The world’s largest Buddhist temple is located in the ancient world of Central Java, Indonesia. Called the Borobudur, it is a 9th-century Mahanaya Buddhist temple perched in the hills. It was restored with the help of UNESCO in the 1970s and is a much sought after sight by pilgrims and adventurers.
Inside the temple, you can find a circular platform, surrounded by 72 openwork stupas. Each of these stupas contains a statue of the Buddha. The magnificent work is truly a design masterpiece. The story goes that it was built between 778 and 850 CE and was previously buried under volcanic ash for many years. It was accidentally discovered by Thomas Stamford Raffles, English Lieutenant Governor in 1814. Excavation work then began in 1907.
The first thing you will see in the center of this temple is a single large stupa sitting 115 feet above the base of the temple. Borobudur Temple was built with around 2,000,000 cubic feet of gray volcanic stone.
This old world religious site should ideally be explored according to a model. So you have to start at the base and follow a route that will take you through the relief panels carved in stone and the statues of Lord Buddha. Each of the nine levels must be visited in turn, and this is how you really end your visit to this location. You go through the different levels in a clockwise direction, and you can reach the top by walking for a distance of 5 km. The large temple complex is alluring to say the least, and it’s hard to imagine that this massive structure was once buried under volcanic ash and forests.
