There are Buddhas as innumerable as grains of sand in the Ganges.This is the story of one of them, Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, also known as Sakyamuni….
… as depicted on the walls of the Borobudur Temple, in Central Java, Indonesia …
…the largest Buddhist Temple in the world!
A comprehensive navigation allows the user to explore the Temple in many different ways.
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A three dimensional model of the Temple provides instant access to any part of the monument.
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Following the “Pilgrim´s Path” provides a systematic guide for the ascending circumambulations of the temple´s galleries…
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…. leading progressively to spiritual enlightenment.
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Both walls of each one of the four galleries are decorated with hundreds of bas-reliefs illustrating various episodes of Lord Buddha´s life and teachings.
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In some 400 panoramas these panels can be interactively discovered in great detail one by one.The walls were painstakingly recorded over the course of a full year so an optimal illumination of each panel could be assured.
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Each story figuring of the 1460 bas-reliefs ornating the Temple is described in great detail and linked to its original textual sources .
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A detail of the bas reliefs showing Queen Mayadevi conceiving the future Buddha in the guise of a little white elephant.
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Retracing the life of Lord Buddha step by step, beginning with his early years as the spoiled Royal Prince Siddhartha, heir to the throne of his father, King Suddodhana…
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Prince Siddhartha´s “Great Departure “ after four fateful encounters with “Sickness”, Old Age”, Death” and a humble Monk led him to the realisation of the impermanence and ultimate dissatisfaction of conditioned existence.
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Abandoning his worldly existence, Prince Siddhartha, who now adopts the name “Ascetic Gautama”, cuts his hair.
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In search of ultimate detachment Gautama wanders the next six years the wilderness, subjugating himself to ever harsher self-mortification- and meditational practices.
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However, ultimately Gautama realises, that the Middle Path”- consisting in avoiding the extremes of sensual indulgence and self mortification- is the true way leading to ultimate Enlightenment.
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Near The Niranjana River Gautama gathers his strengths for his ultimate challenges before reaching enlightenment.
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Sitting under the Holy Bodhi Tree and after overcoming the final temptations by Mara, the Great Evil One, Gautama reaches final Enlightenment and attains Buddhahood.
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During his Enlightenment the “ Four Noble Truths” about “Universal Suffering”, the “Origin of Suffering”, The Way of Overcoming Suffering”, and The “ Noble Eightfold Path Leading to the Cessation of all Suffering” are revealed to the Buddha.
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Borobudur, a place where man meets the divine within himself!