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ปีที่ขึ้นทะเบียนเป็นมรดกโลก

ปี 1992(พ.ศ.2535) โดยองค์การยูเนสโก (UNESCO)

ลักษณะเด่น

1.      สถาปัตยกรรม:

เป็นวัดที่สร้างขึ้นในสมัยอาณาจักรขะแมร์ (Khmer Empire) โดยพระเจ้าสุริยวรมันที่ 2 (King Suryavarman II)

โครงสร้างวัดสร้างด้วยหินทรายและมีรายละเอียดการแกะสลักลวดลายที่วิจิตรบรรจง เช่น ลายดอกบัวและภาพรามายณะ

โครงสร้างมีรูปแบบการสร้างที่แสดงถึงจักรวาลตามความเชื่อของศาสนาฮินดู โดยศูนย์กลางของวัดเปรียบเสมือนภูเขาพระสุเมรุ

มียอดปราสาท 5 ยอดที่เป็นสัญลักษณ์ของเขาพระสุเมรุ

2.      ความยิ่งใหญ่:

นครวัดถือเป็นศาสนสถานที่ใหญ่ที่สุดในโลก

มีพื้นที่ประมาณ 1.6 ล้านตารางเมตร

3.      ภาพแกะสลักนูนต่ำ (Bas-relief):

ภาพแกะสลักที่มีความละเอียด เช่น ภาพการกวนเกษียรสมุทร (Churning of the Ocean of Milk) และฉากสงครามโบราณ

ความสำคัญ

1.        ด้านศาสนาและวัฒนธรรม:

เดิมนครวัดถูกสร้างขึ้นเพื่อเป็นวัดในศาสนาฮินดู (บูชาพระวิษณุ)

ต่อมาได้กลายเป็นวัดในศาสนาพุทธ มีความสำคัญในฐานะศูนย์กลางทางศาสนา

2.        ด้านประวัติศาสตร์และอารยธรรม:

แสดงถึงความรุ่งเรืองของอาณาจักรขะแมร์ในช่วงศตวรรษที่ 12

เป็นตัวอย่างที่โดดเด่นของสถาปัตยกรรมโบราณที่แสดงถึงความสามารถของมนุษย์ในด้านการออกแบบและการก่อสร้าง

3.        ด้านการท่องเที่ยวและเศรษฐกิจ:

เป็นสถานที่ท่องเที่ยวสำคัญของกัมพูชา ดึงดูดนักท่องเที่ยวหลายล้านคนต่อปี

มีบทบาทสำคัญต่อเศรษฐกิจของประเทศ

4.        ด้านมรดกโลก:

นครวัดได้รับการขึ้นทะเบียนเป็นมรดกโลกในประเภทวัฒนธรรม เนื่องจากคุณค่าที่โดดเด่นด้านสถาปัตยกรรมและวัฒนธรรมที่ยังคงอยู่ถึงปัจจุบัน

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อุทยานประวัติศาสตร์ศรีเทพ (ประเทศไทย)

ปีที่ขึ้นทะเบียน: 2023
ลักษณะเด่น:

ตั้งอยู่ในจังหวัดเพชรบูรณ์ ครอบคลุมพื้นที่กว่า 2,889 ไร่

เป็นเมืองโบราณที่มีการพัฒนาต่อเนื่องตั้งแต่ยุคก่อนประวัติศาสตร์จนถึงยุคทวารวดีและอิทธิพลของขอมในช่วงหลัง

ลักษณะเด่นของเมืองแบ่งออกเป็น 2 ส่วน คือ เมืองชั้นในและเมืองชั้นนอก มีคูน้ำ คันดิน และกำแพงล้อมรอบ

โบราณสถานสำคัญ ได้แก่

ปราสาทศรีเทพ: ศูนย์กลางของพิธีกรรมในยุคอิทธิพลขอม

ปรางค์สองพี่น้อง: โครงสร้างหินทรายที่สะท้อนถึงอิทธิพลศิลปะเขมร

หลักฐานทางโบราณคดีอื่นๆ เช่น ลูกปัดแก้ว เครื่องมือโลหะ และเศษภาชนะดินเผา

ความสำคัญ:

ศรีเทพเป็นแหล่งเรียนรู้ประวัติศาสตร์ที่แสดงถึงการเปลี่ยนผ่านทางวัฒนธรรมจากยุคก่อนประวัติศาสตร์มาสู่ยุคอาณาจักรที่มีระบบศาสนาและการปกครอง

โบราณสถานสะท้อนถึงการพัฒนาสถาปัตยกรรมและความสัมพันธ์ทางการค้าในภูมิภาค

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Niah National Park, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia

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Niah National Park, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia

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Niah National Park, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia

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ปีที่ขึ้นทะเบียน: 2023 (2566)
ลักษณะเด่น:

ตั้งอยู่ในรัฐซาราวัก เป็นที่ตั้งของถ้ำหินปูนที่มีขนาดใหญ่และมีความสำคัญทางโบราณคดี

ถ้ำเนียะฮ์เป็นแหล่งหลักฐานการตั้งถิ่นฐานของมนุษย์ยุคหินที่มีอายุกว่า 40,000 ปี

หลักฐานสำคัญ ได้แก่

โครงกระดูกมนุษย์โบราณ: ที่พบในถ้ำหลัก

ภาพเขียนสี: แสดงถึงพิธีกรรมและความเชื่อของมนุษย์ยุคโบราณ

ความสำคัญ:

ช่วยขยายความเข้าใจเกี่ยวกับการตั้งถิ่นฐานของมนุษย์และพฤติกรรมทางสังคมในยุคก่อนประวัติศาสตร์

สถานที่แห่งนี้ยังสะท้อนถึงวิวัฒนาการของวัฒนธรรมและการปรับตัวของมนุษย์ต่อสิ่งแวดล้อม

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Niah National Park, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia

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ปีที่ขึ้นทะเบียน: 1991 (พ.ศ.2534)
ลักษณะเด่น:

เมืองหลวงแห่งแรกของอาณาจักรสุโขทัย ตั้งอยู่ในจังหวัดสุโขทัย ครอบคลุมพื้นที่กว่า 70 ตารางกิโลเมตร

มีโครงสร้างที่แสดงถึงความเจริญทางศิลปะ วัฒนธรรม และการปกครอง เช่น

วัดมหาธาตุ: ศูนย์กลางศาสนาพุทธในยุคนั้น

วัดศรีชุม: ที่มีพระพุทธรูป "พูดได้" ที่เป็นตำนาน

พระราชวังโบราณ: แหล่งที่มาของศิลาจารึกสุโขทัย

รูปแบบศิลปะสุโขทัย เช่น พระพุทธรูปสุโขทัย และจิตรกรรมฝาผนัง

ความสำคัญ:

เป็นแหล่งกำเนิดอักษรไทยโดยพ่อขุนรามคำแหง

แสดงถึงรากฐานของวัฒนธรรมไทยที่สืบทอดมาจนถึงปัจจุบัน

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Mount Hamiguitan, San Isidro, Davao Oriental, Philippines

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Mount Hamiguitan, San Isidro, Davao Oriental, Philippines

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Mount Hamiguitan, San Isidro, Davao Oriental, Philippines

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เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าทิวเขาฮามีกีตัน (ฟิลิปปินส์)

ปีที่ขึ้นทะเบียน: 1993 (พ.ศ.2536)
ลักษณะเด่น:

ตั้งอยู่ในเกาะมินดาเนา ครอบคลุมพื้นที่กว่า 209,000 เฮกตาร์

มีระบบนิเวศที่หลากหลาย ประกอบด้วยป่าดงดิบ ภูเขาสูง น้ำตก และแม่น้ำ

เป็นแหล่งที่อยู่อาศัยของสัตว์และพืชเฉพาะถิ่น เช่น

นกอินทรีฟิลิปปินส์: หนึ่งในนกที่ใกล้สูญพันธุ์และใหญ่ที่สุดในโลก

ค่างหางยาวฟิลิปปินส์ และ กวางฟิลิปปินส์

พื้นที่นี้ยังเป็นที่อยู่อาศัยของชนเผ่าพื้นเมืองหลายกลุ่ม เช่น ชนเผ่า Higaonon

ความสำคัญ:

แสดงถึงความสำคัญของการอนุรักษ์ความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพ

เป็นตัวอย่างที่สำคัญของการอนุรักษ์ร่วมกับการดำรงชีวิตของชนพื้นเมือง

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Mount Hamiguitan, San Isidro, Davao Oriental, Philippines

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แหล่งไหหินใหญ่ในเชียงขวาง – ทุ่งไหหิน (ลาว)

ปีที่ขึ้นทะเบียน: 2019 (พ.ศ.2562)
ลักษณะเด่น:

ตั้งอยู่ในที่ราบสูงเชียงขวาง มีไหหินกระจายตัวในพื้นที่ 11 แห่ง

ไหหินทำจากหินทรายและหินแกรนิต บางไหมีความสูงเกิน 3 เมตร

นักโบราณคดีเชื่อว่าไหเหล่านี้ใช้ในพิธีกรรมเกี่ยวกับความตาย เช่น การบรรจุศพ หรือเก็บน้ำ

หลักฐานทางโบราณคดี เช่น เศษเครื่องปั้นดินเผาและเครื่องมือหิน

ความสำคัญ:

เป็นหลักฐานทางวัฒนธรรมและประเพณีของชุมชนโบราณในภูมิภาคลุ่มน้ำโขง

ช่วยขยายความเข้าใจเกี่ยวกับความเชื่อและการดำเนินชีวิตในยุคก่อนประวัติศาสตร์

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The Plain of Jars ( Lao: ທົ່ງໄຫຫີນ Thong Hai Hin, [tʰōŋhǎjhǐn]) is a megalithic archaeological landscape in Laos. It consists of thousands of stone jars scattered around the upland valleys and the lower foothills of the central plain of the Xiangkhoang Plateau. The jars are arranged in clusters ranging in number from one to several hundred.

The Xiangkhoang Plateau is at the northern end of the Annamese Cordillera, the principal mountain range of Indochina. French researcher Madeleine Colani concluded in 1930 that the jars were associated with burial practices. Excavation by Lao and Japanese archaeologists in the intervening years has supported this interpretation with the discovery of human remains, burial goods and ceramics around the jars. Researchers (using optically stimulated luminescence) determined that the jars were put in place as early as 1240 to 660 BC. The jars at Site 1 (using detrital zircon geochronology) were determined to have been transported to their current location from a presumed quarry eight kilometers away. The Plain of Jars is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Southeast Asia.

More than 90 jar sites have been identified in Xiangkhouang Province. Each site has between one and 400 stone jars. The jars vary in height and diameter between 1 m and 3 m and are all hewn from rock. Their shape is cylindrical, with the bottom always wider than the top. The stone jars are undecorated, with the exception of a single jar at Site 1. This jar has a human "frogman" bas-relief carved on the exterior. Parallels between the "frogman" and the rock painting at Huashan in Guangxi, China have been drawn. The Chinese paintings, which depict large full-frontal images of humans with arms raised and knees bent, date to 500 BC-200 AD.

