Visiting Borobudur Buddhist Monument, Java, Indonesia
Both Borobudur Buddhist Temple and Prambanan Hindu Temple are scheduled for visits today. Originally on the Imaginative Traveller dossier for separate days, they are being combined into one which I personally find a big mistake. My thinking is it is difficult to digest two major complexes like this without "monument overload," but not my decision to make.
Breakfast and an early start to Borobudur, one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in Southeast Asia. Borobudur is a Buddhist monument that is both a shrine to Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. On the bus with Mr. Bootie, our driver, and Mr. Harris, whose job was to open and close the doors then place stools for the group to step on while alighting from the bus. Borobudur is only 40km/25miles from Yogyakarta, and was built on top of a hill in the 9th century. There are over 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues...View image...with the main dome surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside the stupa. Thinking is that when Buddhism declined, Borobudur was abandoned between 928 and 1006. Mount Merapi erupted again in 1006 and covered Borobudur in ash where it lay hidden for centuries under ash and jungle growth...View image.
It wasn't until 1814, that Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (of Singapore Raffles fame) was told about a big monument deep in a jungle and sent men to investigate. They cut down trees, burned vegetation and dug out the monument. To this day, restoration is ongoing with pieces taken apart and put back together due to bombs and other damage problems. Borobudur is a World Heritage Site.
It was dreary and raining a little this morning but with good views of Mount Merapi. Parked at Borobudur and off the bus to find umbrella sellers, $1, and umbrella renters. Mr. Bootie had a stash of umbrellas on the bus for us to use. Introduced to our Borobudur guide who walked the group over to some informational signs...View image... for a little background on Borobudur's history...View image...before walking up and around the terraces to the top.
We began by circumambulating the base of the monument with explanations on each level. There are three levels of Buddhist cosmology with over 1,460 relief panels on the walls. The decorative panels showed Buddhist doctrines and aspects of Javanese life 1000 years ago. Beautifully carved elephants...View image, musicians, dancing girls while Buddha images were placed in open niches above the galleries...View image.
Almost at the top, among all the latticed stupas is a "Lucky Buddha." Guide said that if a woman is able to reach in and touch Buddha's foot, and/or a man touch his hand and then make a wish, it would come true but your wish has to be for non-material things. It was easy to spot which stupa the "lucky Buddha" was in. Just look for the crowds around it, balancing and try to stretch out arms to full length and touch Buddha's appropriate part. Sounded easy but wasn't since you also had to do a balancing act to keep from falling off the platform. We all successfully tried with difficulty.
There was free-time up on the highest levels among all the stupas...View image...with groups of non-westerners clamoring for photos with us westerners. Time to ponder and enjoy...View image... Borobudur's beautiful setting with Mount Merapi in the background...View image, before gingerly making the way down steep and narrow steps...View image... to the bottom...View image.
The souvenir sellers are relentless and don't stop until the bus doors close with prices falling by the second. I find it very amusing rather than irritating and off we went for lunch before visiting Prambanan.
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