Built by Syailendra dynasty, Borobudur temple has become a beautiful image of Indonesia. Located in Magelang, Central Java, Borobudur is one of the largest Buddhist temple in the world. There is one important fact that everyone should know about this great temple: it is still considered as national heritage, even though this temple is located in a country which has largest Muslim population in the world.
As a reflection of Buddhist theology, this temple was built with several levels. All levels are completely a reflection of human’s life until they reach the enlightment or Buddha stage, which is shown by the main and largest stupa at the top of the temple. Another unique thing about this temple came from its construction fact. This temple was formerly built without using any advance technology and construction material. This temple was simply built using simple technologies which had developed at Syailendra dynasty combined with another simple construction material. There was no cement used during the construction period. People at that time used only stone mountain as the main construction materials and eggwhite to stick all stone together. It is an amazing fact to know, even though we found some cracks at the temple, it still stands until today.
Since the first time the Syailendra dynasty decided to build this temple, Borobudur has become a symbol for everyone who live around its location, a symbol of unity for everyone. At the first time, Borobudur has become a symbol of unity between Buddhist and Hinduism since they are the most dominant religion in Magelang at that time. Today, Borobudur temple still becomes a symbol of unity, but not only for people who live in Magelang, Central Java, but also for all citizen of Indonesia. No matter which religion an Indonesian has (Islam, Catholic, Christian, Buddhist, Hinduism, Confucianism), all Indonesian should be united to build a great country.
Even though Borobudur has become a national heritage, not everyone who comes to this great temple realize their responsibilities in keeping this great building. Not everyone knows that not only the government or local people who holds the responsibilities to keep this temple as national pride, but all Indonesia citizen. Warnings have been placed around the temple, telling people not to sit or stand on the temple stone, but still there are so many people who disobey this warning. They may feel very proud if they can do so, but one thing they don’t realize when they do so, is they start to destroy this temple slowly. It won’t take a day for the stones to be destroyed, but maybe years or decades, or even longer.
Since a couple years ago, UN has also admitted Borobudur temple as a world heritage. We are very proud to know that our local wisdom and culture has now become a part of global heritage. The time has come for Indonesia to prove to the world that Indonesia has everythingit needs to become a great country.
/// Written by Melisa Natasha Mumek, Indonesia