Since most of the jars have lip rims, it is thought that the jars originally supported lids, although few stone lids have been recorded; this suggests that the bulk of lids were fashioned from perishable materials. Stone lids with animal carvings have been found at a few sites such as Ban Phakeo (Site 52). The bas-relief carvings are thought to depict monkeys, tigers and frogs.

Plain of Jars - jar with lid

Stone discs have also been found. The discs, which differ from the lids, have at least one flat side and are grave markers which were placed on the surface to cover or mark a burial pit. These grave markers appear more rarely than jars, but are found in close proximity. Similarly, the stone grave markers are unworked but have been intentionally placed to mark a grave. To the north of Xiangkhouang, an extensive network of intentionally placed and largely unworked stones marking elaborate burial pits and chambers are known as the "standing stones of Huaphanh". These have been dated to the Bronze Age.

The jars lie in clusters on the lower foothills and ridges of the hills surrounding the central plateau and upland valleys. Several quarry sites have been recorded, usually close to the jar sites. Five rock types have been identified: sandstone, granite, conglomerate, limestone and breccia. The majority of the jars are sandstone. It is assumed that Plain of Jars people used iron chisels to manufacture the jars, although no conclusive evidence for this exists. Regional differences in jar shape have been noted. While the differences in most cases can be attributed to choice and manipulation of rock source, some differences in form (such as variations in the placement of jar apertures) appear to be unique to specific sites.

A cave at Site 1 is a natural limestone formation with an opening to the northwest and two man-made holes at the top. These holes are thought to have been chimneys for a crematorium. French geologist and amateur archaeologist Madeleine Colani excavated inside the cave in the early 1930s and found material to support a crematorium theory. Colani also recorded and excavated at twelve Plain of Jars sites and published two volumes with her findings in 1935. Colani concluded that the Plain of Jars was an Iron Age burial site. Inside the jars she found, embedded in black organic soil, coloured glass beads and burnt teeth and bone fragments, sometimes from more than one individual. Around the stone jars, she found human bones, pottery fragments, iron and bronze objects, glass and stone beads, ceramic weights and charcoal. The bone and teeth inside the jars show signs of cremation, while the burials surrounding the jars yield unburnt secondary burial bones.

Plain of Jars - Site One

No further archaeological research was conducted until November 1994, when Professor Eiji Nitta of Kagoshima University and Lao archaeologist Thongsa Sayavongkhamdy surveyed and mapped Site 1. Nitta claimed that the surrounding burial pits were contemporaneous to the jars, as they were cut into the surface on which the jars had been placed. Nitta believed the jars were symbolic monuments to mark the surrounding burials. He dated the Plain of Jars to the late second or early first millennium BC based on the burial urn and associated grave goods. Sayavongkhamdy undertook surveys and excavations between 1994 and 1996, supported by the Australian National University. Sayavongkhamdy and Peter Bellwood interpreted the stone jars as a central person's primary or secondary burial, surrounded by secondary burials of family members. Archaeological data collected during bomb clearance operations supervised by UNESCO archaeologist Julie Van Den Bergh in 2004-2005 and again in 2007 provided similar archaeological results. Like Nitta, Van Den Bergh concluded that the jars and surrounding burials were contemporaneous.

Variations in the practices of cremation inside jars and secondary burial outside jars, as noted by Colani, have proven difficult to explain. The cremated remains seem to mainly belong to adolescents. While the bomb clearance operations did not involve emptying the jars and thus no additional evidence could be gathered, Van Den Bergh suggested that the stone jars initially may have been used to distill the dead bodies and that the cremated remains within the jars represent the most recent phase in the Plain of Jars. The jars with smaller apertures may reflect the diminishing need to place an entire body inside.

The suggestion that the jars, as in traditional Southeast Asian royal mortuary practices, functioned as "distilling vessels", was put forward by R. Engelhardt and P. Rogers in 2001. In contemporary funerary practices followed by Thai, Cambodian, and Laotian royalty, the corpse of the deceased is placed into an urn during the early stages of the funeral rites, at which time the soul of deceased is believed to be undergoing gradual transformation from the earthly to the spiritual world. The ritual decomposition is later followed by cremation and secondary burial.

The royal burials are across watercourses from the habitation areas in a geographically high, prominent area. Among the Black Thai people who have been in the region at least since the 11th century, the upper classes are cremated in the belief that it will release their spirits to heaven, while commoners are buried, leaving their spirits to remain on Earth.

Colani connected the location of the jars sites to ancient trade routes, in particular with the salt trade. She assumed that salt was a commodity sought after by the Plain of Jars people, which brought traders to the Xiangkhouang Plateau. The Xiangkhouang area is rich in metallic minerals, mainly due to granite intrusions and associated hydrothermal activity.

Two principal iron ore deposits exist in Laos, both in Xiangkhouang. The presence and locations of the numerous jar sites in Xiangkhouang may relate to trading and mining activities. History has shown that Xiangkhouang, at the northern end of the Annamite Range, provides relative easy passage from the north and east to the south and west.

Within the geographic setting of Xiangkhouang, the jar sites may reflect a network of intercultural villages, whereby the locations of the jars are associated with long-distance overland routes which connect the Mekong basin and the Gulf of Tonkin System. The jar sites show superficial regional differences, such as jar form, material, and the number of jars per site, but all share common setting characteristics such as burial practices, elevated locations, and commanding views over the surrounding area.

The most investigated and visited Jar site is close to the town of Phonsavan, and is known as Site 1. Seven jar sites have now been cleared of unexploded bombs and are open to visitors. These are currently sites 1, 2 and 3, and Site 16 near the old capital Xieng Khouang; Site 23, near the big hot spring in Muang Kham; Site 25 in the largely unvisited Phou Kout District; and Site 52, the largest known jar site to date with 392 jars near a traditional Hmong village only accessible by foot.

Hmong women and girls climbing on one of the jars at Site 1

Lao legends tell of a race of giants who inhabited the area and were ruled by a king named Khun Cheung who fought a long and ultimately victorious battle against an enemy. He supposedly created the jars to brew and store huge amounts of ( lau means 'alcohol', hai means 'jar'; so lau hai means ' rice beer' or ' rice wine' in the jars) to celebrate his victory. Another local story states that the jars were molded from natural materials including clay, sand, sugar, and animal products in a type of stone mix. This led the locals to believe the cave at Site 1 was actually a kiln, and that the jars were fired there and are not actually hewn from stone.

Between May 1964 and the summer of 1969, the Plain of Jars was heavily bombed by the United States Air Force operating against North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao communist forces during the Secret War. This included 262 million anti-personnel cluster bombs. An estimated 80 million of these did not explode and remain a deadly threat to the population.

The large quantity of unexploded bombs in the area, especially cluster munitions, limits free movement. Evidence of the bombing raids can be seen in the form of broken or displaced jars and bomb craters. Sightseeing on the Plain of Jars can only be done safely on cleared and marked pathways.

The Mines Advisory Group, a non-governmental organization, in collaboration with UNESCO and funded by the New Zealand government ( NZAID), cleared unexploded bombs from the three most visited sites from July 2004 to July 2005. A second phase of bomb clearance at the sites, also funded by NZAID, was undertaken in 2007, during which four more jar sites were made safe.

On 6 July 2019, the Plain of Jars was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Baldock, J and J. Van Den Bergh 2009. "Geological Mysteries at the Plain of Jars begin to unravel". Geology Today. August 2009.

Box, P. 2000. Overview Mapping Using GIS, UNESCO Plain of Jars Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, Richard A Engelhardt, ed., UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok.

Box, P. 2001. Mapping Megaliths and Unexploded Ordnance, UNESCO Plain of Jars Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, Richard A Engelhardt, ed., UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok.

Box, P. 2003, "Safeguarding the Plain of Jars: Megaliths and Unexploded Ordnance in the Lao People's Democratic Republic". ESRI, Journal of GIS in Archaeology, Volume 1-April 2003.

Fred Branfman (compiled by): Voices from the Plain of Jars - Life under an Air War; Harper & Row 1972.

Karen J. Coates - '"Plain of Jars" (Archaeology, July/August 2005)

Colani, Madeleine 1935. Megaliths du Haut Laos, Publication de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient XXV-XXVI, Paris.

Giteau, M. 2001, Art et Archeologie du Laos, Editions A et J Picard, Paris, pp. 37-57.

Higham, C. 1989. The Archaeology of Mainland Southeast Asia, From 10,000 B.C. to the Fall of Angkor, Cambridge World Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. pp. 228-230.

Nitta E. 1996. "Comparative study on the jar burial traditions in Vietnam, Thailand and Laos". Historical Science Reports, Kagoshima University 43: 1-19.

Rogers P., R. Engelhardt, P. Box, J. Van Den Bergh, Samlane Luangaphay and Chantone Chantavong 2003. "The UNESCO project: Safeguarding the Plain of Jars". In A. Karlström, and A. Källén (eds) Fishbones and Glittering Emblems: Southeast Asian Archaeology 2002. Stockholm: Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.

Rogers, P. and J. Van Den Bergh 2008. "Legacy of a Secret War: archaeological research and bomb clearance in the Plain of Jars, Lao PDR". In E. Bacus, I. Glover and P. Sharrock (eds) Interpreting Southeast Asian's Past. Monument, Image and Text. Selected Papers from 10th Conference of EASAA, Vol. 2: 400-408.

Sayavongkhamdy Thongsa and Peter Bellwood 2001. "Recent Archaeological Research in Laos". Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 19: 101-10.

Stone, R. 2007. "Archaeology: Saving a Lost Culture's Megalithic Jars, Xieng Khouang, Laos", Science, 16, February 2007: Vol. 315. no. 5814, pp. 934 - 935.

Bounmy Thepsimuong. The Plain of Jars. A Guide Book. Vientiane 2004.

Van Den Bergh Julie 2007. "Safeguarding the Plain of Jars, an Overview". Y. Goudineau and M. Lorrilard. (eds.) Etudes thematiques 18. New Research on Laos-Recherches nouveles sur le Laos.

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The Plain of Jars ( Lao: ທົ່ງໄຫຫີນ Thong Hai Hin, [tʰōŋhǎjhǐn]) is a megalithic archaeological landscape in Laos. It consists of thousands of stone jars scattered around the upland valleys and the lower foothills of the central plain of the Xiangkhoang Plateau. The jars are arranged in clusters ranging in number from one to several hundred.

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My Son Sanctuary, Duy Phú, Duy Xuyên District, Quảng Nam, Vietnam

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My Son Sanctuary, Duy Phú, Duy Xuyên District, Quảng Nam, Vietnam

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My Son Sanctuary, Duy Phú, Duy Xuyên District, Quảng Nam, Vietnam

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สถานที่ศักดิ์สิทธิ์หมีเซิน (เวียดนาม)

ปีที่ขึ้นทะเบียน: 1999
ลักษณะเด่น:

เป็นกลุ่มปราสาทฮินดูที่สร้างขึ้นโดยอาณาจักรจามปาในช่วงศตวรรษที่ 4–13

โครงสร้างอิฐและหินทรายที่แกะสลักอย่างประณีต สะท้อนถึงอิทธิพลของศาสนาฮินดู

สถานที่ตั้งอยู่ในหุบเขาลึก ล้อมรอบด้วยป่าดงดิบ

ความสำคัญ:

เป็นศูนย์กลางทางศาสนาและพิธีกรรมของชาวจามปา

แสดงถึงการผสมผสานระหว่างศิลปะพื้นถิ่นกับอิทธิพลจากอินเดีย

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Outstanding Universal Value
Brief synthesis
During the 4th to 13th centuries there was a unique culture on the coast of contemporary Vietnam, owing its spiritual origins to the Hinduism of India. This is graphically illustrated by the remains of a series of impressive tower temples in a dramatic site that was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom for most of its existence.

