25 Breathtaking Photos Of The Ancient Borobudur Temple

Borobudur boasts more than 500 life-sized Buddha statues over a sprawling 27,000 square feet.

A stone carving of the mythical story of Queen Maya, the mother of Buddha.

The temple's walls are decorated by detailed carvings, some of which depict the story of the Buddha's life cycle.

Garry Andrew Lotulung/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images In its early years, Borobudur was a major pilgrimage site for Buddhists from around the world. Archaeologists know this because of the discovery of old Chinese coins and artifacts around the temple.Fayed El-Geziry /NurPhoto via Getty Images In 1968, with help from UNESCO and other international organizations, the Indonesian government launched the "Save Borobudur" campaign, which was an ambitious restoration project that lasted 10 years.Goh Chai Hin/AFP via Getty Images Each of the temple's perforated stupas, pictured here, are meant for private meditation and contain a life-sized Buddha statue. David Cumming/Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Of the original 504 Buddha statues throughout the temple, over 300 are damaged and/or headless. Forty-three are missing, stolen, or spirited away to western museums. For centuries, Borobudur lay hidden under layers of volcanic ash.Goh Chai Hin/AFP via Getty Images Buddhist monks and devotees conduct prayers at Borobudur during the Buddhist holiday of Vesak.

The ancient temple is a popular pilgrimage site today.

Agung Supriyanto/AFP via Getty Images Borobudur is considered to be one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in Southeast Asia and is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. Chris Jackson/Getty Images Indonesian girls dressed in Javanese traditional costumes on parade during the Vesak festival at Borobudur.

Vesak is a Buddhist holiday commemorating the birth, enlightenment, and death of the historical Gautama Buddha.

Adek Berry/AFP via Getty Images Since its successful restoration, Borobudur has been revived as a major pilgrimage site for Buddhists from all over the world.Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images A finely sculpted stone relief.Ben Davies/LightRocket via Getty Images The many Buddha figures symbolize the single Buddha-nature. Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images Glowing lights during a Buddhist meditation at the temple.

The stages of life of Gautama Buddha, which are celebrated on Vesak are his birth, enlightenment to Nirvana, and his Parinirvana or passing.

Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images The temple is made up of a million stones that were sculpted from the surrounding volcanic rocks.Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate Vesak at Borobudur which makes it the most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia. Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images Ancient sculptors of the 1,200-year-old temple used paint and stucco to cover the temple walls which greatly helped in preserving Borobudur's stone material over millennia. David Cumming/Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Borobudur was built sometime between the eighth and ninth centuries A.D.Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images Vesak Day celebrations are often celebrated with a procession from two nearby temples — Mendut and Pawon — and ending at Borobudur.

Archaeologists believe all three temples held religious significance in ancient times.

Oscar Siagian/Getty Images In 1991, Borobudur was finally listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Getty Images Borobudur's architectural design boasts a cultural blend between the Javanese customs and Buddhist beliefs resulting in a unique aesthetic.Thierry Tronnel/Corbis via Getty Images Borobudur has six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels.

A main dome, located at the center of the top platform, is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside a perforated stupa.

Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images Borobudur is 95-feet high and covers 27,125 square feet, making it the largest Buddhist temple on Earth. John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images By the 1500s, Borobudur was abandoned by worshippers.

Historians think it was largely caused by the growing influence of Islam on the island.

Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images Viewed from above, Borobudur's design mimics the Buddhist mandala, making it the largest mandala in the world dedicated to Buddha.David Lefranc/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images As one of the most popular tourist sites in Indonesia, Borobudur receives roughly five million visitors annually.Goh Chai Hin/AFP via Getty Images

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25 Breathtaking Photos Of Borobudur, The Ancient Temple Of 500 Buddhas View Gallery

Even though it's 1,200 years old, the ancient Buddhist temple Borobudur is a wondrous sight.

The historic stone structure hosts 500 Buddha statues over a whopping 27,125 square feet, making it the largest Buddhist temple in the world.

The Ancient History Of Borobudur Temple

Lionel Green/Archive Photos/Getty ImagesA vintage photograph of Borobudur Temple, circa 1900-1950.

Located 25 miles outside the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta on the island of Java, lies the ancient Temple of Borobudur.

