At Glance

Buddha statue in a stupa
source: Guiding Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide

Buddha statue in a stupa

Built in the 9th – century during the reign of the Syailendra Dynasty. The temple was designed in the Javanese Buddhist architecture, which blends the Indonesian indigenous culture of ancestor worship and the Buddhist concept of attaining Nirvana. The monument also demonstrates the influences of Gupta art that reflects India's influence on the region, yet there are enough indigenous scenes and elements incorporated to make Borobudur uniquely Indonesian.

In the history past the island of Java was floating in the ocean, and it had to be nailed to the center of the earth before it could be inhabited.

Borobudur views from Bukit Dagi
source: Guiding Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide

The huge nail changed into a small hill, it's called Tidar, at the southern outskirts of the present city of Magelang. And only some fifteen kilometers south of Tidar hill is Chandi Borobudur situated.

The Buddha
source: Guiding Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide

The chandi Borobudur is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for the Buddhist pilgrimage. The journey of the pilgrims begins at the base and follows a path around the monument and ascends to the top through three levels symbolic of Buddhist cosmology: Kamadhatu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness).

Sacred Buddhist Building
source: Guiding Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide

The monument guides the pilgrims through an extensive system of the stairways and the corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades. Chandi Borobudur has the largest and the most complete sculptures of Buddhist reliefs in the world.

source: Guiding Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide