Nestled in the heart of Java, the most densely populated among Indonesia’s more than 17,000 islands, Borobudur is the world’s largest Buddhist monument, a universe in a microcosm. The monument consists of ten layers, of which the base and the five levels immediately above it are of square shape, while the top three are circular. The overall design is pyramid-like, a reminder of the Austronesian origins of the Javanese people. Built upon a hill in andesite volcanic rocks, in the vicinity of the active Merapi and the dormant Merbabu volcanos of Java, Borobudur itself represents the Mount Meru of Hindu mythology. Yet it is primarily a place of Buddhist worship. Over 500 Buddhist statues adorn the monument, of which 72 images are encased in perforated stupas around its central dome. Some 2670 bas-reliefs spanning 3,000 meters of its walls are mostly drawn from Buddhist legends and imagery.
Symbolic ascent
Fig: Borobudur Buddha (Source : Author)
Borobudur is thus a megalith, a mountain, and a stupa, all seamlessly rolled into one harmonious structure. It also mimics the path to enlightenment, or the route to Nirvana. A pilgrim ascends to the top in a clockwise manner (parikrama), first witnessing the reliefs of the base depicting worldly desire and ignorance, then moving up to the next five levels whose reliefs present Buddhist tales, before reaching the three circular terraces, with a bell-shaped stupa pointing to the sky at the centre of the top most terrace. The journey symbolically takes you from earth to heaven, while acquiring knowledge and virtue that comes from witnessing the reliefs. Reaching the stupa means attaining Nirvana, or transcendence from worldly life.
