Photograph: Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis/National Gallery of Australia
Borobudur Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, located on the island of Java. Consisting of thousands of reliefs and hundreds of Buddha statues, it is the largest in the world. It is amazing how the Javanese kings built the largest Hindu and Buddhist temples in the world even though Java was not the center or origin of the religions.
Borobudur was built by the Syailendra dynasty around the year 800 and took about 75-100 years to build. This monument was built as a replica of the universe according to Buddhism. As Islam entered Java, the Hindu-Buddhist influence began to fade. So the role and existence of the Borobudur temple was forgotten around the 14th century.
The world came to know Borobudur again when it was rediscovered by Raffles when the British ruled in Java. Raffles who pays great attention to the history of Java ordered the research team to search for historical relics throughout Java. Raffles even wrote a book during his leadership in Java; 'History of Java'.
When it was rediscovered the condition of Borobudur was apprehensive, covered with soil and trees. Restoration efforts must be made to save the historic site. However, Borobudur remained neglected until it was restored in the 20th century. After decades of restoration, Borobudur has finally returned to its original condition, although of course quite a lot of parts are missing while it had not been taken care of properly.
Currently, Borobudur is re-functioning as a place of worship for Buddhists, as well as a popular tourist attraction in Central Java. I visited Borobudur twice, one of them in 2008, it is truly a stunning and unimaginable monument. As if not believing that such a beautiful work can be made by humans in the year 800.
