Borobudur (Javanese: ꦕꦤ꧀ꦣꦶꦧꦫꦧꦸꦣꦸꦂ) is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Central Java, Indonesia. Borobudur is about 40km from the town of Yogyakarta, it is the single most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia, and also the world's largest Buddhist temple.
The first four terrace walls of Borobudur are showcases for bas-reliefs. These bas-reliefs are extremely exquisite, considered to be the most elegant and graceful in the ancient Buddhist world.
Borobudur contains approximately 2,670 individual bas reliefs (1,460 narrative and 1,212 decorative panels), the total relief surface is 2,500 square metres, and they are distributed at the hidden foot and the five square platforms.
Narrative panels on the wall read from right to left, since the ritual of circumambulation performed by pilgrims who move in a clockwise direction while keeping the sanctuary to their right.
Jatakas are the main theme of narrative panels. Jatakas are stories about the Buddha before he was born as Prince Siddhartha. They are the stories that tell about the previous lives of the Buddha, in both human and animal form.
Other bas-reliefs depict many scenes of daily life in 8th-century ancient Java, from the courtly palace life, hermit in the forest, to those of commoners in the village. During excavation, archeologists discovered colour pigments as well as bits of gold foil, and concluded that the monument was probably once coated with bright colors.
Some of the tourists will go straight to the top of the temple once they have arrived, but Choumezai suggests all visitors should spend some time to go around the lower terraces, or else you will miss these exquisite ancient artworks.
