Showing posts with label Buddhism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buddhism. Show all posts

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Borobudur - The World's Largest Buddhist 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 colossal temple was built between AD 750 and 842: 300 years before Cambodia's Angkor Wat, 400 years before work had begun on the great European cathedrals. Little is known about its early history except that a huge army of workers worked in the tropical heat to shift and carve the 60,000 m3 of stone. At the beginning of the 11th century AD, because of the political situation in Central Java, divine monuments in that area, including the Borobudur Temple became completely neglected and given over to decay. The Sanctuary was exposed to volcanic eruption and other ravages of nature. The temple was not rediscovered until the 19th century. A first restoration campaign, supervised by Theodor van Erp, was undertaken shortly after the turn of the century. A second one was led more recently (1973-82).

A harmonious marriage of stupas, temple-mountain and the ritual diagram, this temple complex was built on several levels around a hill which forms a natural centre. The first level above the base comprises five square terraces, graduated in size and forming the base of a pyramid. Above this level are three concentric circular platforms crowned by the main stupa. Stairways provide access to this monumental stupa. The base and the balustrades enclosing the square terraces are decorated in reliefs sculpted in the stone. They illustrate the different phases of the soul's progression towards redemption and episodes from the life of Buddha. The circular terraces are decorated with no fewer than 72 openwork stupas each containing a statue of Buddha.
Stylistically the art of Borobudur is a tributary of Indian influences (Gupta and post-Gupta styles). The walls of Borobudur are sculptured in bas-reliefs, extending over a total length of 6 km. It has been hailed as the largest and most complete ensemble of Buddhist reliefs in the world, unsurpassed in artistic merit, each scene an individual masterpiece. The narratives reliefs on the main walls read from the right to left, those on the balustrade from left to right. This was done for the purpose of the Pradaksina, the ritual circumambulation which the pilgrims make moving on the clockwise and keeping the sanctuary to the right.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC

Borobudur - Meditating through Millenniums





Sunday, December 25, 2011

Borobudur - A Dream in the Heavens

A View from the East Entrance

Alighting the First Five Levels

Sultry Beauties

Checking the Photos

Close-up

Some Rest After the Collosal View

Striking a Pose

72 Stupas at the Sixth and Seventh Level

Another View

One Row of Stupas with Square Openings...

Revealed Buddha in One of the Stupas

The Central Stupa located on a Lotus Pedestal

Rows of Stupas Facing the Mountain Ranges

Timeless Architecture

View of Top Rows of Stupas

Another View

Under the Blue Sky and over 1200 years...

Waiting to Enter the Last Flight of Stairs

Dash of Colours

Contented

View Showing the Central Stupa and smaller stupikas

In the upper oval shaped path

It was unbelievably hot and yet...

Overseeing the mountain ranges over a millennia

Stupas

One more view

Relishing the view

More views

Overseeing the Kedu Plain in Central Java

One of the most fertile lands in the region - situated within two rivers and Mt. Merapi

The Majestic Shape of the Stupikas

The timeless beauty


At right angles

Bas- Relief scultptures in Second Level Balustrade

In Deep Meditiation for more than 1200 years

Kala and Rare Animal Head Sculptures

Water Drainage System - Beautifully Carved

A Collage of Colours

Stories from Jataka Tales in the inner and outer Balustrades

A Majestic View

Waiting...


Buddha in One of the Six Postures - Vara Mudra

Dhyani Mudra

Relief Sculptures

One among the 504 Buddha Statues at the monument

Walking through the Kala - Relieving the Desires and Sins - Step into the final flight


Tired but can afford a smile...

Joins the Father

Part of the Story

One more view

Right Angled turns at every level decorated with bas reliefs

Indonesians, irrespective of their religious affiliation, rever the monument

Stunning work

Intricate Expressions

Wise men concurring



More relief sculptures

More panels

Some more

A sick man being tended

More sculptures

Loving every minute of it

going up

A scene from the Jataka Tale

Nothing Short of a Dream!

Performers in the Borobudur Gardens

Walking towards the Monument

The First View is Truly Stunning - Nothing you have imagined would be adequate...

A view from right angle

A street performer at the campus

At the UN Cultural Heritage Pillar


The Amazing View and the first few flights of stairs

Pandit Venkatesh Kumar and Raag Hameer