THE WONDERFUL BOROBUDUR

Indonesia is one of the countries rich in ancient heritage. A lot of historical sites are scattered in different provinces-Borobudur is one of them, for sure. Since 1991, Borobudur has been listed as the world heritage site by UNISCO. Built by King Samaratungga from Syailendra Dinasty, who ruled the Mataram Kingdom in Central Java in 9th century, Borobudur took around 100 years to finish. The name of Borobudur, as some people say, means "a mountain having terraces" (budhara), while others say that Borobudur means "monastery on a high place."Using andesite stones taken from a river, the glorious temple is 118 m wide on each side and 42 m high, and has 10 levels - 6 levels of square platforms, 3 levels of circles and one main stupa ( where the main Buddha statue is placed ) on top. The andesite stones were cut, shaped, carried to construction site by thousands of workers, then were put together according to the architect's plan without using any adhesive materials or cement. After all the stones had been put together, the artists carved reliefs all over the walls. There are 2.672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues in all. But sadly, the most of the Buddha statues today are headless.