which proves that the area around Borobudur during the construction of this temple was dry land, not the base of an ancient lake.
Meanwhile, geologists actually support Nieuwenkamp's view by showing evidence of mud sedimentary deposits near this site. A stratigraphic study, sediment and pollen sample analysis carried out in 2000 supported the existence of an ancient lake in the environment around Borobudur, which strengthened Nieuwenkamp's ideas.
The surface height of this ancient lake fluctuated from time to time, and evidence shows that the base of the hill near Borobudur was once again submerged in water and became the edge of the lake around the 13th and 14th centuries. River flows and volcanic activity are thought to have contributed on changing the landscape and the topography of the environment around Borobudur, including its lake.
One of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia is Mount Merapi, which is located quite close to Borobudur and has been active since the Pleistocene.
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Borobudur's circular terraces decorated with rows of stupas. Source: Guiding technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto arisguide. |
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Stupa of Borobudur Source: Guiding technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto screenshot arisguide. |
B o r o b u d u r
Borobudur has three circular terraces decorated with rows of stupas. Buddha statue sits inside stupa of Borobudur. Borobudur was built to symbolize a lotus flower floating on the surface of the lake.
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Source: Guide Book arisguide. Guiding Techniques Chandi Borobudur arisguide.
Spend your spare time;
You may open to type the link: Borobudur - insight into a meditation.
Get more narration and materials about Chandi Borobudur in Barabudur atau Borobudur, Candi Buddha Pusaka Budaya Indonesia.
Reading is more fun exploring the thematic narratives in more detail in KEBUDAYAAN BOROBUDUR - BELAJAR DENGAN PAMONG CARITA.
Visiting and traveling becomes even more fun, explore the thematic narrative in more detail in: Travel guide to Borobudur with Pamong Carita.
There are 504 Buddha statues with six mudra hand positions, each mudra represents meaning and significance in Buddhist philosophy.
Reading in English is fun and also seems so interesting to translate into language that is easy and flexible, get readings in detail in Welcome to Borobudur Temple, the fabric of life in the Buddhist culture.
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Welcome to Borobudur. Source: Guiding technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. Foto screenshot arisguide. Borobudur Temple is a Mahayana Buddhist temple, built in the 9th century during the reign of the Sailendra dynasty, designed in the form of Javanese Buddhist architecture, which combines the original Indonesian culture of ancestor worship and the Buddhist concept of achieving Nirvana. |
Explore, admire the beauty of art in pictures and photos by typing the detailed link in PHOTO IMAGE BOROBUDUR.
Welcome to more narrative about Chandi Borobudur in Selamat Datang di Kebudayaan Borobudur - wisata dengan Pamong Carita.
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Borobudur Source: Guiding Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide, Guiding Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. |
arisguide
Its fun on the temple trip with me.
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