One of Indonesia’s seven UNESCO World Heritage sites, Candi Borobudur is still one of the country’s most visited and recognized tourist attraction. <\/p>\n
The Buddhist temple complex dates back to the 8th century, but has been abandoned in the 14th century due to the decline of Buddhism and the mass conversion to Islam of the Javanese.
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\nThe jungle surrounding Borobudur hid the massive complex, coupled with layers of volcanic ash from nearby Mount Merapi. It was brought to the world’s attention by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (the founder of Singapore), who was Java’s appointed governor during the British administration in the 1800’s. It wasn’t Raffles who found the monument, actually. It was H.C. Cornelius, a Dutch engineer, who hacked through the jungle to unearth structure, upon’s Sir Stamford Raffle’s orders.<\/p>\n
It took 11 years for the entire complex to be unearthed in 1859, but it was in the threat of collapse due to unstable foundation and thieves running off with “souvenirs.” Though the Dutch East Indies government took measures to safeguard and restore the monument, it was UNESCO’s efforts in 1973 to 1982 that left us with the Borobudur we see today.<\/p>\n