Borobudur

The world's largest Buddhist temple — a stone mountain

Borobudur is a giant pyramid-temple built 1,200 years ago from volcanic stone: 2 million blocks and no cement at all! Its walls carry 2,600 carved panels — a 'stone book' about the life of the Buddha, and you must walk 5 km to 'read' it. On top sit 72 bell-shaped stupas, each with a Buddha statue inside. The temple lay hidden under jungle and volcanic ash for 1,000 years.

Borobudur is a Mahayana Buddhist monument in Central Java built under the Shailendra dynasty (8th–9th centuries, 780–840) and the world's largest Buddhist temple: a 123 × 123 m base, 35 m tall, 9 tiers (6 square + 3 round), 2 million m³ of andesite blocks joined with interlocking joints and no mortar. It is shaped as a mandala: Kamadhatu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (forms) and Arupadhatu (formlessness) — pilgrims climb clockwise along a 5 km path; 2,672 relief panels (1,460 narrative scenes — Jatakas, Lalitavistara), 504 Buddha statues, 72 latticed stupas. Abandoned in the 14th century with the arrival of Islam and ash from Mount Merapi; rediscovered by Raffles (the British governor) in 1814; a UNESCO restoration in 1975–1982 dismantled and reassembled 1 million blocks. World Heritage since 1991. Buddhist pilgrims gather at Vesak; Merapi's 2010 ash was cleaned by hand.

Fun facts

• Borobudur is built from 2 million stone blocks with no cement.
• To 'read' the stone book on its walls you must walk 5 km.
• The temple hid under jungle for 1,000 years and was rediscovered in 1814.