Borobudur Pilgrimage

Welcome to Chandi Borobudur, one of the sacred buildings of Buddhism as a World Cultural Heritage site. The splendor and beauty of Borobudur has its own historical value for Indonesian people. The government has designated Borobudur as a major tourist attraction, a priority tourist destination for local and foreign visitors.

Traveling and visiting Borobudur have enthusiasm aims to know its monument more closely, learn about its history and admire the splendor and beauty of architectural art, as an appreciation and participation in maintaining and protecting the world cultural heritage site of Borobudur.

Your journey to Borobudur will send to an excellent trip with the hospitality of Pamong Carita who will guide you on a special tour to visit and explore history, admiring the beauty of the arts and architecture of Chandi Borobudur more closely.

Chandi Borobudur

Chandi Borobudur or Barabudur is a Mahayana Buddhist temple built in the 9th century, consisting of six square terraces and three circular terraces, topped by a central dome, surrounded by 72 stupas and decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. Source: Guidance Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. photo at arisguide.

Step into Borobudur

Borobudur Temple is a world cultural heritage site, the largest Buddhist temple in the world located in Borobudur, Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The location of the temple is approximately 99 kilometers southwest of Semarang, 86 kilometers west of Surakarta, and 40 kilometers northwest of Yogyakarta City.

Borobudur is located on a hill surrounded by two pairs of mountains; Mount Sundoro–Sumbing to the northwest and Merbabu–Merapi to the northeast, to the north is the Tidar hill, and to the south is the Menoreh hill range, and is located near the confluence of two rivers; Progo River and Elo River to the east.

Borobudur is a Buddhist temple or shrine in the form of a stupa which was founded by followers of Mahayana Buddhism around 800 AD during the reign of the Syailendra dynasty. The monument consists of six square terraces topped with three circular courtyards. The walls are decorated with 2,672 relief panels and originally there were 504 Buddha statues. Borobudur has the most complete and largest collection of Buddhist reliefs in the world.

The largest main stupa is located in the center and crowns this building, surrounded by three circular rows of 72 perforated stupas in which there is a Buddha statue sitting cross-legged in a perfect lotus position with the Dharmachakra mudra (turning the wheel of dharma). The monument is a model of the universe and was built as a holy place to glorify Buddha as well as functioning as a place of pilgrimage to guide mankind from the realm of worldly desires to enlightenment and wisdom according to Buddhist teachings.

Pilgrims enter through the east side, beginning their ritual at the base of the temple, walking clockwise around the sacred structure, ascending to the next level through the three levels of Buddhist cosmology: Kamadhatu (the realm of desire), Rupadhatu (the realm of form), and Arupadhatu (the realm of formlessness).

On their journey, pilgrims navigate a series of corridors and staircases, witnessing no fewer than 1,460 beautiful relief panels carved into the walls and balustrades.

Historically, Borobudur was abandoned in the 14th century as the influence of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms in Java weakened and Islam entered the country. The world began to recognize its significance after its discovery in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British Governor-General of Java.

Borobudur has undergone a series of rescue and restoration efforts, the largest of which was carried out between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO. This historic site was subsequently inscribed on the World Heritage List.

World Heritage Site

Borobudur is included in the Cultural criteria

(i) "represents a masterpiece of human creativity",

(ii) "shows important exchanges in human values ​​over time within a cultural region of the world, in architectural and technological development, monumental art, urban planning and landscape design", and

(vi) "is directly and clearly connected with an event or living tradition, with an idea or with a belief, with a work of artistic art and a literary work of extraordinary universal significance".

Borobudur has once again become a religious and pilgrimage center for Buddhism. Once a year, during the full moon around May or June, Buddhists in Indonesia are in Borobudur to commemorate the holy day of Vesak.

Chandi Borobudur

Chandi Borobudur or Barabudur is a Mahayana Buddhist temple built in the 9th century, consisting of six square terraces and three circular terraces, topped by a central dome, surrounded by 72 stupas and decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. Source: Guidance Technique Chandi Borobudur arisguide. photo at arisguide.

Religious Ceremony

As one of the sacred buildings for Buddhists in Indonesia, Borobudur is an ancient building and place for religious processions. The largest Buddhist temple ever built by Samaratungga, is a place of worship for Buddhists. In fact, as an appreciation, Unesco has now included Borobudur as a world cultural heritage, one of the criteria is the artistic value of Borobudur's architecture in the shape or symbol of a lotus flower.

