A Mahayana Buddhist stupa, Borobudur holds the honour of being the largest Buddhist monument found anywhere on this earth. It is located 41 km north west of Jogjakarta (Yogyakarta) in Central Java, a province of Indonesia. Though, there are no written historical records available to prove who actually constructed Borobudur and for what purpose, still the estimation of construction time suggests that it was built during the rule of Sailendra dynasty between 750-800 AD.
Later, in its history, Borobudur was deserted, the reason is again uncertain. Some earlier scholars believe that a famine caused by eruption in Mount Merapi was the reason while more recent scholars attribute the desertion to the shift of Javanese power from the area of Borobudur to the valley of the Brantas. After its abandonment, Borobudur was rediscovered by Lieutenant-Governor Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1814. He sent a group of men to make further investigations and from 1835 onwards work began to clear off the dense tropical vegetation that engulfed it. Drawings of reliefs were made and appeared in the first Borobudur monograph of 1873. Photographs were also taken which further helped in instilling a sense of appreciation for the Borobudur monument.
Borobudur A Mahayana Buddhist stupa
Diposting oleh Unknown
