Buddhist Monasteries: The Borobudur in Java, Indonesia

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I will be concentrating this art paper on monasteries, particularly Buddhist monasteries. Monasteries are beautiful, often very complex, buildings that comprise the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics. Monasteries generally include a place reserved for prayer such as a chapel, church, or temple. And even more particularly, I will concentrate on more of a temple rather than a monastery but one that could be considered both: the Borobudur. The Borobudur is located on the Indonesian island of Java. The Borobudur is the largest, most famous Buddhist temple in the world. This gorgeous, intricate temple was build over a time period of 75 years, and was abandoned sometime in the 14th century but now is one of Indias most popular tourist attractions.
Modeled like a stepped pyramid, Borobudur is constructed of two million volcanic block stones and consists of six rectangular terraces crowned by three circular terraces. On the top platform, the main dome is enclosed by 72 Buddha statues. Borobudur is decorated with a total of 504 Buddha statues and more than 2,600 elaborately carved relief panels representing the teachings of Buddha and everyday life in ancient Java. The whole monument is constructed from dark grey andesite stone, which attracts a lot of heat upping the difficulty of climbing the temple as a adventuring tourist.
You can think of Borobudur as a very large teaching graphic reteaching the life story of the Buddha, his teachings and his progress towards Nirvana. In summary, over 2,700 reliefs tell four important sets of anecdotes in the form of carved illustrations and Sanskrit engravings on the temple. The first is the law of karma. These are mostly concealed by the post-original construction masking at the foot ...

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... dedication put into each little carving and sculpture; personally (my artist self) gives up if a project is taking too long because then I over analyze the piece and over work it, or I simply just get bored.
If I were particularly Buddhist, this would be one place I would worship to the highest extend. I could just imagine going to even the foot of the temple and feel spiritually active. If it was possible, maybe even do some yoga on the temple during sun rise. That would be amazing. All in all, I’m so happy I learned so much about the Borobudur, and it’s intricate details. I couldn’t have chosen a better piece of artwork to do my assignment on. I wish it was closer in distance, I would definitely make a trip out there to see the Borobudur. It’s beautiful.

Works Cited
"Borobudur." Travel Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. .

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