Head to Indonesia’s Borobudur for some ancient stories told on stone

The Star, 28 August 2022: Travel piece on Borobudur.

For the numerical-minded, the edifice consists of two million blocks of lava rocks, which reaches around 45m at its highest point and features nearly 1,500 carved story panels and 504 statues of the Buddha, each sculpted from a single block of stone.

Perched on the top of a natural hill, the monument was purposely designed that way for followers of Buddhism to humanly understand the spiritual thinking behind the teachings, by gradually ascending from one layer to the other, just like shifting from the world of desire and lust to the ultimate state of absolute nothingness.

As imagined, it’s one of the most visited sites in Indonesia. To avoid the crowd madness, it’s best to start early in the morning when the surrounding atmosphere is serene and the visual effect is mesmerising as the rays of the rising sun add some special effects on the stone.

The journey begins at the base of the temple. While there are flights of stairs on all four sides to take you straight up to the top, the usual way is to go round the pyramid in clockwise direction, while stepping up from one level to the other. This way, the walking distance is over 4km.

Source: Head to Indonesia’s Borobudur for some ancient stories told on stone | The Star