Borobudur

Source : http://wikitravel.org/en/Borobudur

Built over a period of some 75 years in the 8th and 9th centuries by the kingdom of Sailendra, Borobudur is the largest Buddhist monument in the world. Constructed out of an estimated 1,600,000 blocks of volcanic stone, dredged from the river and assembled solely by human labor, the nine-terraced temple is a representation of the transition towards nirvana and is famed for its 1,500 intricately carved reliefs, covering a total length of five kilometers end-to-end. The volcanic Mount Merapi, one of the most active volcanoes on Java, can be seen steaming on the horizon directly north of the site

The Borobudur is a top priority for every traveler going to Indonesia. Located about 42km from Yogyakarta it is a UNESCO world heritage site and the world's largest Buddhist monument. Borobudur, a name deriving from an expression meaning 'Mountain of accumulation of merits of the ten states of Bodhisattva' is commonly thought of as a Buddhist structure, yet its initial construction was planned and executed by Hindu builders sometime around 775AD.

The temple consists of six square bases topped by three circular ones. About 1500 narrative panels telling the story of Buddha and over 500 Buddha statues complete the site. The site is open from 6 am to 5.15 pm. 3 km east of Borobudur you can find the Mendut Temple with a 3 meter high Buddha statue. It's nice to go walking there, but there are also irregular buses and bemo's.

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