Borobudur Temple

Borobudur temple is very famous in the world and included in the 7 wonders of the world. This Buddhist temple has 1460 relief panels and 504 Buddha effigies. Millions of people want to visit the temple that makes the World Wonder Heritages. Not surprising since architecturally and functionally, as a place of worship, Borobudur is intriguing. Borobudur is located in Magelang city, Indonesia.

Borobudur was built by Raja Samaratungga, one of the king in the genealogy of Hindu Mataram kingdom, descendant of dynasty. Based on the inscription, an Indonesian named Hudaya Kandahjaya revealed that Borobudur is a place of worship was completed May 26 824 A.D, almost one hundred years since the beginning of construction. Name of Borobudur, as some people means a mountain having terraces (budhara), while the other says that Borobudur means monastery on the high places.

The lowest level of Borobudur temple called Kamadhatu, symbolizing human beings that are still bound by lust. Four levels are called Rupadhatu symbolizes man who has been able to break free from lust but are still bound manner and form. At that level, Buddha laid open. Meanwhile, three levels above where the Buddhist stupas are placed in holes called Arupadhatu, symbolizes man who was freed from lust, appearance and shape. The top part is called Arupa symbolizes nirvana, where Buddha is residing.

At each level there is a beautiful relief panels showing the proficiency manufacturer. Relief that will be read coherently when you walk in a clockwise direction (towards the left of the entrance of the temple). In the reliefs of Borobudur tells of a legendary story, the Ramayana. In addition, there are relief panels depicting the current state of society. For example, relief of farmers' activity reflecting the advance of agriculture system and relief of sailing boat representing the advance of the cruise who was based in Bergotta (Semarang).

The entire relief panels in Borobudur temple reflect Buddha's teachings. Therefore, this temple can be used as a medium of education for people who want to learn Buddhism. Atisha, a Buddhist from India in the 10th century, never been to the temple that was built 3 centuries before Angkor Wat in Cambodia and 4 centuries before the Grand Cathedrals in Europe.

Thanks to visiting Borobudur Buddhist teachings and armed with a script from Serlingpa (King of Sriwijaya), Atisha was able to develop Buddhism. He became abbot Vikramasila and taught Tibetans of practicing Dharma. Six manuscript of Serlingpa was condensed into a core teaching is called "The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment" or better known as Bodhipathapradipa.

One of the mysteries about Borobudur is how the condition around the temple was built and why the temple was found to be buried. Some sources suggest that Borobudur was once surrounded by a swamp and then buried by the eruption of Merapi. This opinion refers to Calcutta inscription reads 'Amawa' means sea of ​​milk. Words that are then interpreted as lava of Merapi. Some others say that Borobudur was buried cold lava.

With all the grandeur and mystery of the temple of Borobudur, not surprising that many people from all over the world enter the Borobudur as a place that must be visited in his life, parallel to Bali. In addition to enjoying the Borobudur temple, you can walk around to the tourist villages around Borobudur like Karanganyar and Wanurejo to see the activities of people make crafts. If lucky, you can also go to the top of Watu Kendil to be able to view the panorama from the top of Borobudur. That's the charm of the Borobudur temple.