Buddhist Borobudur

We're beginning to get used to early starts but this morning we had to be up at 4am to be picked up at 4.45am so we could get to Borobudur early. Of course none of these places actually open before sunrise (unless you want to be pay a huge amount more!) so we witnessed sunrise on the 40 minute drive out of Jogja to the monument.

Now we had read that Borobudur is supposed to rival Angkor Wat and from looking at photos we were really excited. I have to say when we first got there we were a little underwhelmed! I think mainly because it was a lot smaller than we expected and having seen Angkor, very few places compare. It looks like a 9 tiered mountain,however and the reliefs that are carved in to the walls of the middle galleries are extremely impressive and tell the story of the historic Buddhas life. Borobudar is supposed to symbolise the Buddhist journey from reality, through 10 psychological states to nirvana or spiritual enlightenment. It took 75 years to build starting in the middle of the 8th century. It is built from volcanic rock that was taken from river beds and it is thought the carvings were done in situ. The Kings of the era enforced a 'labour tax' so each farmer or landowner in the area owed the King a certain numbers of days work from his labour force which were used to build the monument.

The top levels have 72 stupas, that get smaller as you go up the levels. Inside each stupa is a statue of a Buddha that is partially seen through holes cut in to the stupas. On each level apart from the lowest 2 there are statues of Buddha, there are 504 Buddha images in total! The first 2 terraces are square and plain, it is thought the bottom tier hides other reliefs, which were excavated and then built back to preserve the structure.

Overall, it was well worth seeing for the reliefs, especially at first light when it is comparatively quiet.