ascended and, rounding the shoulder of a little hill, we saw, through
the trees, a squat, pyramidal mass of reddish stone, broken, irregular
and unimposing. It was Tjandi Boro-Boedor (the name means "shrine of
the many Buddhas") considered by many authorities the most interesting
Buddhist remains in existence. Though in magnitude it cannot compare
with such great Buddhist monuments as those at Ajunta in India, and
Angkor in Cambodia, yet in its beautiful symmetry and its wealth of
carving it is superior to them all.

Strictly speaking, Boro-Boedor is not a temple but a hill, rising about
one hundred and fifty feet above the plain, encased with terraces
constructed of hewn lava-blocks and crowded with sculptures, which, if
placed side by side, would extend for upwards of three miles. The
lowest terrace now above ground forms a square, each side approximately
five hundred feet long. About fifty feet higher there is another
terrace of similar shape. Then follow four other terraces of more
irregular contour, the structure being crowned by a dome or cupola,
fifty feet in diameter, surrounded by sixteen smaller bell-shaped
cupolas, known as _dagobas_. The subjects of the bas-reliefs lining the
lowest terrace are of the most varied description, forming a picture
gallery of landscapes, agricultural and household episodes and
incidents of the chase, mingled with mythological and religious scenes.
It would seem, indeed, as though it had been the architect's intention
to gradually wean the pilgrims from the physical to the spiritual, for
as they began to ascend from stage to stage of the temple-hill they
were insensibly drawn from material, every-day things to the realities
of religion, so that by the time the _dagoba_ at the top was reached
they had passed through a course of religious instruction, as it were,
and were ready, with enlightened eyes, to enter and behold the image of
Buddha, symbolically left imperfect, as beyond the power of human art
to realize or portray. From base to summit the whole hill is really a
great picture-bible of the Buddhist creed.

The building of Boro-Boedor was probably begun in the ninth century,
when King Asoka was distributing the supposed remains of Buddha
throughout all the countries of the East in an endeavor to spread the
faith. A portion of the remains was brought to Boro-Boedor, which had
been the center of Buddhist influence in Java ever since 603, when the
Indian ruler, Guzerat, settle