I have a little souvenir "stupa" on my desk at home. It's a pretty heavy bell-shaped object made from some form of rock, so it does well as a paper weight. I got it during my visit to the ancient Borobodur temple on the island of Java, in Indonesia about two years ago. A "stupa" is a symbol of enlightenment and an ancient icon of Buddhist art. Stupas are also very prevalent forms of Buddhist architecture, and are designed with deep symbolism and geometry. They are often filled with Buddhist relics and other sacred objects.

The structure comprises about 60,000 square metres of lava rock, the whole complex sited on a hill. It is shaped like a stepped-pyramid with six rectangular levels, three circular terraces and a huge central stupa at the top. There are many stupas located all around, with a statue of the Buddha within each,


Over the years, the Borobodur complex suffered much damage - both natural and man-made (including looting of various artefacts). From 1968-1973, UNESCO led a "Save Borobodur" restoration campaign. Today Borobudur is once again used as a place of worship and pilgrimage.
Reflection
As I get older, I find myself being increasingly interested in history. Perhaps it's because I see myself gradually becoming a historical relic too ;-) In reading about events in the past, I notice an unsettling pattern of repeated mistakes that mankind seems to have made. We certainly don't seem to learn our lessons well. Empires rise and fall in very similar ways. Wars are fought for equally dubious reasons (eg. the parallels between Vietnam and Iraq wars are uncanny).
I'm especially drawn to "lost world" scenarios. How could once prosperous cities and societies over time have declined so significantly to the point of near disappearing? I'm intrigued by the writing of such scholars like Jared Diamond, whose book "Collapse" covers this topic, on the disappearance of the Mayans, Greenland's Norse, inhabitants of Easter Island, etc. Why and how did it happen? Will there one day be a "Lost City of Singapore"? Or an "Ancient Ruins of Kuala Lumpur"? Or "Buried Bangkok"? A preposterous notion? Maybe. Then again, if we recall that Borobodur thrived for 150 years, maybe not ...
1 comment:
History repeats itself, or maybe it rhymes. We never seem to learn from our mistakes. We need go no further than ourselves or family. We all have bad habits that we fail to kick. In fact, we might even find them quite enjoyable until pay day comes.
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