{"id":4831,"date":"2017-02-02T10:14:12","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T09:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/?p=4831"},"modified":"2017-02-04T10:54:36","modified_gmt":"2017-02-04T09:54:36","slug":"visiting-borobudor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/visiting-borobudor\/","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Borobudor"},"content":{"rendered":"

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At the top of the Stupa, just before sun rise<\/span><\/h3>\n

I had been in Indonesia for over a week, starting in the crazed metropolis of Jakarta then moving on to the University town of Yogyakarta. From Yogya I took a Taxi which got me to my hotel in Borobdor in just over an hour. After checking in, I booked a sun-rise entrance ticket to the Stupa.<\/h3>\n

No one knows who built the monument, the largest Buddhist structure in the world, or indeed why it was built although it is thought to have been completed in the 8th<\/sup> century. It lay abandoned, hidden under volcanic ash and jungle growth until it was discovered by the British while Java was briefly under U.K administration in 1814.<\/h3>\n

There had been a plan by the Dutch to dismantle the monument and scatter the pieces across the world in many different museums, but thankfully this didn\u2019t happen and after many years work, UNESSCO named it a world heritage site in 1991.<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Buddha statue, looking out into the Jungle<\/span><\/h3>\n

I was picked up by motorbike at 4:30 AM and taken to a luxury hotel which sits in the grounds of the Temple Complex where myself and about 30 other people queued up at the back of the hotel\u00a0and where a staff member gave us a flashlight and pointed to a path. I was at the start of the line and turned on my flashlight and headed into the darkness with the rest of the group following behind. It was pitch dark and there was a low lying mist swirling over the path.<\/h3>\n

After a few minutes\u2019 walk we arrived at the monument, although it was still really dark you could really get a sense you were somewhere really special. You walk round each level in a clockwise direction, climbing the stairs and passing smaller stupas and Buddha statues until you reach the top (which is Nirvana, the other levels being the lower stages of life)<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wall carving<\/span><\/h3>\n

I got to the top and found a space and sat down, staring into the darkness. After a while all the Mosques in the area started doing the call to the first prayers of the day, it was still dark and misty which made it even more atmospheric.<\/h3>\n

Gradually the sun rose, lighting up the monument and the surrounding jungle. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life. I spent the next three hours or so exploring the site, there are so many carvings which explain the laws of Karma, the birth of the Buddha, the Jakarta tales to name just a few. It is such a mind blowing place, it was hard to leave but after quite a few times round I decided to head back to my hotel for breakfast.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The top of the Stupa<\/span><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

All the guidebooks suggest you go twice during your stay in Borobudor but I decided not to go back, the visit had been so magical I wanted to keep the feeling in my heart and mind for the rest of my life. One of the most amazing places on Earth, I urge everyone to visit if the chance to comes up.<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Looking up at the Stupa<\/span><\/h3>\n

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After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[162,7],"tags":[393,394],"class_list":["post-4831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-personal-stories","tag-borobudor","tag-mark-laidlaw"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVisiting Borobudor - Many Roads<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/visiting-borobudor\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Albert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/visiting-borobudor\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/visiting-borobudor\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Albert\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/#\/schema\/person\/d65113da84d62fbc945e6ee35f823e2a\"},\"headline\":\"Visiting Borobudor\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-02T09:14:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-04T09:54:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/visiting-borobudor\/\"},\"wordCount\":553,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/visiting-borobudor\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/files\/2017\/01\/Top-of-stupa-300x145.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Borobudor\",\"Mark Laidlaw\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\",\"Personal Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/visiting-borobudor\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/visiting-borobudor\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bodhicharya.org\/manyroads\/visiting-borobudor\/\",\"name\":\"Visiting Borobudor - 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