INDONESIA YOGYAKARTA -BOROBUDUR (PART 2)

AN AXIONOMETERIC PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF BOROBUDUR

This drawing shows the various stages of the construction of Borobudur: During the first stage of building shown here in light blue construction techniques were quite rudimentary; the only advance appears with the facing. Here andesite a porphyritic rock collected from river beds was cut into rectangular blocks, joined at some points by small double –dove-tailed stone clamps.

The architects of this first stage were possibly Hinduists, building a stepped pyramid. In the second stage of construction marked here in light brown the builders were likely to have been attempting the construction of a large stupa, where the circular terraces are now.

The reliefs were begun during this phase, and in terms of construction an important innovation was incorporated: the foundations were made from smaller blocks, with interlocking right angles, which at this point jutted out from the base wall, were built during this stage.

It was during the third stage of construction shown here in black that it was deemed necessary to cover the original foot. This was also the time when the unique design of the circular terraces was settled, either for religious reasons, or to lessen the burden on the foundations.

The fourth stage of construction here is crosshatched green and blue was essentially a matter of chasing the loose ends. Particularly useful was the new technique of a double facing enclosing a mixed mortar of more or less good quality. We see this mortar technique in only a few places on Borobudur : in the portals of the first gallery and the reliefs attached under the cornice in the outside of the balustrade of the first and second galleries.

One of the most successful restoration projects of the twentieth century.

With its 123 metres axis and central dome rising 35 meters above its base, Indonesia’s Borobudur Temple stands proud amidst the high mountain ranged of the island of Java. A symbol of extraordinary cultural diversity and religious tolerance and a tangible witness to glorious past, Borobudur is now one of the most visited monuments in Indonesia. But the path to restored glory has been far from easy. It also explores some of the great mysteries and spiritual traditions surrounding Borobudur.

 Most notably, the question of its position: why did the ancient Javanese choose this particular site? Why did they go to such Herculean lengths to move 80000 cubic metres soil when other sites could have been used?