Borobudur, Path to Enlightenment

For those always wanting to take a trip to Borobudur, this article from the Wall Street Journal is a primer on what to expect.

Borobudur, Path to Enlightenment
Wall Street Journal, 13 September 2008

Aerial photographs of Borobudur convey its stupendous mass — nearly two million cubic feet of fine-grained, mellow gray stone quarried from local riverbeds — but fail to give a sense of the monument’s transcendent beauty. Often described as the largest Buddhist monument in the world, Borobudur rises to a height of 400 feet, nearly as tall as Cheops’ pyramid, in a series of concentric terraces. Its walls are lined with exquisitely carved bas-reliefs illustrating episodes from the life of the Buddha and his teachings, amounting to more than a mile of continuous sculpture — and that doesn’t include 504 life-size statues of the Buddha.

Related Books:
– The Restoration of Borobudur (World Heritage Series)
– The Lost Temple of Java (History/Journey’s Into the Past) by P. Grabsky
– Barabudur
– Worshiping Siva and Buddha: The Temple Art of East Java by A. R. Kinney, M. J. Klokke and L. Kieven
– The Mysteries of Borobudur: Discover Indonesia Series by J. N. Miksic
– Borobudur by L. Frederic and J. Nou
– Borobudur: Golden Tales of the Buddhas (Periplus Travel Guides) by J. Miksic
– The Magnificence of Borobudur by D. D. Burhan