My Son Sanctuary dates from the 4th to the 13th centuries CE. The property is located in the mountainous border Duy Xuyen District of Quang Nam Province, in central Viet Nam. It is situated within an elevated geological basin surrounded by a ring of mountains, which provides the watershed for the sacred Thu Bon river. The source of the Thu Bon river is here and it flows past the monuments, out of the basin, and through the historic heartland of the Champa Kingdom, draining into the South China Sea at its mouth near the ancient port city of Hoi An. The location gives the sites its strategic significance as it is also easily defensible.

The tower temples were constructed over ten centuries of continuous development in what was the heart of the ancestral homeland of the ruling Dua Clan which unified the Cham clans and established the kingdom of Champapura (Sanskrit for City of the Cham people) in 192 CE. During the 4th to 13th centuries CE this unique culture, on the coast of contemporary Viet Nam, owed its spiritual origins to the Hinduism of the Indian sub-continent. Under this influence many temples were built to the Hindu divinities such as Krishna and Vishnu, but above all Shiva. Although Mahayan Buddhist penetrated the Cham culture, probably from the 4thcentury CE, and became strongly established in the north of the kingdom, Shivite Hinduism remained the established state religion.

The monuments of the My Son sanctuary are the most important constructions of the My Son civilization. The tower temples have a variety of architectural designs symbolizing the greatness and purity of Mount Meru, the mythical sacred mountain home of Hindu gods at the center of the universe, now symbolically reproduced on Earth in the mountainous homeland of the Cham people. They are constructed in fired brick with stone pillars and decorated with sandstone bas-reliefs depicting scenes from Hindu mythology. Their technological sophistication is evidence of Cham engineering skills while the elaborate iconography and symbolism of the tower-temples give insight into the content and evolution of Cham religious and political thought.

The My Son Sanctuary is a remarkable architectural ensemble that developed over a period of ten centuries. It presents a vivid picture of spiritual and political life in an important phase of the history of South-East Asia.

The monuments are unique and without equal in Southeast Asia.

Criterion (ii): The My Son Sanctuary is an exceptional example of cultural interchange, with an indigenous society adapting to external cultural influences, notably the Hindu art and architecture of the Indian sub-continent.

Criterion (iii): The Champa Kingdom was an important phenomenon in the political and cultural history of South - East Asia, vividly illustrated by the ruins of My Son.
Integrity
The Hindu tower temples of the My Son Sanctuary are located within a well-protected property with clearly defined boundaries. Eight groups of 71 standing monuments exist as well as extensive buried archaeology representing the complete historic sequence of construction of tower temples at the site, covering the entire period of the existence of the Champa Kingdom.

Conservation of the My Son monuments began in the early part of the 20 th century CE soon after their discovery in modern times by French archaeologists. During World War II, the First Indo-China War and, especially, during the Second Indo-China War, many tower temples were damaged. However, conservation work has been carried out and the remaining tower temples have been maintained and are well-preserved.

The site is at risk from severe climatic conditions such as flooding and high humidity, though stream widening and clearance of surrounding vegetation have minimized these impacts. There remains an enduring issue of the possible presence of unidentified, unexploded ordnance within the boundaries of the property's buffer zone, which has affected the archaeological research of newly-discovered areas, restoration of eight monumental areas, as well as site presentation for visitors.
Authenticity
Our understanding of the authenticity of the My Son Sanctuary is underpinned by the work of Henry Parmentier in the early 20th century. Historically, investigation by archaeologists, historians, and other scholars in the 19th and early 20th century has recorded the significance of the site through its monuments, which are masterpieces of brick construction of the period, both in terms of the technology of their construction and because of their intricate carved-brick decorations. The location and the sacred nature of the site ensured that the monuments have remained intact within their original natural setting, although many have suffered some damage over the years. Conservation interventions under French and Polish expert guidance have been relatively minor and do not affect the overall level of authenticity of the site. The authenticity of My Son in terms of design, materials, workmanship, and setting continues to support it Outstanding Universal Value.
Protection and management requirements
The property was recognized as a National Site in 1979 by the Culture Ministry and as a Special National site in 2009 by the national government. All local and national authorities must act according to the provisions of the Cultural Heritage Law (2001 amended 2009).

Overall responsibility for the protection of the property rests with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, operating through its Department of Preservation and Museology. This responsibility is devolved to the Quang Nam Provincial Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism which collaborates closely with the People's Committee of Duy Xuyen District, which has established My Son Management Board of Relics and Tourism. Account is taken of the special needs of the historic heritage in the Nation Plan for the Development of Tourism and in the General Plan for the Socio - Economic Development of Duy Xuyen District.

A strategy for the revision of the Conservation Master plan of My Son is being developed as part of the current UNESCO Asia- Pacific World Heritage site project for My Son, and should be integrated within an up to date Management Plan for the site.

After the unification of Viet Nam in 1975, conservation work began again in earnest and now the conservation of the property is of a high standard with both national and international teams working on site.

Although the Vietnamese authorities demined unexploded ordnance at four main monuments since 1975, this is progressing slowly and much de-mining work remains to be carried out.

To further the safeguarding of the property, the Prime-Minister of Viet Nam promulgated Decision 1915/ QĐ-TTg, which gave formal approval and provided budgetary support for the property's Master Plan (2008 to 2020) for the conservation and tourism promotion of the property.

The management of the forested areas surrounding the site needs to be improved to allow better environmental protection of the property. Detailed monitoring of these areas for the effects of extreme climatic conditions should continue to be addressed, and should be included in the future long-term management of the property.

With significantly increased numbers of tourists visiting the site, managing its carrying-capacity will be increasingly important and should also be addressed as part of a Management Plan as is required for the site.

It is essential to continue with the de-mining work to ensure the safety of people and to allow appropriate access and understanding of the monuments in their setting.

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Between the 4th and 13th centuries a unique culture which owed its spiritual origins to Indian Hinduism developed on the coast of contemporary Viet Nam. This is graphically illustrated by the remains of a series of ...

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Prambanan Temple, Jalan Raya Solo - Yogyakarta, Kranggan, Bokoharjo, Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia

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Prambanan Temple, Jalan Raya Solo - Yogyakarta, Kranggan, Bokoharjo, Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia

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Prambanan Temple, Jalan Raya Solo - Yogyakarta, Kranggan, Bokoharjo, Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia

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กลุ่มวัดปรัมบานัน (อินโดนีเซีย)

ปีที่ขึ้นทะเบียน: 1991 (พ.ศ.2534)
ลักษณะเด่น:

กลุ่มวัดฮินดูที่ใหญ่ที่สุดในอินโดนีเซีย สร้างขึ้นในศตวรรษที่ 9

วัดหลัก ได้แก่

ปราสาทศิวะ: เป็นปราสาทที่สูงที่สุดในกลุ่ม

ปราสาทพรหมา และ ปราสาทวิษณุ

ภาพแกะสลักเล่าเรื่องมหากาพย์รามายณะ

ความสำคัญ:

แสดงถึงอิทธิพลของศาสนาฮินดูและพัฒนาการของศิลปะชวา

เป็นศูนย์กลางของพิธีกรรมและวัฒนธรรมในยุคอาณาจักรมัตชาปาหิต

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Borobudur Temple, Jalan Badrawati, Kawasan Candi Borobudur, Borobudur, Magelang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

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Borobudur Temple, Jalan Badrawati, Kawasan Candi Borobudur, Borobudur, Magelang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

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Borobudur Temple, Jalan Badrawati, Kawasan Candi Borobudur, Borobudur, Magelang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

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กลุ่มวัดโบโรบูดูร์ (อินโดนีเซีย)

ปีที่ขึ้นทะเบียน: 1991 (พ.ศ.2534)
ลักษณะเด่น:

วัดพุทธที่ใหญ่ที่สุดในโลก สร้างขึ้นในศตวรรษที่ 8–9

ลักษณะเป็นพีระมิดขั้นบันได มีสถูปจำนวนมากบนยอด

ภาพแกะสลักกว่า 2,500 ชิ้นที่เล่าเรื่องราวในพระพุทธศาสนา

ความสำคัญ:

ศูนย์กลางของการเผยแผ่พระพุทธศาสนาในภูมิภาค

แสดงถึงความเจริญรุ่งเรืองของศาสนาและศิลปวัฒนธรรมชวา

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Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur ( Indonesian: Candi Borobudur, Javanese: ꦕꦤ꧀ꦝꦶꦧꦫꦧꦸꦝꦸꦂ, romanized: Candhi Barabudhur) is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, not far from the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indonesia. It is the world's largest Buddhist temple. The temple consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome. It is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and originally 504 Buddha statues. The central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated stupa.

Built in the 9th century during the reign of the Sailendra Dynasty, the temple design follows Javanese Buddhist architecture, which blends the Indonesian indigenous tradition of ancestor worship and the Buddhist concept of attaining nirvāṇa. The temple demonstrates the influences of Gupta art that reflects India's influence on the region, yet there are enough indigenous scenes and elements incorporated to make Borobudur uniquely Indonesian. The monument is a shrine to the Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The pilgrim journey begins at the base of the monument and follows a path around the monument, ascending to the top through three levels symbolic of Buddhist cosmology: (the world of desire), (the world of forms) and Arūpadhātu (the world of formlessness). The monument guides pilgrims through an extensive system of stairways and corridors with 1,460 narrative relief panels on the walls and the balustrades. Borobudur has one of the largest and most complete ensembles of Buddhist reliefs in the world.

Evidence suggests that Borobudur was constructed in the 9th century and subsequently abandoned following the 14th-century decline of Hindu kingdoms in Java and the Javanese conversion to Islam. Worldwide knowledge of its existence was sparked in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then the British ruler of Java, who was advised of its location by native Indonesians. Borobudur has since been preserved through several restorations. The largest restoration project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO, followed by the monument's listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and ranks with Bagan in Myanmar and Angkor Wat in Cambodia as one of the great archeological sites of Southeast Asia. Borobudur remains popular for pilgrimage, with Buddhists in Indonesia celebrating Vesak Day at the monument. Borobudur is Indonesia's single most visited tourist attraction.

