Borobudur temple tower complex

The United Nations Science, Education and Culture Organization recognized the Borobudur Temple Complex of Indonesia as a World Cultural Heritage in 1991.

Borobudur is a large Buddhist temple complex in central Java, Indonesia. According to the old Borobudur language means "Buddha temple on the mountain".

Borobudur Temple was built under the court of Sailendra . Sailendra is a Buddhist monk (8th century). The temple is built on top of a hill, in the middle of a fertile plain, behind is a blue mountain range, which makes the temple stand out.

The whole Borobudur temple complex consists of many small towers around and a large tower is also the main shrine located in the center of the population. The whole area was built about 16m from the foothills. The largest temple is 42m high with 12 storeys, the length of each temple is 123m. But if you go all the steps, the corridors of 12 floors to reach the top of the tower must be 5 km long.

The first floor of the main tower is square, each side faces a clear side. Between each side, there is a wide space of about 7.38 m with two stone lions adorning both sides. The shape of these two lions is quite bulky, the height from the foot to the top is 1.7m including the stone pedestal, the length is about 1.26m and the width is 0.8m. The lion's mouth is wide open, with mane on the back, neck and chest, the tail is bent backwards so the overall look is very fierce. In the Borobudur temple complex, there are a total of 8 children of death and elaborately carved and carved in the same shape.

The second floor of the temple is 1.52m away from the first floor, not built in the form of a square like the first floor but the polygon has a total of 20 edges. However, there are still four large sides facing the four directions, between these four large edges there are four levels. The two sides of the level with curved banisters exhibit great sophistication. At the end of the parapet is a large elephant head, the lion's mouth bites a lion, and the other handrail is the image of a lion, the muzzle extends, the back rests against the wall.

From the third floor and above the tower is built in square shape but up to the top three floors are built in a circle. On each floor there are many carved pictures outside depicting temples and Buddha statues . The top of the tower is a bell-shaped roof.

All steps from the first floor to the ninth floor are covered with reliefs, elaborately carved to describe the life of Buddha Shakyamuni, Bodhisattvas, enlightened heroes. about Buddhism, about heaven and hell. Around the main tower, many small towers are also built with extremely sophisticated carvings, and many small Buddha statues are placed around the temple grounds.

After the collapse of Sailendra, the Borobudur temple was abandoned and gradually fell into oblivion for nearly 10 centuries. Until 1814, a delegation of European scientists and researchers, sent by the Dutch government (at that time, attacked Indonesia) to conduct research and restore the temple. But because the temple was abandoned for too long, it was ruined and damaged. In 1970, the Indonesian Government sent a message asking for help to the Unesco, and a draft of the restored Borobudur temple was completed. The restoration and restoration work of Borobudur temple has 600 famous researchers, historians, archaeologists and restorers in the world. And the restoration and restoration project has been underway for 12 years, costing nearly $ 50 million.

So far, the temple tower of Borobudur has been restored but not as complete as before. Still, thanks to the help of a large number of scientists, historians, archaeologists . the temple still retains the ancient and reverent character of a Buddhist population and is one of the most famous places. in Asia.