Wonders - Borobudur

Borobudur is the worlds largest Buddhist stupa. Ten stories high and over 120m wide and long, it has nine concentric terraces - Six square and three round, trimmed with over 1'000 buddhist relief panels - the treasures of Borobudur.

The temple, in Indonesia was built around the 8th century BC, but abandoned just a few centuries later. Eventually, it was buried under dirt, volcanic ash and wild vegetation, and remained so for centuries.

2'600 years after it was built, the half buried Stupa was rediscovered by a British Colonial officer, and a restoration was organised. However, it was never rebuilt to a respectible degree, until 1984, after a decade of work, taking the structure apart stone by stone, cleaned and reassembled.

The design has been studied by scholars in both art and theology for decades, and not without justification. The concentric levels are fascinating.

Six square levels at the bottom, trimmed with over 1000 relief panels depicting the story of buddhism, and a fascinating panorama of 9th century Javanese life.
The three round levels at the top are trimmed with huge, bell shaped stupas, containing a life sized statue of the Buddha kneeling in meditation.

The Monument represents the Buddhists cosmological model of the universe and the path to enlightenment. Starting at the east gate, pilgrims walk around the stupa in a clockwise direction, covering nearly 5km of open air corridors.
The circles are thought to represent the paths of life. When the pilgris reach the top, they reach the great central stupa, which, representing Nirvana, is empty.

Besides Borobudur, indonesia holds many draws for travellers. The floating emerald islands of the Indonesian archipelago have for centuries lured everyone from missionaries to pirates, mining companies and backpackers to their sandalwood and spice breezes, their Bali Hai lifestyle and their magnificent beaches, mountains and volcanoes.