The temple was constructed sometime between the eighth and ninth centuries under the Sailendra Dynasty that ruled over Java at that time, which was a burgeoning epicenter for Buddhist scholarship and religion.

The region was also a mecca of agriculture and because of this, it was believed to be one of the most sacred places on the island. Naturally, construction on Borobudur Temple began there in earnest.

The 95-foot-high temple is made of six terraces and each of these features a stupa, which is a dome-shaped area for solitary meditation. Each stupa contains a life-sized Buddha statue. There were 504 such statues in total. Today, 43 are missing.

Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty ImagesEach stupa at Borobudur houses a figure of the Buddha.

Borobudur's grand design attracted Buddhist pilgrims from all over the world. Visitors from ancient China left coins and crafts which have since been found by archaeologists.

The findings also suggest that waves of pilgrims continued to arrive until the 15th century. Around that time, many Javanese converted to Islam instead and Borobudur was left abandoned. For the next few centuries, the temple was overtaken by encroaching flora, buried in volcanic ash, and subjected to earthquakes.

It wasn't until 1814, when Java was briefly under the control of Great Britain, that the local governor rediscovered the abandoned temple.

Since then, Borobudur has been revitalized as both an important religious and historical site.

An Architectural Wonder

Borobudur's design was meant to resemble a mandala from above.

Borobudur Temple isn't only cherished for its size, but also for its intricate design. Made from two million stones carved out of the surrounding volcanic rock, the temple resembles a mandala from above.

It is also a unique cultural blend of Buddhist beliefs and Javanese traditions from Indonesia's earlier kingdoms.

Borobudur temple features multiple levels of intricate stone carvings. The lower levels are adorned with nearly 3,000 bas-relief carvings that depict the life and philosophies of the Buddha. The middle levels boast various stories of the Buddha's life from the Jataka Tales, which is the scripture of Buddha's life cycle.

The central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues individually encased inside a perforated stupa and The highest level of the temple features a lotus-shaped balcony.

In total, about 500 Buddha statues — each individually encased in perforated stupas — adorn the temple, making it the largest collection of Buddha statues in the world. Many of these are damaged, missing, or in other collections around the world.

Among the compound's treasures is a headless statue, known as the Unfinished Buddha, which bears a partially finished head and arm. No one knows for sure where the unfinished statue was meant to be, but one theory suggests that it was meant to fill the central stupa atop Borobudur to cover up a design error.

Oka Hamied/AFP via Getty ImagesBuddhist monks pray on the eve of Buddha's birthday, also known as Vesak.

Archaeologists also hypothesize that the statue may have been abandoned mid-carving due to a design flaw and instead of committing sacrilege by destroying the Buddha, the statue's carver put it inside a completely walled-off stupa to hide its imperfections.

Borobudur Temple Today

After its rediscovery, the ancient temple's exposure to the natural elements caused it to rapidly deteriorate. Other parts of Borobudur and its ornaments were looted by collectors and researchers.

Luckily, ancient sculptors used paint and stucco to cover the temple walls which has greatly helped to preserve Borobudur's stone material over millennia. Nevertheless, it still requires extra care.

But it wasn't until the late 1960s that the Indonesian government began to take serious steps to preserve Borobudur's integrity. These culminated in one of the most ambitious international preservation projects ever attempted under a partnership between the government and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The "Save Borobudur" campaign was launched in 1968 and the restoration project itself — which lasted a decade starting in 1973 — involved reassembling millions of stones, deep cleaning the temple's relief panels, and installing a modern drainage system to prevent further erosion.

Mikel Bilbao/VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesMost of the Buddha statues have deteriorated due to natural elements and looting.

Conservators even managed to retain enough of the structure's original stone to complete its reconstruction. In 1991, Borobudur was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Today, Borobudur Temple is often used for religious ceremonies by local monks and it is widely recognized as a popular tourist destination. The temple sees around five million visitors a year, including up to 300,000 tourists each day during the holiday season, making it one of the most visited sites in Indonesia.

Now that you've learned about Borobudur, the world's largest Buddhist temple, read up on Gobekli Tepe, the oldest temple in the world built 6,000 years before Stonehenge. Then, learn about India's Kailasa Temple, which was chiseled by hand for more than 20 years.

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