6th May, 1991
At dawn, poetic wisps of pink smoke emerged from Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most volatile volcano, rising in a perfect cone near the vast Buddhist stupa at Borobudur. Built near Yogyakarta between 775-850 AD by kings of the Sailendra dynasty, it was mysteriously abandoned six years after completion. The jungle engulfed it. Subsidence and humidity gnawed at it for 1,000 years until its rediscovery for the Outside World in 1814. UNESCO undertook a massive painstaking reconstruction programme and it regained its former glory in 1983.
We were privileged to circle it from above, absorbing its geometrical design of dog-toothed squares within squares moulded onto a hillock and topped with four circular tiers. This pattern is lost to visitors on the ground who enter by the Eastern gate, and climb up the tiers of the stupa, lined with intricate carved stone panels depicting the life of Buddha in historic battles and family scenes. The upper tiers become simpler, representing Buddha’s approximation to enlightenment. Three layers of stone lattice stupas, like petrified bells, once each housed a statue of Buddha. Few remain, for most were stolen for art collectors.
From Freedom of the Skies
Glimpses of the journey:
- Around the world
- Crossing the Atlantic
- Saint Louis, Senegal
- Bubaque, Guiné-Bissau
- Timbuktu, Mali
- Cottars’ Camp, Kenya
- Virungas National Park, Zaire
- Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe
- Sossusvlei, Namíbia
- Lumbo, Mozambique
- Antananarivo Madagascar
- Adis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Misfat, Omã
- Jaipur, India
- Himalaia, Nepal
- Mae Hong Son, Thailand
- Bario, Sarawak, Malaysia
- Borobodur, Java, Indonesia
- Baliem Valley, Irian Jaya
- Gimbat, Australia
- Munda, New Georgia, Solomon Islands
- Hurricane in Apia, Western Samoa
- Anaa, Tuamotu, Polynesia
- Easter Island, Chile
- Crossing the Andes, Chile-Argentina
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
