Borobudur is without doubt the greatest Buddhist temple on Java. It dates from around 800AD and should be on everybody’s must-see list of great world temples.

Located close to the city of Yogyakarta in central Java this UNESCO World Heritage Site is quite literally jaw dropping, especially so when it is framed by the volcano of Mt Merapi. The temple is made up of six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, in the form of a mandala. It is literally a manmade mountain rising from the plain and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.

The main dome is located on the top terrace and is surrounded by seventy-two Buddha statues each seated inside a lattice-work stupa. Both a shrine and place of pilgrimage the temple was abandoned to the jungle following the 14th century decline of Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in Java, and the Javanese conversion to Islam.[In 1814 Sir Thomas Raffles, the then British ruler of Java rediscovered it and work has continued ever since in fits and starts to restore it.