In Indonesian, ancient temples are referred to as ; thus locals refer to "Borobudur Temple" as Candi Borobudur. The term candi also loosely describes ancient structures, for example gates and baths. The origins of the name Borobudur, is derived from Boro for big and Budur for Buddha The name Borobudur was first written in Raffles's book on Javan history. Raffles wrote about a monument called Borobudur, but there are no older documents suggesting the same name. The only old Javanese manuscript that hints the monument called Budur as a holy Buddhist sanctuary is Nagarakretagama, written by Mpu Prapanca, a Buddhist scholar of Majapahit court, in 1365. Most candi are named after a nearby village. If it followed Javanese language conventions and was named after the nearby village of Bore, the monument should have been named "BudurBoro". Raffles thought that Budur might correspond to the modern Javanese word Buda ("ancient")-i.e., "ancient Boro". He also suggested that the name might derive from boro, meaning "great" or "honourable" and Budur for Buddha. However, another archaeologist suggests the second component of the name ( Budur) comes from Javanese term bhudhara ("mountain").

Another possible etymology by Dutch archaeologist A.J. Bernet Kempers suggests that Borobudur is a corrupted simplified local Javanese pronunciation of Biara Beduhur written in Sanskrit as Vihara Buddha Uhr. The term Buddha-Uhr could mean "the city of Buddhas", while another possible term Beduhur is probably an Old Javanese term, still survived today in Balinese vocabulary, which means "a high place", constructed from the stem word dhuhur or luhur (high). This suggests that Borobudur means vihara of Buddha located on a high place or on a hill.

The construction and inauguration of a sacred Buddhist building-possibly a reference to Borobudur-was mentioned in two inscriptions, both discovered in Kedu, Temanggung Regency. The Karangtengah inscription, dated 824, mentioned a sacred building named Jinalaya (the realm of those who have conquered worldly desire and reached enlightenment), inaugurated by Pramodhawardhani, daughter of Samaratungga. The Tri Tepusan inscription, dated 842, is mentioned in the sima, the (tax-free) lands awarded by Çrī Kahulunnan ( Pramodhawardhani) to ensure the funding and maintenance of a Kamūlān called Bhūmisambhāra. Kamūlān is from the word mula, which means "the place of origin", a sacred building to honor the ancestors, probably those of the Sailendras. Casparis suggested that Bhūmi Sambhāra Bhudhāra, which in Sanskrit means "the mountain of combined virtues of the ten stages of Boddhisattvahood", was the original name of Borobudur.

Approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Yogyakarta and 86 kilometres (53 mi) west of Surakarta, Borobudur is located in an elevated area between two twin volcanoes, Sundoro- Sumbing and Merbabu- Merapi, and two rivers, the Progo and the Elo. According to local myth, the area known as Kedu Plain is a Javanese " sacred" place and has been dubbed "the garden of Java" due to its high agricultural fertility.

During the restoration in the early 20th century, it was discovered that three Buddhist temples in the region, Borobudur, Pawon and Mendut, are positioned along a straight line. A ritual relationship between the three temples must have existed, although the exact ritual process is unknown.

Speculation about a surrounding lake's existence was the subject of intense discussion among archaeologists in the 20th century. In 1931, a Dutch artist and scholar of Hindu and Buddhist architecture, W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp, developed a hypothesis that the Kedu Plain was once a lake and Borobudur initially represented a lotus flower floating on the lake. It has been claimed that Borobudur was built on a bedrock hill, 265 m (869 ft) above sea level and 15 m (49 ft) above the floor of a dried-out paleolake.

Dumarçay together with Professor Thanikaimoni took soil samples in 1974 and again in 1977 from trial trenches that had been dug into the hill, as well as from the plain immediately to the south. These samples were later analysed by Thanikaimoni, who examined their pollen and spore content to identify the type of vegetation that had grown in the area around the time of Borobudur's construction. They were unable to discover any pollen or spore samples that were characteristic of any vegetation known to grow in an aquatic environment such as a lake, pond or marsh. The area surrounding Borobudur appears to have been surrounded by agricultural land and palm trees at the time of the monument's construction, as is still the case today. Caesar Voûte and the geomorphologist Dr J.J. Nossin in 1985-86 field studies re-examined the Borobudur lake hypothesis and confirmed the absence of a lake around Borobudur at the time of its construction and active use as a sanctuary. These findings A New Perspective on Some Old Questions Pertaining to Borobudur were published in the 2005 UNESCO publication titled "The Restoration of Borobudur".

There are no known records of construction or the intended purpose of Borobudur. The duration of construction has been estimated by comparison of carved reliefs on the temple's hidden foot and the inscriptions commonly used in royal charters during the 8th and 9th centuries. Borobudur was likely founded around 800 AD. This corresponds to the period between 760 and 830 AD, the peak of the Sailendra dynasty rule over the Mataram kingdom in central Java, when their power encompassed not only the Srivijayan Empire but also southern Thailand, Indianized kingdoms of Philippines, North Malaya (Kedah, also known in Indian texts as the ancient Hindu state of Kadaram). The construction has been estimated to have taken 75 years with completion during the reign of Samaratungga in 825.

There is uncertainty about Hindu and Buddhist rulers in Java around that time. The Sailendras were known as ardent followers of Buddhism, though stone inscriptions found at Sojomerto also suggest they may have been Hindus. It was during this time that many Hindu and Buddhist monuments were built on the plains and mountains around the Kedu Plain. The Buddhist monuments, including Borobudur, were erected around the same period as the Hindu Shiva Prambanan temple compound. In 732 AD, the Shivaite King Sanjaya commissioned a Shivalinga sanctuary to be built on the Wukir hill, only 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Borobudur.

Construction of Buddhist temples, including Borobudur, at that time was possible because Sanjaya's immediate successor, Rakai Panangkaran, granted his permission to the Buddhist followers to build such temples. In fact, to show his respect, Panangkaran gave the village of Kalasan to the Buddhist community, as is written in the Kalasan Charter dated 778 AD. This has led some archaeologists to believe that there was never serious conflict concerning religion in Java as it was possible for a Hindu king to patronize the establishment of a Buddhist monument; or for a Buddhist king to act likewise. The 856 battle on the Ratubaka plateau was much after and was a political battle. There was a climate of peaceful coexistence where Sailendra involvement exists in Lara Jonggrang.

Borobudur lay hidden for centuries under layers of volcanic ash and jungle growth. The facts behind its abandonment remain a mystery. It is not known when active use of the monument and Buddhist pilgrimage to it ceased. Sometime between 928 and 1006, King Mpu Sindok moved the capital of the Mataram Kingdom to the region of East Java after a series of volcanic eruptions; it is not certain whether this influenced the abandonment, but several sources mention this as the most likely period of abandonment. The monument is mentioned vaguely as late as c. 1365, in Mpu Prapanca's Nagarakretagama, written during the Majapahit era and mentioning "the vihara in Budur". Soekmono (1976) also mentions the popular belief that the temples were disbanded when the population converted to Islam in the 15th century.

The monument was not forgotten completely, though folk stories gradually shifted from its past glory into more superstitious beliefs associated with bad luck and misery. Two old Javanese chronicles ( babad) from the 18th century mention cases of bad luck associated with the monument. According to the Babad Tanah Jawi (or the History of Java), the monument was a fatal factor for Mas Dana, a rebel who revolted against Pakubuwono I, the king of Mataram in 1709. It was mentioned that the "Redi Borobudur" hill was besieged and the insurgents were defeated and sentenced to death by the king. In the Babad Mataram (or the History of the Mataram Kingdom), the monument was associated with the misfortune of the crown prince of the Yogyakarta Sultanate in 1757. In spite of a taboo against visiting the monument, "he took such pity on 'the knight who was captured in a cage' (i.e. the statue in one of the perforated stupas) that he could not help coming to see his 'unfortunate friend'". Upon returning to his palace, he fell ill and died one day later.

Following its capture, Java was under British administration from 1811 to 1816. The appointed governor was Lieutenant Governor-General Thomas Stamford Raffles, who took great interest in the history of Java. He collected Javanese antiques and made notes through contacts with local inhabitants during his tour throughout the island. On an inspection tour to Semarang in 1814, he was informed about a big monument deep in a jungle near the village of Bumisegoro. He was not able to see the site himself, but sent Hermann Cornelius, a Dutch engineer who, among other antiquity explorations had uncovered the Sewu complex in 1806-07, to investigate. In two months, Cornelius and his 200 men cut down trees, burned down vegetation and dug away the earth to reveal the monument. Due to the danger of collapse, he could not unearth all galleries. He reported his findings to Raffles, including various drawings. Although Raffles mentioned the discovery and hard work by Cornelius and his men in only a few sentences, he has been credited with the monument's rediscovery, as the one who had brought it to the world's attention.

Christiaan Lodewijk Hartmann, the Resident of the Kedu region, continued Cornelius's work, and in 1835, the whole complex was finally unearthed. His interest in Borobudur was more personal than official. Hartmann did not write any reports of his activities, in particular, the alleged story that he discovered the large statue of Buddha in the main stupa. In 1842, Hartmann investigated the main dome, although what he discovered is unknown and the main stupa remains empty.

The Dutch East Indies government then commissioned Frans Carel Wilsen, a Dutch engineering official, who studied the monument and drew hundreds of relief sketches. Jan Frederik Gerrit Brumund was also appointed to make a detailed study of the monument, which was completed in 1859. The government intended to publish an article based on Brumund's study supplemented by Wilsen's drawings, but Brumund refused to cooperate. The government then commissioned another scholar, Conradus Leemans, who compiled a monograph based on Brumund's and Wilsen's sources. In 1873, the first monograph of the detailed study of Borobudur was published, followed by its French translation a year later. The first photograph of the monument was taken in 1872 by the Dutch- Flemish engraver Isidore van Kinsbergen.

Appreciation of the site developed slowly, and it served for some time largely as a source of souvenirs and income for "souvenir hunters" and thieves. In 1882, the chief inspector of cultural artifacts recommended that Borobudur be entirely disassembled with the relocation of reliefs into museums due to the unstable condition of the monument. As a result, the government appointed Willem Pieter Groeneveldt, curator of the archaeological collection of the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, to undertake a thorough investigation of the site and to assess the actual condition of the complex; his report found that these fears were unjustified and recommended it be left intact.

Borobudur was considered as the source of souvenirs, and parts of its sculptures were looted, some even with colonial-government consent. In 1896 King Chulalongkorn of Siam visited Java and requested and was allowed to take home eight cartloads of sculptures taken from Borobudur. These include thirty pieces taken from a number of relief panels, five buddha images, two lions, one gargoyle, several kala motifs from the stairs and gateways, and a guardian statue ( dvarapala). Several of these artifacts, most notably the lions, dvarapala, kala, makara and giant waterspouts are now on display in the Java Art room in The National Museum in Bangkok.

Borobudur attracted attention in 1885, when the Dutch engineer Jan Willem IJzerman, Chairman of the Archaeological Society in Yogyakarta, made a discovery about the hidden foot. Photographs that reveal reliefs on the hidden foot were made in 1890-1891. The discovery led the Dutch East Indies government to take steps to safeguard the monument. In 1900, the government set up a commission consisting of three officials to assess the monument: Jan Lourens Andries Brandes, an art historian, Theodoor van Erp, a Dutch army engineer officer, and Benjamin Willem van de Kamer, a construction engineer from the Department of Public Works.

