UNESCO - Shore Temple, Mahabalipuram, India

Another UNESCO swap with Anaita from India and this time she sent me a card showing the Shore Temple which is part of the group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram.  She tells me that scores of people from all over India go to visit it every year because it is so holy.

Borobudur Temple, UNESCO

 

Restu tells me that Borobudur Temple Compound is UNESCO world heritage but has lost it's 'Seven Wonders of the World' status :(o

I'm happy to have it for my UNESCO collection.

"Borobudur is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. Founded by a king of the Saliendra dynasty, it was built to honour the glory of both the Buddha and its founder, a true king Bodhisattva. The name Borobudur is believed to have been derived from the Sanskrit words vihara Buddha uhr, meaning the Buddhist monastery on the hill. Borobudur temple is located in Muntilan, Magelang, and is about 42 km from Yogyakarta city.
This colossal temple was built between AD 750 and 842: 300 years before Cambodia's Angkor Wat, 400 years before work had begun on the great European cathedrals. Little is known about its early history except that a huge army of workers worked in the tropical heat to shift and carve the 60,000 m³ of stone. At the beginning of the 11th century AD, because of the political situation in Central Java, divine monuments in that area, including the Borobudur Temple became completely neglected and given over to decay. The Sanctuary was exposed to volcanic eruption and other ravages of nature. The temple was not rediscovered until the 19th century. A first restoration campaign, supervised by Theodor van Erp, was undertaken shortly after the turn of the century. A second one was led more recently (1973-82)."