-There are four visible galleries containing 10 series of reliefs -To see all the reliefs in their correct order, one must walk around the monument 10 times covering a distance of nearly 3 miles - The base of Borobudur we see today is undecorated but it contains a hidden foot with reliefs depicting various visions of worldly desire. - The original base was too narrow to support the monument hence it was subsequently encased with a new, broader but unadorned mantle of stones.
-Pyramid in the form: aligned with the four cardinal points of the compass/ -Square-shaped plan with 4 entry points -Rubble faced with carved volcanic stone -Built on a low hill rising above a wide plain
--This massive Buddhist monument contains 504 life-sized Buddhas, 1460 narrative reloef sculptures on 13000 panels 8200 feet long. -72 openwork stupas containing a Buddha, each with a preaching mudra -Six identical square terraces are placed one atop the other, like steps; three smaller circular terraces are placed on top; the lowest level functions as the base of the structure, with square floor plan; the second level recedes 23 feet from the edge of the base so that the space is wide enough for processions. -Each terrace is a level of enlightenment -On the top is an enclosed stupa -Divided into 3 sections: representing three levels of Buddhist cosmology. –Base: represents the lowest level of experience; those who are aligned with their desires on Earth; the world of desire and negative impulses; sculptures here show deeds of self-sacrifice practiced by the Buddha in his previous births and the story of his last incarnation as Prince Siddhartha –Body: five terraces in which people abandon their earthly desires; this is the world of forms–people have to control these negative impulses; sculptures here show the pilgrimage of the young man, Sudhana, who sets out in search of the Ultimate Truth. –Superstructure: an area that represents a formless world. In which a person experiences reality in its purest stage, where the physical world and worldly desire are expunged.
-A place of pilgrimage -Built as a stupa
Context
--Meant to be circumambulated on each terrace; six concentric square terraces topped by three circular tiers with a great stupa at the summit -Iconography is complex and intricate; many levels of meaning