In 1902, the commission submitted a threefold plan of proposal to the government. First, the immediate dangers should be avoided by resetting the corners, removing stones that endangered the adjacent parts, strengthening the first balustrades and restoring several niches, archways, stupas and the main dome. Second, after fencing off the courtyards, proper maintenance should be provided and drainage should be improved by restoring floors and spouts. Third, all loose stones should be removed, the monument cleared up to the first balustrades, disfigured stones removed and the main dome restored. The total cost was estimated at that time around 48,800 Dutch guilders.

The restoration then was carried out between 1907 and 1911, using the principles of anastylosis and led by Theodor van Erp. The first seven months of restoration were occupied with excavating the grounds around the monument to find missing Buddha heads and panel stones. Van Erp dismantled and rebuilt the upper three circular platforms and stupas. Along the way, Van Erp discovered more things he could do to improve the monument; he submitted another proposal, which was approved with the additional cost of 34,600 guilders. At first glance, Borobudur had been restored to its old glory. Van Erp went further by carefully reconstructing the (three-tiered parasol) pinnacle on top of the main stupa. However, he later dismantled the chattra, citing that there were not enough original stones used in reconstructing the pinnacle, which means that the original design of Borobudur's pinnacle is actually unknown. The dismantled chattra now is stored in Karmawibhangga Museum, a few hundred meters north from Borobudur.

Due to the limited budget, the restoration had been primarily focused on cleaning the sculptures, and Van Erp did not solve the drainage problem. Within fifteen years, the gallery walls were sagging, and the reliefs showed signs of new cracks and deterioration. Van Erp used concrete from which alkali salts and calcium hydroxide leached and were transported into the rest of the construction. This caused some problems, so that a further thorough renovation was urgently needed.

Small restorations had been performed since then, but not sufficient for complete protection. During World War II and Indonesian National Revolution in 1945 to 1949, Borobudur restoration efforts were halted. The monument suffered further from the weather and drainage problems, which caused the earth core inside the temple to expand, pushing the stone structure and tilting the walls. By 1950s some parts of Borobudur were facing imminent danger of collapsing. In 1965, Indonesia asked the UNESCO for advice on ways to counteract the problem of weathering at Borobudur and other monuments. In 1968 Professor Soekmono, then head of the Archeological Service of Indonesia, launched his "Save Borobudur" campaign, in an effort to organize a massive restoration project.

In the late 1960s, the Indonesian government had requested from the international community a major renovation to protect the monument. In 1973, a master plan to restore Borobudur was created. Through an Agreement concerning the Voluntary Contributions to be Given for the Execution of the Project to Preserve Borobudur ( Paris, 29 January 1973), 5 countries agreed to contribute to the restoration: Australia ( AUD $200,000), Belgium ( BEF fr.250,000), Cyprus ( CYP £100,000), France ( USD $77,500) and Germany ( DEM DM 2,000,000). The Indonesian government and UNESCO then undertook the complete overhaul of the monument in a big restoration project between 1975 and 1982. In 1975, the actual work began. Over one million stones were dismantled and removed during the restoration, and set aside like pieces of a massive jig-saw puzzle to be individually identified, catalogued, cleaned and treated for preservation. Borobudur became a testing ground for new conservation techniques, including new procedures to battle the microorganisms attacking the stone. The foundation was stabilized, and all 1,460 panels were cleaned. The restoration involved the dismantling of the five square platforms and the improvement of drainage by embedding water channels into the monument. Both impermeable and filter layers were added. This colossal project involved around 600 people to restore the monument and cost a total of US$6,901,243.

After the renovation was finished, UNESCO listed Borobudur as a World Heritage Site in 1991. It is listed under Cultural criteria (i) "to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius", (ii) "to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design", and (vi) "to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance".

In December 2017, the idea to reinstall on top of Borobudur main stupa's yasthi has been revisited. However, expert said a thorough study is needed on restoring the umbrella-shaped pinnacle. By early 2018, the chattra restoration has not yet commenced.

Following the major 1973 renovation funded by UNESCO, Borobudur is once again used as a place of worship and pilgrimage. Once a year, during the full moon in May or June, Buddhists in Indonesia observe Vesak ( Indonesian: Waisak) day commemorating the birth, death, and the time when Siddhārtha Gautama attained the highest wisdom to become the Lord Buddha. Waisak is an official national holiday in Indonesia, and the ceremony is centered at the three Buddhist temples by walking from Mendut to Pawon and ending at Borobudur.

The monument is the single most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia. In 1974, 260,000 tourists, of whom 36,000 were foreigners, visited the monument. The figure climbed to 2.5 million visitors annually (80% were domestic tourists) in the mid-1990s, before the country's economic crisis. Tourism development, however, has been criticized for not including the local community, giving rise to occasional conflicts. In 2003, residents and small businesses around Borobudur organized several meetings and poetry protests, objecting to a provincial government plan to build a three-storey mall complex, dubbed the "Java World".

International tourism awards were given to Borobudur archaeological park, such as PATA Grand Pacific Award 2004, PATA Gold Award Winner 2011, and PATA Gold Award Winner 2012. In June 2012, Borobudur was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest Buddhist archaeological site.

UNESCO identified three specific areas of concern under the present state of conservation: (i) vandalism by visitors; (ii) soil erosion in the south-eastern part of the site; and (iii) analysis and restoration of missing elements. The soft soil, the numerous earthquakes and heavy rains lead to the destabilization of the structure. Earthquakes are by far the most important contributing factors, since not only do stones fall down and arches crumble, but the earth itself can move in waves, further destroying the structure. The increasing popularity of the stupa brings in many visitors, most of whom are from Indonesia. Despite warning signs on all levels not to touch anything, the regular transmission of warnings over loudspeakers and the presence of guards, vandalism on reliefs and statues is a common occurrence and problem, leading to further deterioration. As of 2009, there is no system in place to limit the number of visitors allowed per day or to introduce mandatory guided tours only.

In August 2014, the Conservation Authority of Borobudur reported some severe abrasion of the stone stairs caused by the scraping of visitors' footwear. The conservation authority planned to install wooden stairs to cover and protect the original stone stairs, just like those installed in Angkor Wat.

Borobudur was heavily affected by the eruption of Mount Merapi in October and November 2010. Volcanic ash from Merapi fell on the temple complex, which is approximately 28 kilometres (17 mi) west-southwest of the crater. A layer of ash up to 2.5 centimetres (1 in) thick fell on the temple statues during the eruption of 3-5 November, also killing nearby vegetation, with experts fearing that the acidic ash might damage the historic site. The temple complex was closed from 5 to 9 November to clean up the ashfall.

UNESCO donated US$3 million as a part of the costs towards the rehabilitation of Borobudur after Mount Merapi's 2010 eruption. More than 55,000 stone blocks comprising the temple's structure were dismantled to restore the drainage system, which had been clogged by slurry after the rain. The restoration was finished in November.

In January 2012, two German stone-conservation experts spent ten days at the site analyzing the temples and making recommendations to ensure their long-term preservation. In June, Germany agreed to contribute $130,000 to UNESCO for the second phase of rehabilitation, in which six experts in stone conservation, microbiology, structural engineering and chemical engineering would spend a week in Borobudur in June, then return for another visit in September or October. These missions would launch the preservation activities recommended in the January report and would include capacity building activities to enhance the preservation capabilities of governmental staff and young conservation experts.

On 14 February 2014, major tourist attractions in Yogyakarta and Central Java, including Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko, were closed to visitors, after being severely affected by the volcanic ash from the eruption of Kelud volcano in East Java, located around 200 kilometers east from Yogyakarta. Workers covered the iconic stupas and statues of Borobudur temple to protect the structure from volcanic ash. The Kelud volcano erupted on 13 February 2014 with an explosion heard as far away as Yogyakarta.

On 21 January 1985, nine stupas were badly damaged by nine bombs. In 1991, a blind Muslim preacher, Husein Ali Al Habsyie, was sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding a series of bombings in the mid-1980s, including the temple attack. Two other members of the Islamic extremist group that carried out the bombings were each sentenced to 20 years in 1986, and another man received a 13-year prison term.

On 27 May 2006, an earthquake of 6.2 magnitude struck the south coast of Central Java. The event caused severe damage around the region and casualties to the nearby city of Yogyakarta and Prambanan, but Borobudur remained intact.

In August 2014, Indonesian police and security forces tightened the security in and around Borobudur temple compound, as a precaution to a threat posted on social media by a self-proclaimed Indonesian branch of ISIS, citing that the terrorists planned to destroy Borobudur and other statues in Indonesia. The security improvements included the repair and increased deployment of CCTV monitors and the implementation of a night patrol in and around the temple compound. The jihadist group follows a strict interpretation of Islam that condemns any anthropomorphic representations such as sculptures as idolatry.

The high volume of visitors ascending the Borobudur's narrow stairs, has caused a severe wear out on the stone of the stairs, eroding the stones surface and made them thinner and smoother. Overall, Borobudur has 2,033 surfaces of stone stairs, spread over four cardinal directions; including the west side, the east, south and north. There are around 1,028 surfaces of them, or about 49.15 percent, that are severely worn out.

To avoid further wear of stairs' stones, since November 2014, two main sections of Borobudur stairs - the eastern (ascending route) and northern (descending route) sides - are covered with wooden structures. The similar technique has been applied in Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Egyptian Pyramids. In March 2015, Borobudur Conservation Center proposed further to seal the stairs with rubber cover. Proposals have also been made that visitors be issued special sandals.

The archaeological excavation into Borobudur during reconstruction suggests that adherents of Hinduism or a pre-Indic faith had already begun to erect a large structure on Borobudur's hill before the site was appropriated by Buddhists. The foundations are unlike any Hindu or Buddhist shrine structures, and therefore, the initial structure is considered more indigenous Javanese than Hindu or Buddhist.

Borobudur is built as a single large stupa and, when viewed from above, takes the form of a giant tantric Buddhist , simultaneously representing the Buddhist cosmology and the nature of mind. The original foundation is a square, approximately 118 metres (387 ft) on each side. It has nine platforms, of which the lower six are square and the upper three are circular. The upper platform contains seventy-two small stupas surrounding one large central stupa. Each stupa is bell-shaped and pierced by numerous decorative openings. Statues of the Buddha sit inside the pierced enclosures.

The design of Borobudur took the form of a step pyramid. Previously, the prehistoric Austronesian megalithic culture in Indonesia had constructed several earth mounds and stone step pyramid structures called punden berundak as discovered in Pangguyangan site near Cisolok and in Cipari near Kuningan. The construction of stone pyramids is based on native beliefs that mountains and high places are the abode of ancestral spirits or hyangs. The punden berundak step pyramid is the basic design in Borobudur, believed to be the continuation of older megalithic tradition incorporated with Mahayana Buddhist ideas and symbolism.

