Indonesia is home to Borobudur, the world's largest Buddhist temple. The monument stands on the island of Java near Magelang and was built in the eighth or ninth century during the Sailendra dynasty.
Borobudur is a massive Mahayana Buddhist structure arranged as a stepped pyramid. It has nine stacked platforms topped by a central dome and is decorated with hundreds of Buddha statues and thousands of relief panels. Pilgrims traditionally move upward through the levels, symbolically progressing from the world of desire toward enlightenment.
The temple was abandoned or neglected for centuries as political and religious centres shifted, and volcanic ash and jungle covered much of it. It was rediscovered by the outside world in the early nineteenth century. A major restoration supported by UNESCO and international partners took place from 1973 to 1983.