Borobudur is known to be a Mahayana Buddhist monument belonging to the 9th century era. This monument in Indonesia is located in Central Java. There are 6 sq platforms in this monument that are topped by 3 platforms in the shapes of circles. This monument is known to have 2,672 relief panels for decoration coupled with 504 statues of Buddha and the main dome on the top is known to be located at the center. This is surrounded by 72 statues of Buddha which are known to be seated in the interior of the stupa. This monument is known to be a shrine of Lord Buddha as well as a popular place of pilgrimage among the Buddhists. The Buddha statues in Borobudur that adorn the monument tend to offer a clear picture of the type of Buddhist sculpture in Indonesia including the type of materials used in the making of these statues.
Borobudur was known to be deserted in the period following the 14th century with the decline of the kingdoms belonging to the Buddhist and Hindu origin in Java as it led to the conversion of Java into Islam. With Sir Thomas Raffles discovery during the British rule in the year 1814, the Borobudur monument came to be preserved through stages of restorations. Borobudur in Indonesia, till date is the only tourist attraction which is most visited by both tourists and pilgrims.
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Though it’s not known as to who built the monument of Borobudur but Borobudur came to the forefront to contribute to the history of Buddhist sculpture in Indonesia when it was discovered in the year 1814. This monument in Indonesia traces its origin from 800 AD which was the peak period of Sailendra dynasty in central Java. Since its abandonment the monument of Borobudur remained masked under layers of ashes of the volcanoes for centuries to come. Borobudur tends to represent various statues of Buddha. The cross legged statues of Buddha are known to be seated in a position known as the lotus position. These kinds of statues are known to be distributed on the 5 sq platforms also known as the Rupadhatu level. These statues are also found on the top platform which is also known by the name of Arupadhatu level.The statues of Buddha are found to be situated in the corners of the Rupadhatu level. |
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They are known to be arranged in rows and fall on the exteriors of the balustrades. With the diminishing number of platforms towards the upper levels the number of Buddha statues also tends to decrease. There are 104 corners in the 1st balustrades and 88 corners in the 2nd balustrades while the 3rd and 4th balustrades have 72 and 64 corners respectively. There are 432 statues of Buddha in total and all are situated in the Rupadhatu level. The Arupadhatu level comprises of 3 platforms which are circular in shape house the statues of Buddha in the stupas. The 1st platform is known to have 32 stupas, the 2nd platform has 24 and lastly the 3rd platform has 16 statues finalizing it to 72 stupas in total. Among the 504 statues of Buddha out of which 300 Buddha statues are damaged and 43 of them are known to have gone missing. Know more about the Buddha statues in Borobudur as Buddhistsculptures.com offers information about the Buddhist art and sculptures in Indonesia.
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