The monument's three divisions symbolize the three "realms" of Buddhist cosmology, namely (the world of desires), (the world of forms), and finally Arupadhatu (the formless world). Ordinary sentient beings live out their lives on the lowest level, the realm of desire. Those who have burnt out all desire for continued existence leave the world of desire and live in the world on the level of form alone: they see forms but are not drawn to them. Finally, full Buddhas go beyond even form and experience reality at its purest, most fundamental level, the formless ocean of nirvāṇa. The liberation from the cycle of saṃsāra where the enlightened soul had no longer attached to worldly form corresponds to the concept of sūnyatā, the complete voidness or the nonexistence of the self. Kāmadhātu is represented by the base, Rupadhatu by the five square platforms (the body), and Arupadhatu by the three circular platforms and the large topmost stupa. The architectural features between the three stages have metaphorical differences. For instance, square and detailed decorations in the Rupadhatu disappear into plain circular platforms in the Arupadhatu to represent how the world of forms-where men are still attached with forms and names-changes into the world of the formless.

Congregational worship in Borobudur is performed in a walking pilgrimage. Pilgrims are guided by the system of staircases and corridors ascending to the top platform. Each platform represents one stage of enlightenment. The path that guides pilgrims was designed to symbolize Buddhist cosmology.

In 1885, a hidden structure under the base was accidentally discovered. The "hidden footing" contains reliefs, 160 of which are narratives describing the real Kāmadhātu. The remaining reliefs are panels with short inscriptions that apparently provide instructions for the sculptors, illustrating the scenes to be carved. The real base is hidden by an encasement base, the purpose of which remains a mystery. It was first thought that the real base had to be covered to prevent a disastrous subsidence of the monument into the hill. There is another theory that the encasement base was added because the original hidden footing was incorrectly designed, according to Vastu Shastra, the Indian ancient book about architecture and town planning. Regardless of why it was commissioned, the encasement base was built with detailed and meticulous design and with aesthetic and religious consideration.

Approximately 55,000 cubic metres (72,000 cu yd) of andesite stones were taken from neighbouring stone quarries to build the monument. The stone was cut to size, transported to the site and laid without mortar. Knobs, indentations and dovetails were used to form joints between stones. The roof of stupas, niches and arched gateways were constructed in corbelling method. Reliefs were created after the building had been completed.

The monument is equipped with a good drainage system to cater to the area's high stormwater run-off. To prevent flooding, 100 spouts are installed at each corner, each with a unique carved gargoyle in the shape of a giant or makara.

Borobudur differs markedly from the general design of other structures built for this purpose. Instead of being built on a flat surface, Borobudur is built on a natural hill. However, construction technique is similar to other temples in Java. Without the inner spaces seen in other temples, and with a general design similar to the shape of pyramid, Borobudur was first thought more likely to have served as a stupa, instead of a temple. A stupa is intended as a shrine for the Buddha. Sometimes stupas were built only as devotional symbols of Buddhism. A temple, on the other hand, is used as a house of worship. The meticulous complexity of the monument's design suggests that Borobudur is in fact a temple.

Little is known about Gunadharma, the architect of the complex. His name is recounted from Javanese folk tales rather than from written inscriptions.

The basic unit of measurement used during construction was the tala, defined as the length of a human face from the forehead's hairline to the tip of the chin or the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the middle finger when both fingers are stretched at their maximum distance. The unit is thus relative from one individual to the next, but the monument has exact measurements. A survey conducted in 1977 revealed frequent findings of a ratio of 4:6:9 around the monument. The architect had used the formula to lay out the precise dimensions of the fractal and self-similar geometry in Borobudur's design. This ratio is also found in the designs of Pawon and Mendut, nearby Buddhist temples. Archeologists have conjectured that the 4:6:9 ratio and the tala have calendrical, astronomical and cosmological significance, as is the case with the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

The main structure can be divided into three components: base, body, and top. The base is 123 m × 123 m (404 ft × 404 ft) in size with 4 metres (13 ft) walls. The body is composed of five square platforms, each of diminishing height. The first terrace is set back 7 metres (23 ft) from the edge of the base. Each subsequent terrace is set back 2 metres (6.6 ft), leaving a narrow corridor at each stage. The top consists of three circular platforms, with each stage supporting a row of perforated , arranged in concentric circles. There is one main dome at the center, the top of which is the highest point of the monument, 35 metres (115 ft) above ground level. Stairways at the center of each of the four sides give access to the top, with a number of arched gates overlooked by 32 lion statues. The gates are adorned with Kala's head carved on top of each and Makaras projecting from each side. This Kala-Makara motif is commonly found on the gates of Javanese temples. The main entrance is on the eastern side, the location of the first narrative reliefs. Stairways on the slopes of the hill also link the monument to the low-lying plain.

Borobudur is constructed in such a way that it reveals various levels of terraces, showing intricate architecture that goes from being heavily ornamented with bas-reliefs to being plain in Arupadhatu circular terraces. The first four terrace walls are showcases for bas-relief sculptures. These are exquisite, considered to be the most elegant and graceful in the ancient Buddhist world.

The bas-reliefs in Borobudur depicted 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. It also depicted temple, marketplace, various flora and fauna, and also native vernacular architecture. People depicted here are the images of king, queen, princes, noblemen, courtier, soldier, servant, commoners, priest and hermit. The reliefs also depicted spiritual beings in Buddhism such as asuras, gods, bodhisattvas, kinnaras, gandharvas and apsaras. The images depicted on bas-relief often served as reference for historians to research for certain subjects, such as the study of architecture, weaponry, economy, fashion, and also mode of transportation of 8th-century Maritime Southeast Asia. One of the famous renderings of an 8th-century Southeast Asian double outrigger ship is Borobudur Ship. Today, the actual-size replica of Borobudur Ship that had sailed from Indonesia to Africa in 2004 is displayed in the Samudra Raksa Museum, located a few hundred meters north of Borobudur.

The Borobudur reliefs also pay close attention to Indian aesthetic discipline, such as pose and gesture that contain certain meanings and aesthetic value. The reliefs of noblemen, noble women, kings, or divine beings such as apsaras, taras and boddhisattvas are usually portrayed in tribhanga pose, the three-bend pose on neck, hips, and knee, with one leg resting and one upholding the body weight. This position is considered as the most graceful pose, such as the figure of Surasundari holding a lotus.

During Borobudur excavation, archeologists discovered colour pigments of blue, red, green, black, as well as bits of gold foil, and concluded that the monument that we see today - a dark gray mass of volcanic stone, lacking in colour - was probably once coated with varjalepa white plaster and then painted with bright colors, serving perhaps as a beacon of Buddhist teaching. The same vajralepa plaster can also be found in Sari, Kalasan and Sewu temples. It is likely that the bas-reliefs of Borobudur was originally quite colourful, before centuries of torrential tropical rainfalls peeled-off the colour pigments.

Borobudur contains approximately 2,670 individual bas reliefs (1,460 narrative and 1,212 decorative panels), which cover the façades and balustrades. The total relief surface is 2,500 square metres (27,000 sq ft), and they are distributed at the hidden foot ( Kāmadhātu) and the five square platforms ( Rupadhatu).

The narrative panels, which tell the story of Sudhana and Manohara, are grouped into 11 series that encircle the monument with a total length of 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). The hidden foot contains the first series with 160 narrative panels, and the remaining 10 series are distributed throughout walls and balustrades in four galleries starting from the eastern entrance stairway to the left. Narrative panels on the wall read from right to left, while those on the balustrade read from left to right. This conforms with pradaksina, the ritual of circumambulation performed by pilgrims who move in a clockwise direction while keeping the sanctuary to their right.

The hidden foot depicts the workings of karmic law. The walls of the first gallery have two superimposed series of reliefs; each consists of 120 panels. The upper part depicts the biography of Lord Buddha, while the lower part of the wall and also the balustrades in the first and the second galleries tell the story of the Buddha's former lives. The remaining panels are devoted to Sudhana's further wandering about his search, terminated by his attainment of the Perfect Wisdom.

The 160 hidden panels do not form a continuous story, but each panel provides one complete illustration of cause and effect. There are depictions of blameworthy activities, from gossip to murder, with their corresponding punishments. There are also praiseworthy activities, that include charity and pilgrimage to sanctuaries, and their subsequent rewards. The pains of hell and the pleasure of heaven are also illustrated. There are scenes of daily life, complete with the full panorama of (the endless cycle of birth and death). The encasement base of the Borobudur temple was disassembled to reveal the hidden foot, and the reliefs were photographed by Casijan Chepas in 1890. It is these photographs that are displayed in Borobudur Museum (Karmawibhangga Museum), located just several hundred meters north of the temple. During the restoration, the foot encasement was reinstalled, covering the Karmawibhangga reliefs. Today, only the southeast corner of the hidden foot is revealed and visible for visitors.

The story starts with the descent of the Buddha from the Tushita heaven and ends with his first sermon in the Deer Park at Sarnath. The relief shows the birth of the Buddha as Prince Siddhartha, son of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya of Kapilavastu (in Nepal).

The birth is preceded by 27 panels showing various preparations, in the heavens and on the earth, to welcome the final incarnation of the bodhisattva. Before descending from Tushita heaven, the Bodhisattva entrusted his crown to his successor, the future Buddha Maitreya. He descended on earth in the shape of a white elephant with six tusks, and penetrated to Queen Maya's right womb. Queen Maya had a dream of this event, which was interpreted that his son would become either a sovereign or a Buddha.

While Queen Maya felt that it was the time to give birth, she went to the Lumbini park near Kapilavastu. She stood under a sal tree ( Shorea robusta), holding one branch with her right hand, and she gave birth to a son, Prince Siddhartha, from her side. The story on the panels continues until the Sermon in the Deer Park at Sarnath, his first sermon after his Enlightenment.

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. The future Buddha may appear in them as a king, an outcast, a god, an elephant-but, in whatever form, he exhibits some virtue that the tale thereby inculcates. Avadanas are similar to jatakas, but the main figure is not the Bodhisattva himself. The saintly deeds in avadanas are attributed to other legendary persons. Jatakas and avadanas are treated in one and the same series in the reliefs of Borobudur.

The first twenty lower panels in the first gallery on the wall depict the Sudhanakumaravadana, or the saintly deeds of Sudhana. The first 135 upper panels in the same gallery on the balustrades are devoted to the 34 legends of the Jatakamala. The remaining 237 panels depict stories from other sources, as do the lower series and panels in the second gallery. Some jatakas are depicted twice, for example the story of King Sibhi ( Rama's forefather).

Gandavyuha is the story told in the final chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra about Sudhana's tireless wandering in search of the Highest Perfect Wisdom. It covers two galleries (third and fourth) and also half of the second gallery, comprising in total of 460 panels. The principal figure of the story, the youth Sudhana, son of an extremely rich merchant, appears on the 16th panel. The preceding 15 panels form a prologue to the story of the miracles during Buddha's in the Garden of Jeta at Sravasti.

Sudhana was instructed by Manjusri to meet the monk Megasri, his first spiritual friend. As his journey continues, Sudhana meets 53 teachers, such as Supratisthita, the physician Megha (Spirit of Knowledge), the banker Muktaka, the monk Saradhvaja, the upasika Asa (Spirit of Supreme Enlightenment), Bhismottaranirghosa, the Brahmin Jayosmayatna, Princess Maitrayani, the monk Sudarsana, a boy called Indriyesvara, the upasika Prabhuta, the banker Ratnachuda, King Anala, the god Siva Mahadeva, Queen Maya, Bodhisattva Maitreya and then back to Manjusri. Each spiritual friend gives Sudhana specific teachings, knowledge, and wisdom. These meetings are shown in the third gallery.

