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Candi Borobudur (Temple Borobudur)
Ce célèbre temple bouddhique datant des VIIIe et IXe siècles est situé dans le centre de Java. Il est construit sur trois niveaux : une base pyramidale comprenant cinq terrasses carrées concentriques, surmontée d'un tronc de cône (trois plate-formes circulaires) et couronnée d'un stupa monumental. Les murs et les balustrades sont ornés de bas-reliefs couvrant une surface totale de 2 500 m2. Bordant les plate-formes circulaires, 72 stupas ajourés abritent autant de statues du Bouddha. Le temple a été restauré avec le concours de l'UNESCO dans les années 1970.
Floating above the landscape of Central Java like a series of concentric circles that forms a giant mandala, there is Borobudur Temple, the largest Buddhist monument in the world. Even though there is no written record of who built the temple first, it is believed that Borobudur Temple was built between AD 780 and 840 when the Sailendra dynasty ruled the region. The building was abandoned for centuries and buried beneath layers of volcanic ash from Mount Merapi with only local people knew of its existence.
In 1814, the British ruler of Java, Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles, appointed a team led by Cornelius to investigate a hill, which, according to many local inhabitants, was the site of an ancient monument. The discovery got the Borobudur Temple worldwide attention, but it was not until 1835 that the entire area of the temple has been cleared. Unfortunately, the Dutch colonial government gave away eight containers full of Borobudur statues as presents for the King Chulalongkorn of Siam during his visit to Indonesia in 1896. The relics are still on display in the National Museum of Bangkok.
