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Borobudur Temple

Central Java, Indonesia

750-842 CE

Sailendra Dynasty

Created out of volcanic stone masorny

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The temple pathway takes you through three symbolic realms (Desire, Form, and Formlessness), which mirrors the Buddhist journey to enlightenment. Buddhist stupas and mandalas were understood as spiritual technologies that harness spiritual energy in the creation of sacred space. The clockwise movement around the sun is supposed to mimic the macrocosmic movement of the sun; thus, when you enter the formlessness stage, the light on your physical form emerges. This is due to the open-air upper walkways.

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There are in total about 504 statues of Buddha located at this site. The large number of this Buddha help signify the consistent/never-ending journey that followers must embark on and stay steadfast in, in order to reach enlightenment. Additionally, 1,460 stone reliefs on the walls and opposite balustrades decorate the first four galleries, with an additional 1,212 decorative reliefs augmenting the path. All of the relief sculptures narrate the Buddha's teachings and they show various depictions of his past lives.

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This temple shows the relationship between Buddhism and political power. The architect, Gunadharma, was a poet and thinker and is now known as a man of great vision and design. The temple was also created during the Sailendra Dynasty, meaning that leaders craved political power and legitimacy to maintain their positions.

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-artist/traditions

The temple was originally a monument of Buddha. However, 100 years after its creation, it fell into disuse roughly one hundred years after its completion when, for still unknown reasons, the rulers of Java relocated the governing center to another part of the island.

Additionally, Candi Borobudur’s design was conceived of by the poet, thinker, and architect Gunadharma, considered by many today to be a man of great vision and devotion.

-environment

As we have also discussed previously, the temple utilizes the natural light in order to create a journey both visual and spiritual: "The clockwise movement around the cosmic center reproduces the macrocosmic path of the sun. Thus, when one emerges from the dark galleries representing the realms of desire and form into the light of the “formless” circular open air upper walkways, the material effect of light on one’s physical form merges concomitantly with the spiritual enlightenment generated by the metaphysical journey of the sacred path."