Borobudur, Indonesia
A shrine to Buddha and a popular destination for
Buddhist pilgrimages, Borobudur is a monument made up of a stepped pyramid
topped with stupas and about 500 statues of Buddha. Borobudur is the most
visited tourist attraction in Indonesia as well as the world’s largest Buddhist
monument.
Built during the Seilendra Dynasty of the eight and
ninth centuries, the temple reflects Indian and Indonesian influences in its
stairways and corridors, lined with narrative panels of art carved into the
stone walls. Though the site was a destination for Buddhist pilgrims for many
years, it was abandoned in the 1500s, probably with the rise in Islam in the
region, though it has recently been revived.
Visitors make the pilgrimage to enlightenment from
the monument through the three symbolic levels of cosmology: Kamadhatu (the
world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of
formlessness).
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