Borobudur Things to Do

It is reported that there are over 500 Buddha Statues in Borobudur. However, only about 200 are restored with many missing, stolen or unaccounted for.

For a Buddha statue sitting in the lotus formation, the facial feature and the upturned or down-turned palm and positions of the thumb and fingers signify different symbols.

Our tour guide also explained that there are 5 different group of Buddha statues covering the five cardinal directions of north, east, south, west and zenith.

So if you must, also buy a replica of a Buddha statue and never a stolen original or decapitated head.

As part of the tour, we stopped at another 8th century AD Buddhist temple - Mendut Temple which is 3km away.

The tour guide will shine a mirror which will reflect light into the inside of the temple.

There is an impressive large size Buddha sitting not in the lotus position but with both feet on the ground.

During the holy month of Vesak, Buddhist pilgrims will walk started from Mendut temple, to Pawon and end at Borobudur.

Like in Angkor Wat, the bass reliefs of Borobudur has been painstakenlhy documented and restored panel by panel. There is a reported of over 2600 individual panels.

So it is impossible to spend too much time on each panel. Just take a sampling and enjoy the moment. No point taking a picture of every panel either, you can buy a book.

Thanks to UNESCO restoration funds and know-how together with the Indonesian Government, extensive work between 1975 to 1982 has fortunately ensured the integrity of the entire structural of the monument with enforced foundation and internal drainage.

The entire monument can be divided into 3 levels - the foot, the body and the head. Each level have several terraces.

Our tour guide took us in the counter-clockwise direction which tell the story of Buddha (Siddharta Gautama) from his birth to his leaving of his sheltered life as a prince, to meeting the sick and poor outside the palace ground and to enlightenment under the bayan tree.

As you go from the lower level to the higher level, you are following the path of Buddhist pilgrim of journeying from worldly desires to the cycles of life and death and towards englightentment (Nirvana).

Take caution when climbing up the steps of Borobudur especially when it rains.

The height of the temple is 35 meter. The foundation of entire monument is a square of 115 meter and from the top view looks like a Buddhist mantra symbol.

The entire structure is built from stone and thus explained how it has survived since it was built around 800 AD during the Sailendra empire when Buddhism was at the height of influence in Java.

The monument was lost and rediscovered when Java was under British Administration in 1814 under the direction of Sir Stamford Raffles (later founder of Modern Singapore), the Dutch engineer H.C. Cornelius rediscovered this legendary monument.

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You can enter the grounds prior to 6am to watch the sunrise over Borobodur. To do this the admission price jumps from 120,000 Rp to 230,000 Rp. Tickets can be purchased at the Manohara Hotel on the temple grounds and you get a complimentary flashlight with admission. Your hotel will have to call ahead to give your names so the gaurds at the gate will let you in.

We went during the start of the rainy season. It wasn't raining but the overcast, hazy sky made for a pretty unspectacular sunset. We also went during Ramadan so it wasn't very busy. The rest of the year, the crowds are supposedd to be pretty bad.

Borobodur is the largest tourist attraction in Indonesia. It was built between 750 and 850 AD but was abandoned shortly after it's completion. It was re-discovered in 1815. In 1985 it was bombed by terrorists. Since then most of it has been restored. In 1991 it was named a world heritage site.

Borobodur is made up of 60,000 cubic meters of stone and over 2 million blocks. It is composed of 6 square terraces topped by 3 circular ones. At one point it was painted to catch the sun but the paint is long gone.

Admission to the temple is $11 USD and is open between 6am and 5pm. If you want to go early before the gates open at 6am to watch the sunrise the admission jumps to 230,000 Rp (~$25 USD).

This is a nice little temple to visit to check out the reliefs on the walls. There are stories to be told on the walls. If you don't have a guide, it helps to read up first to make the visit more interesting. Or else it's just stones and one building with ppl selling souvenirs on the outside.