Borobudur12 Oct 2008
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Approaching Borobudur in the mist
Disfigured faces
With our tour guide, Fatah
| by Lora We awoke at 4am to take a sunrise tour of Borobudur - a large Buddist monument about an hour outside of Yogyakarta. It was constructed around 800 AD, and was re-discovered in 1800s. We had the fortune of having Fatah as our tour guide - he grew up right in front of Borodudur and it used to be his playground as a child! The stupa has 9 tourable platforms, which are viewed in a clockwise fashion. Each level has various reliefs which depict the life of Buddha. Fatah told us that when Buddist pilgrims come to Borobodur and climb each level, they gain knowledge about the life of Buddha from the reliefs, and reaching the top symbolizes enlightenment. There is also 10th level, which is a closed off room, symbolizing nirvana. There are lots of curved archways, containing statues of Buddha, in various positions - teaching, warding off evil, meditating, giving, etc. In total there are 500+ statues of Buddha on the monument, in various states of repair - many were headless and/or damaged. In the photos, you will see lots of upside-down bell-shaped structures - inside each of them are also statues of Buddha. There was one enclosed statue where it is believed one will receive good luck by touching it - the man is supposed to touch the Buddha's ring finger, and the woman is supposed to touch the foot (don't remember which one - left or right) - anyway, Chris was able to do this, but I couldn't reach Buddha's foot - I'm way too short! Fatah told us that Hillary Clinton also visited Borobudur and touched the statue, he said that apparently she didn't receive such luck this time. |
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