After the second restoration of Borobudur in 1973 which was carried out in collaboration with the Indonesian Government and UNESCO, attention to the development of this site became increasingly better. This can be seen by the reopening of Borobudur as a place of worship and center for religious ceremonies for Buddhists. For most Buddhists, this ceremony is called the Tri Suci Vesak ceremony.

Once a year during the full moon, in May or June, Buddhists in Indonesia visit Borobudur to commemorate the holy day of Vesak. This ceremony is very meaningful for Buddhists, and aims to commemorate the birth and aims to commemorate the enlightenment event of Sidharta Gautama who had reached the highest level of wisdom, namely becoming Shakyamuni Buddha.

The Vesak procession in Indonesia for Buddhists is celebrated in three Buddhist temples, namely Borobudur, Pawon and Mendut. Every year the Vesak ceremony is centered at Borobudur Temple, which begins with a ritual walk along 2 kilometers from Mendut Temple to Pawon Temple and then the ritual procession ends at Borobudur Temple. Looking at the Vesak ceremony procession, according to Buddhist philosophy, Borobudur symbolically has three levels of the spiritual realm.

In Buddhist philosophy, these three levels symbolize Kamadhatu which means the world of desire, Rupadhatu which means the world of form, and Arupadhatu which means formless. The three levels of Borobudur perfectly explain and describe the meaning and meaning of the three levels as the meaning of bhurloka, namely earth, bhuvarloka which means atmosphere, and svarloka which means heaven which is a symbol of the perfection of the Universe.

The concept of the Hill of Virtue is purely spiritual in Buddhism. There are not many assumptions in Buddhist cosmology that suggest any significant connection to these things. The Buddha supposedly gave instructions to his disciples to burn his body one day after he entered nirvana, and then keep the ashes in a place called a stupa.

When its asked what exactly was called a stupa, the Master hastily folded his clothes on the ground, then placed what he always carried when traveling, namely his begging bowl, upside down on top of his clothes, and finally placed his staff right on top of the stupa. bowl. This is to explain something that produces a shape which usually consists of a square base shape, a dome with a semicircular shape and a peak.

Basically, if interpreted symbolically, Chandi Borobudur has two origins, namely in Mahayana Buddhism, and as worship of ancestors. So the ten stages of installing the Borobudur structure correspond to the ten consecutive stages that a Bodhisattva must achieve before achieving Buddhahood.

The aesthetic value with extraordinary beauty and splendor of architectural art displayed traditionally is a further appreciation of the highest respect the founder of Chandi Borobudur had for the ancestors who were identified with the Buddha; and the stepped pyramid with the stupa as a crown on top is the most appropriate symbol to symbolize the virtues that the dynasty has accumulated over generations in wisdom befitting a Bodhisattva.

Buddhism

In the sense that meditation is a way of life, Buddhism was not originally a religion. It is rather a doctrine that explains how to achieve final liberation from all suffering, and in a broader sense eliminate karrna, destroy samsara, and ultimately achieve nirvana.

The underlying doctrine is the belief that life is misery. This world is not real, that the meaning of life in all its aspects is an illusion. It changes all the time, and there is nothing eternal about it. Life is a continuation of previous lives, and a preparation for the next life, is a station in the endless cycle of birth and rebirth. The shape and condition of each station is determined by its predecessor.

The factor is not thoughts, but karma, the balance of good and bad actions. A positive balance will guarantee a better next life, and an ever-improving life will culminate in rebirth in heaven. Therefore, the main goal is to avoid any form of rebirth. In this final stage the devotee attains arhatship to enter nirvana, which is absolute nothingness.

The Four Noble Truths explain how ultimate salvation from samsara is achieved. The belief that life is suffering is the first Truth. The second is that suffering is caused by a desire to exist and cling to the phenomenal world. The third truth is that suffering can be eliminated by extinguishing all desires. The fourth is formulated in the Eightfold Path, which shows the way in which and how desire can be extinguished.

Source: Guide Book arisguide. Guidance Techniques Chandi Borobudur arisguide.

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Borobudur-insight into a meditation.

Get more narration and materials about Chandi Borobudur in Barabudur atau Borobudur, Candi Buddha Pusaka Budaya Indonesia.

Reading is more fun exploring the thematic narratives in more detail in KEBUDAYAAN BOROBUDUR - BELAJAR DENGAN PAMONG CARITA.

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Travel to Borobudur - learning with tour guides.

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