Borobudur, a Great Temple of the Buddhist Era in Indonesia

Borobudur is one of those subjects that make you wish you possessed genius to capture its awesome (here it is appropriate, believe me) achievement.  It was built in the 9th century, though our guide told us it took two centuries to complete.  Its greatness is self-evident but it also holds a high degree of tragedy that is not at first apparent.  As it was being finished, the guide told us, it was sinking under its own weight, its 3 and a half million tons of volcanic rock carved into exquisite scenes that are both existential and devotional.  The beautiful bas-reliefs at the first stage of the many-tiered temple began to actually disappear into the earth.  As if this were not enough, only a few decades after completion, in the 11th century, the whole edifice was buried in an avalanche of volcanic ash from the same volcano that now spews out its hot gas and ash over much of the territory around this same temple.  It seems to me a very Buddhist story of impermanence.  It remained buried for about nine centuries, until in 1814 a famous English Governor General named Sir Thomas Raffles discovered what looked like a temple atop a windy hill.  Since that time, and especially after a paper was given at a conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the 1960s, Borobudur was seen for the priceless treasure it is, and was declared a World Heritage site.  The renovation of Borobudur continues today.
  To climb up the  many steps from the square ground level depicting life in this world with its temptations and choices to the highest circular level is to make the Buddhist journey of transformation.  This was the Buddha's journey, and his life is shown in much detail around the several levels on the way up.  It is also that of an "everyman" figure who could be just as successful as the Buddha.  I would like to say that the climb was a deeply spiritual one, but for me it was a hot, arduous series of steps that made me grateful every time the guide stopped at a level to explain the intricacies of its carved images.  As I stood among the many stupas of the Nirvana or highest level, I was just glad that I made it there, and that I still had enough wind in me to admire the serenity of the Buddha holding court from these heights.
  What made this visit even more poignant was that just hours after our visit, the very volcano that had buried this temple so long ago began erupting, the largest eruption in more than a century.  So this incredible sight has been closed to tourists as workmen once again attempt to uncover its treasures from beneath the ashes.