How Big is The Borobudur Temple?

The complex of the Borobudur Temple is among the greatest and amazing monuments that we have in the world today. The age of the temple is not yet discerned but there are assumptions that it was built between the seventh and eight-century A.D. The temple is actually a Mahayana Buddhist Monument situated in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia.

Surface Area

The Borobudur Temple was built in three panels. The first panel is the pyramidal base consisting of five platforms that are square. The second panel is the trunk of the cone consisting of three platforms that are circular. The third panel is a monumental stupa located at the top that serves as the main dome.

The walls and balustrades of the Borobudur Temple are adorned with fine low reliefs. The temple has a total surface area of approximately 2,500 square meters. There are 72 openwork stupas that encircle around the circular platform of the temple. Each stupa has a statue of Buddha in it. The whole structure is built on a hill and is made of 55,000 square meters of lava rock. Analyzing the shape of the entire structure, it is the shape of a lotus flower, the sacred flower of the Buddhists.

Other Dimensions of the Borobudur Temple

The foundation of the structure is in the shape of a square and the length of each side is about 387 feet or 118 meters. The base of the Borobudur Temple has an area of 403.5 square feet or 123 square meters and the height of the walls is 13 feet or four meters. The five square platforms of the temple have heights that diminish as you go from one platform to the next. The terrace of the first platform is settled back 23 feet or seven meters from the base’s edge. The terraces of the rest of the platforms are settled back seven feet or two meters, thus giving some small corridor at each platform.

The highest point of the Borobudur Temple is the single main dome at the center of the structure. It has a height of 115 feet or 35 meters from the ground level. The upper portion of the temple can be accessed through some stairways. The stairways are found at the center of the four sides of the temple where the arched gates are located. These gates are watched over by lion statues of about 32 in number.

The arched gates of the Borobudur Temple are decorated with the head of Kala being carved at the top center part of each portal. There are also Makaras projected at each sides of the arched gates. The main entrance of the temple is located at the eastern side of the structure where the first of the narrative reliefs are situated. The entire structure is being linked to the low-lying plain beneath by stairways on the hill slopes.