After a second meeting with Manjusri, Sudhana went to the residence of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, depicted in the fourth gallery. The entire series of the fourth gallery is devoted to the teaching of Samantabhadra. The narrative panels finally end with Sudhana's achievement of the Supreme Knowledge and the Ultimate Truth.

Apart from the story of the Buddhist cosmology carved in stone, Borobudur has many statues of various Buddhas. The cross-legged statues are seated in a lotus position and distributed on the five square platforms (the Rupadhatu level), as well as on the top platform (the Arupadhatu level).

The Buddha statues are in niches at the Rupadhatu level, arranged in rows on the outer sides of the balustrades, the number of statues decreasing as platforms progressively diminish to the upper level. The first balustrades have 104 niches, the second 104, the third 88, the fourth 72 and the fifth 64. In total, there are 432 Buddha statues at the Rupadhatu level. At the Arupadhatu level (or the three circular platforms), Buddha statues are placed inside perforated stupas. The first circular platform has 32 stupas, the second 24 and the third 16, which adds up to 72 stupas. Of the original 504 Buddha statues, over 300 are damaged (mostly headless), and 43 are missing. Since the monument's discovery, heads have been acquired by museums (mostly Western) or looted by personal collectors. Some of these Buddha heads are now displayed in numbers of museums, such as the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, Musée Guimet in Paris, and The British Museum in London. Germany has in 2014 returned its collection and funded their reattachment and further conservation of the site.

At first glance, all the Buddha statues appear similar, but there is a subtle difference between them in the or the position of the hands. There are five groups of mudra: North, East, South, West and Zenith, which represent the five cardinal compass points according to Mahayana. The first four balustrades have the first four mudras: North, East, South and West, of which the Buddha statues that face one compass direction have the corresponding mudra. Buddha statues at the fifth balustrades and inside the 72 stupas on the top platform have the same mudra: Zenith. Each mudra represents one of the Five Dhyani Buddhas; each has its own symbolism.

Following the order of Pradakshina (clockwise circumumbulation) starting from the East, the mudras of the Borobudur buddha statues are:

Statue

Mudra

Symbolic meaning

Dhyani Buddha

Cardinal Point

Location of the Statue

Dharmachakra mudra

Turning the Wheel of dharma (law)

Vairochana

Zenith

Arupadhatu in 72 perforated stupas on three rounded platforms

The aesthetic and technical mastery of Borobudur, and also its sheer size, has evoked the sense of grandeur and pride for Indonesians. Just like Angkor Wat for Cambodia, Borobudur has become a powerful symbol for Indonesia - to testify for its past greatness. Indonesia's first President Sukarno made a point of showing the site to foreign dignitaries. The Suharto regime - realized its important symbolic and economic meanings - diligently embarked on a massive project to restore the monument with the help from UNESCO. Many museums in Indonesia contain a scale model replica of Borobudur. The monument has become almost an icon, grouped with the wayang puppet play and gamelan music into a vague classical Javanese past from which Indonesians are to draw inspiration.

Several archaeological relics taken from Borobudur or its replica have been displayed in some museums in Indonesia and abroad. Other than Karmawibhangga Museum within Borobudur temple ground, some museums boast to host relics of Borobudur, such as Indonesian National Museum in Jakarta, Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, British Museum in London, and Thai National Museum in Bangkok. Louvre museum in Paris, Malaysian National Museum in Kuala Lumpur, and Museum of World Religions in New Taipei also displayed the replica of Borobudur. The monument has drawn global attention to the classical Buddhist civilization of ancient Java.

The rediscovery and reconstruction of Borobudur has been hailed by Indonesian Buddhists as the sign of the Buddhist revival in Indonesia. In 1934, Narada Thera, a missionary monk from Sri Lanka, visited Indonesia for the first time as part of his journey to spread the Dharma in Southeast Asia. This opportunity was used by a few local Buddhists to revive Buddhism in Indonesia. A Bodhi Tree planting ceremony was held in Southeastern side of Borobudur on 10 March 1934 under the blessing of Narada Thera, and some Upasakas were ordained as monks. Once a year, thousands of Buddhist from Indonesia and neighboring countries flock to Borobudur to commemorate national Waisak celebration.

The emblem of Central Java province and Magelang Regency bears the image of Borobudur. It has become the symbol of Central Java, and also Indonesia on a wider scale. Borobudur has become the name of several establishments, such as Borobudur University, Borobudur Hotel in Central Jakarta, and several Indonesian restaurants abroad. Borobudur has appeared on Rupiah banknotes and stamps and in numbers of books, publications, documentaries and Indonesian tourism promotion materials. The monument has become one of the main tourism attraction in Indonesia, vital for generating local economy in the region surrounding the temple. The tourism sector of the city of Yogyakarta for example, flourishes partly because of its proximity to Borobudur and Prambanan temples.

In her poem Borro Boedoor. (1835), Letitia Elizabeth Landon reflects on Borobudur from a Christian perspective.

Dancer dancing to orchestra of cymbals, chime cymbals and flutes.

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16. ^ Sugiyanto (13 October 2015). "Cegah Keausan Batu, Pengunjung Borobudur Diharuskan Pakai Sandal Khusus".

17. ^ John N. Miksic; Marcello Tranchini (1990). Borobudur: Golden Tales of the Buddhas, Periplus Travel Guides Series. Tuttle Publishing, 1990. p. 46. ISBN 0-945971-90-7.

18. ^ A. Wayman (1981). "Reflections on the Theory of Barabudur as a Mandala". Barabudur History and Significance of a Buddhist Monument. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press.

19. ^ I.G.N. Anom; Sri Sugiyanti; Hadniwati Hasibuan (1996). Maulana Ibrahim; Samidi (eds.). Hasil Pemugaran dan Temuan Benda Cagar Budaya PJP I (in Indonesian). Direktorat Jenderal Kebudayaan. p. 87.

20. ^ Timbul Haryono (2011). Sendratari mahakarya Borobudur (in Indonesian). Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia. p. 14. ISBN 9789799103338.

21. ^ Peter Ferschin & Andreas Gramelhofer (2004). "Proceedings. Eighth International Conference on Information Visualisation, 2004. IV 2004". 8th Int. Conf. on Information Visualization. IEEE. pp. 181-186. doi:10.1109/IV.2004.1320142. ISBN 0-7695-2177-0.

22. ^ H. Situngkir (2010). "Borobudur Was Built Algorithmically". BFI Working Paper Series WP-9-2010. Bandung Fe Institute. SSRN 1672522.

23. ^ Jaini, P.S. (1966). "The Story of Sudhana and Manohara: An Analysis of the Texts and the Borobudur Reliefs". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 29 (3): 533-558. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00073407. ISSN 0041-977X. JSTOR 611473. S2CID 190756276.

24. ^ Wood, Michael (2011). "Chapter 2: Archaeology, National Histories, and National Borders in Southeast Asia". In Clad, James; McDonald, Sean M.; Vaughan, Bruce (eds.). The Borderlands of Southeast Asia. NDU Press. p. 38. ISBN 9781780399225.

Morton III, W. Brown (January 1983). "Indonesia Rescues Ancient Borobudur". National Geographic. 163 (1): 126-142. ISSN 0027-9358. OCLC 643483454.

Adrian Snodgrass (1985). The symbolism of the stupa. Southeast Asia Program. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University. ISBN 0-87727-700-1.

Levin, Cecelia. "Enshrouded in Dharma and Artha: The Narrative Sequence of Borobudur's First Gallery Wall." In Materializing Southeast Asia's Past: Selected Papers from the 12th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, edited by Klokke Marijke J. and Degroot Véronique, 27-40. SINGAPORE: NUS Press, 2013. Accessed June 17, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1qv3kf.7.

Jaini, Padmanabh S. "The Story of Sudhana and Manoharā: An Analysis of the Texts and the Borobudur Reliefs." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 29, no. 3 (1966): 533-58. Accessed June 17, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/611473.

Shastri, Bahadur Chand. "THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE FIRST SIXTEEN RELIEFS ON THE SECOND MAIN-WALL OF BARABUDUR." Bijdragen Tot De Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde Van Nederlandsch-Indië, vol. 89, no. 1, 1932, pp. 173-181. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20770599. Accessed 24 Apr. 2020.

SUNDBERG, JEFFREY ROGER. "Considerations on the Dating of the Barabuḍur Stūpa." Bijdragen Tot De Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde 162, no. 1 (2006): 95-132. Accessed June 17, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/27868287.

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Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur ( Indonesian: Candi Borobudur , Javanese: ꦕꦤ꧀ꦝꦶꦧꦫꦧꦸꦝꦸꦂ, romanized: Candhi Barabudhur ) is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, not far from the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indonesia. It is the world's largest Buddhist temple.

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Prasat Sambor Prei Kuk, Prasat Sambour​ District, Cambodia

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Prasat Sambor Prei Kuk, Prasat Sambour​ District, Cambodia

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Prasat Sambor Prei Kuk, Prasat Sambour​ District, Cambodia

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ปีที่ขึ้นทะเบียน: 2017
ลักษณะเด่น:

เมืองหลวงโบราณของอาณาจักรเจนละในศตวรรษที่ 6–7

โครงสร้างอิฐและศิลปะแกะสลักที่สะท้อนถึงศิลปะเขมรยุคต้น

ศูนย์กลางพิธีกรรมทางศาสนา

ความสำคัญ:

ต้นแบบของการพัฒนาสถาปัตยกรรมเขมรในยุคนครวัด

สะท้อนถึงความเจริญทางวัฒนธรรมในยุคก่อนเขมรโบราณ

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ปีที่ขึ้นทะเบียน: 1993 (พ.ศ.2536)(ขยายเพิ่มเติมในปี 2009หรือพ.ศ.2552)

ลักษณะเด่น:

ตั้งอยู่ในทะเลซูลู ประกอบด้วยแนวปะการังสองแนวหลัก คือ North Atoll และ South Atoll และ Jessie Beazley Reef

มีพื้นที่รวมประมาณ 97,030 เฮกตาร์ รวมทั้งพื้นที่ทะเลลึกโดยรอบ

เป็นระบบนิเวศทางทะเลที่สมบูรณ์แบบที่สุดแห่งหนึ่งของโลก

เป็นที่อยู่ของสิ่งมีชีวิตหลากหลายสายพันธุ์ เช่น

ปะการังกว่า 360 ชนิด

ปลาหลากชนิดกว่า 600 สายพันธุ์

เต่าทะเลใกล้สูญพันธุ์ เช่น เต่ากระ และเต่าตนุ

ฉลามวาฬ ฉลามหัวค้อน และโลมา

สภาพแวดล้อมที่ยังคงความเป็นธรรมชาติสูงมาก เพราะเป็นพื้นที่ห่างไกลจากแผ่นดินใหญ่

ความสำคัญ:

เป็นแหล่งอนุรักษ์ทางทะเลระดับโลกและเป็นตัวอย่างของการบริหารจัดการระบบนิเวศที่ประสบความสำเร็จ

มีบทบาทสำคัญในการรักษาความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพในมหาสมุทรแปซิฟิกตะวันตก

เป็นจุดดำน้ำที่มีชื่อเสียงระดับโลก ดึงดูดนักท่องเที่ยวเพื่อศึกษาธรรมชาติ

ได้รับการยกย่องในฐานะตัวแทนของระบบนิเวศแนวปะการังที่สมบูรณ์และมีการป้องกันอย่างมีประสิทธิภาพ

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park ถือเป็นมรดกโลกที่แสดงถึงความงดงามและความสำคัญของการอนุรักษ์ทรัพยากรทางทะเลที่มีผลกระทบเชิงบวกทั้งในด้านสิ่งแวดล้อมและเศรษฐกิจของชุมชนท้องถิ่นและประเทศ

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The Tubbataha Natural Park, also known as the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park ( Filipino: Bahurang Tubbataha), is a protected area of the Philippines located in the middle of the Sulu Sea. The marine and bird sanctuary consists of two huge atolls (named the North Atoll and South Atoll) and the smaller Jessie Beazley Reef covering a total area of 97,030 hectares (239,800 acres; 374.6 sq mi). It is located 150 kilometres (93 mi) southeast of Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan. The uninhabited islands and reefs are part of the island municipality of Cagayancillo, located roughly 130 kilometers (81 mi) to the northeast of the reef.

