Borobudur

Borobudur or Boroboeder (both: bō'rōbdr`), ruins of one of the finest Buddhist monuments, in central Java, Indonesia. Built by the Sailendras of Sumatra, this magnificent shrine dates from about the 9th cent. It is a huge, truncated pyramid covered with intricately carved blocks of stone that illustrate the life of the Buddha and his teachings according to Mahayana Buddhist doctrine. A seated Buddha within may be seen from three platforms above the seven stone terraces that encircle the pyramid.

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Borobudur

Borobudur, Java, Indonesia.

(credit: Robert Harding Picture Library/Photobank BKK)

Buddhist monument in central Java, built c. 778–850 under the Shailendra dynasty. Constructed with about 2 million cu ft (57,000 cu m) of gray volcanic stone, it resembles a stepped pyramid. Its base and first five terraces are square; the highest three terraces are circular. Reliefs on its terrace walls represent the ascending stages of enlightenment. The simple and spacious upper circular terraces carry 72 bell-shaped stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha.

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Borobudur 

a Buddhist sanctuary in the southern part of the island of Java. It is a unique medieval monument of Indonesian art and the culminating point of its development. Borobudur was constructed (c. A.D. 800) from blocks of stone on the slope of a natural hill. It has the form of a graded, ten-tiered pyramid (height, 31.5 m; length of the foundation, 123 m), which includes the route of processions and five square and three round terraces (with numerous bell-shaped stupas) topped by a large stupa. The niches of the terrace and the upper stupas, decorated with tracery, hold 504 statues of Buddha; the walls of the bypasses of the lower terraces are covered by 1,460 reliefs on the life of Buddha. Borobudur, with its infinite wealth of aspects all subordinated to a strictly unified plan, harmony of architecture, sculpture, and ornamental decor, was conceived as a monumental symbol of the universe. The sculpture of Borobudur is remarkable for its lyrical softness and rhythmicity, sensual charm, feeling of the felicitous fullness and harmony of being, and wealth of the lifelike folklore and genre motifs of its reliefs.

REFERENCE

Prokof ev, O. Iskusstvo Iugo-Vostochnoi Azii: 3. v. do n. e.-18 v. n. e. Moscow, 1967.