By the 7th century Indianized kingdoms were dominant in Java and Sumatra. They were unified by the Sailendra Dynasty, which built Borobudur after converting to Mahayana Buddhism. Once the heart of Buddhist worship in Southeast Asia, Borobudur was mysteriously abandoned in the 12th century until Java’s Lieutenant Governor Sir Stamford Raffles, rediscovered it in 1814, hidden under volcanic ash.

Situated on a hill, the stepped, four-sided pyramid is made up of ten levels: six square storeys, three circular terraces, and a central stupa at the summit. Its plan combines five symbols in one: a mandala, the blossoming lotus, the stupa shrine, the temple-mountain, and a three-dimensional path to enlightenment.

The 160 relief panels on the base illustrate the realm of worldly desires. Starting with those on the eastern staircase, a pilgrim traverses around the monument in a clockwise direction, before ascending to the next level.