In December 1993, the UNESCO declared the Tubbataha Reefs National Park as a World Heritage Site as a unique example of an atoll reef with a very high density of marine species; the North Islet serving as a nesting site for birds and marine turtles. The site is an excellent example of a pristine coral reef with a spectacular 100-m perpendicular wall, extensive lagoons and two coral islands. In 1999, Ramsar listed Tubbataha as one of the wetlands of international importance. In 2008, the reef was nominated at New7Wonders of Nature.

The national park and the rest of the Philippine archipelago is part of the Coral Triangle, recognized as a center of marine biodiversity containing 75% of the described coral species and 40% of the world's reef fish. The area is under a grave threat due to overfishing and destructive fishing practices. Research of scientists visiting the reefs since the 1980s revealed that the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park contains no less than 600 fish species, 360 coral species, 11 shark species, 13 dolphin and whale species, and 100 bird species. The reefs also serve as a nesting ground for Hawksbill and Green sea turtles.

The natural park is located near the middle of Sulu Sea, 150 kilometers (93 mi) southeast of Puerto Princesa, covering a total of 97,030 hectares (239,800 acres; 374.6 sq mi).

The smaller Jessie Beazley Reef is located about 20 kilometers (12 mi) north of the two atolls.

The Tubbataha Reef is situated on the Cagayan Ridge, composing of extinct underwater volcanoes. Being a true atoll structure, it is believed that the atolls of Tubbataha were formed thousands of years ago as fringing reefs and volcanic islands. This is based on Charles Darwin's theory that atolls are formed when a volcano erupts and afterwards an island is born. When the volcanoes became extinct and the islands subsided over a long time, only the corals remain, growing towards the sunlight. The very big corals seen today surrounding the lagoons are originally the fringing reefs.

The word tubbataha is a combination of two Sama-Bajau words: tubba and taha, which together means "a long reef exposed at low tide". Historically, Sama-Bajau peoples, who have a nomadic lifestyle, visit the reef from time to time. Although people from the islands of Cagayancillo are frequent visitors of the reef. They used the native vessel banka to sail and fish on "Gusong", their local name for the Tubbataha.

Tubbataha's isolation, located in the middle of the Sulu Sea far from inhabitants of the nearest populated islands, had preserved its marine resources from over-exploitation over the years. The two islets in Tubbataha have no source of freshwater thus preventing habitation.

In the 1980s, fishermen reaching Tubbataha increased in numbers with the advent in motorized , instead of the traditional sailboats. Fish had declined in other fishing grounds because of overfishing and soon Tubbataha became a fishing destination because of its abundant marine life. Many fishermen used destructive fishing techniques like cyanide and dynamite fishing to maximize their catch.

Scuba divers and environmentalists campaigned to make the reefs a national marine park. With the endorsement of the Provincial Government of Palawan, on August 11, 1988, President Corazon Aquino signed Proclamation no. 306 establishing the two Tubbataha Reefs as a national marine park with an area of 332 square kilometres (82,000 acres). This was the first time that the Philippines had declared a marine area as a national park.

In the early years of law enforcement by the Presidential Task Force, the rangers were housed in a simple canvas tent. In 1996 a wooden structure was built but shifting sand soon rendered its foundations unstable. At present, the marine park rangers are housed in a styrofoam-reinforced concrete structure on the Southeast Islet on Tubbatha's North Atoll.

The National Marine Park was enlarged in 2006 to include the Jessie Beazley Reef. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Proclamation no. 1126 on August 23, which increased the boundaries of the park by 200% to 970.30 square kilometres (239,770 acres). The national park was also reclassified as a natural park. It is guarded by armed rangers 24 hours/7 days a week.

In 2013, during the 25th anniversary of the Tubbataha Reef's national park declaration, the World Wildlife Fund announced plans to construct a modernized ranger station on a different site to effectively monitor and deal with illegal poaching activities. The said project would cost PHP 50 million.

It was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in December 1993 and falls under the protective management of the Department of National Defense (DND) of the Philippines. It is currently under technical supervision by the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

In 1999, Ramsar listed Tubbataha as one of the Wetlands of International Importance because of the variety of its marine life species and valuable role as a habitat for various animals.

The Tubbataha Reef Natural Park was nominated by New7Wonders Foundation in the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2007 but lost.

In November 2015, Tubbataha was declared by the ASEAN's Centre for Biodiversity as the 35th ASEAN Heritage Park.

On July 25, 2017, the Tubbataha Reef was designated as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA)-and an "area to be avoided"-by the International Maritime Organization.

Although the reefs are geographically part of the island municipality of Cagayancillo, Palawan, located roughly 130 kilometres (81 mi) to the northeast of the reef, the park is managed by the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) in Puerto Princesa. The islands are uninhabited except for the rotating 10 - 12 park rangers at the Ranger's Station located at the southernmost tip of the North Atoll. The combined team from the Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, Municipality of Cagayancillo and the TMO. Stationed for two months at a time, their job is to protect the park from illegal activities including fishing and collection of other marine life.

Over 1000 species of marine life inhabit the reef with many considered endangered. Animal species found include manta rays, lionfish, sea turtles, clownfish, and sharks. Tubbataha has become a popular site for seasoned sport divers because of its coral "walls" where the shallow coral reef abruptly ends giving way to great depths. These "walls" are also habitats for many colonies of fish. Giant trevally (jacks), hammerhead sharks, barracudas, manta rays, palm-sized Moorish idols, napoleon wrasse, parrotfish, and moray eels live in the sanctuary. There also have been reported sightings of whale sharks and tiger sharks. Tubbataha is even home to cetaceans and the hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) which are critically endangered species. Being a UNESCO World Heritage site, all living organisms are protected.

Vivid corals cover more than two-thirds of the area and the waters around the reef are places of refuge for numerous marine lives. The seemingly diverse ecosystem of this sanctuary rivals the Great Barrier Reef - having 350 coral species and 500 fish species. In June 2009 an outbreak of the crown-of-thorns starfish was observed, possibly affecting the ecological functioning of this relatively pristine coral reef.

Tubbataha is considered one of the best dive sites in the world according to CNN Travel. Trips to Tubbataha National Marine Park from Puerto Princesa operate during the diving season from mid-March to mid-June, the period where the waves are calmest, skies clear and water visibility of about 30 to 45 metres (98 to 148 ft). The park is about ten hours by boat from the city. All trips are vessel-based or "liveaboard" as there are no accommodation facilities. Visitors stay on the yacht/boat throughout their stay in the park. During the diving season, ships dedicated for diving are usually booked years in advance especially during Easter and the Asian holidays called " Golden Week".

As of March 2011, the park entrance fee for individuals is pegged at US$75.00 or PHP3,000.00. In September 2010, Palawan governor Abraham Kahlil Mitra announced that local residents of Palawan province can enter the Tubbataha Reef without paying the conservation fee. Divers are advised to book their trips towards the middle or end of April as calm seas from April to June have a short window.

Although the sand bars around Tubbataha are considered off limits to human beings, tourists are allowed to set foot at the Ranger Station where they can purchase souvenirs and tour the facility.

₱1000 bill- The park is featured on the reverse side of the 2010 series of the Philippine one thousand peso bill.

On October 31, 2005, the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior ran aground on Tubbataha Reef accidentally damaging approximately 100 square metres (1,100 sq ft) of reef for which they paid a fine of about $7,000. Greenpeace blamed the accident on inaccurate charts provided by the Philippine government. The BBC quoted Greenpeace official Red Constantino as saying "The chart indicated we were a mile and a half" from the coral reef when the ship ran aground. Greenpeace paid the fine anyhow.

On January 17, 2013, the US Navy minesweeper USS Guardian ran aground at Tubbataha Reef. The U.S. Government initially blamed the grounding on faulty maps. Between 2011 and January 2013, before the grounding of the USS Guardian, there were eleven incidents involving ships, including two Philippine ships. The U.S. Navy concluded that towing the ship off the reef would cause more damage and decided to dismantle the ship in place. On March 30, the last section of the ship was removed from the reef. No evidence of fuel leakage from the grounded vessel were found.

On April 8, 2013 the U.S. Navy turned over digital navigation charts and other relevant documents and data of the Guardian to the Philippine Maritime Casualty Investigating Team (MCIT) and responded to various technical and substantive queries. The MCIT conducted its own independent investigation and made recommendations on how to avoid such incidents in the future.

The U.S. Government apologized for the incident and relieved five officers from duty. The initial investigation clearly indicated that these officers did not adhere to standard US Navy navigation procedures.

The World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines and the Tubbataha Management Office, measured the damage area at 2,345.67 square meters (25,248.6 sq ft). The U.S. Federal Government was assessed a fine of 24,000 Philippine pesos (about US$600) per square meter.[citation needed ] On January 20, 2015, the United States Government paid to the Philippine government a total of 87 million Philippine pesos, or US$1.97 million - 59 million Philippine pesos for the damage and another 29 million pesos to reimburse for services provided by the Philippine Coast Guard.

F/V Min Long Yu

On April 8, 2013, the F/V Min Long Yu, a Chinese fishing vessel, ran aground some 1.1 nautical miles (2.0 km; 1.3 mi) nautical miles east of the Tubbataha Reef ranger station. The fishing vessel had 12 crew members and was suspected of illegal fishing. On board, what was found instead were 400 boxes of frozen scaly anteaters (locally called as pangolin), sources unknown at the time of arrest.

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The Tubbataha Natural Park, also known as the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park ( Filipino: Bahurang Tubbataha), is a protected area of the Philippines located in the middle of the Sulu Sea. The marine and bird sanctuary consists of two huge atolls (named the North Atoll and South Atoll) and the smaller Jessie Beazley Reef covering a total area of 97,030 hectares (239,800 acres; 374.6 sq mi).