National Geographic: Borobudur 3rd among Adventure Tourism Sites
National Geographic, the official magazine of the National Geographic Society that has been published continuously since 1888, ranked Indonesia's Borobudur temple third in its global iconic adventure tourism sites, hence acknowledging the temple's uniqueness as well as cultural and historic value. The Borobudur, a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist temple, is also listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site (since 1991).
Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said the Borobudur's high ranking in the National Geographic Magazine is great news as well as a great honor. Surely it will help to raise (potential) tourists' curiosity about the Borobudur temple, specifically, and Indonesia, generally. Considering the Indonesian government is eager to boost foreign tourist arrivals into Indonesia (in an effort to generate more foreign exchange reserves), the Borobudur's high ranking in the iconic adventure tourism sites list is very valuable and should help to speed up tourism development in the world's largest archipelago.
Read more: Overview of Indonesia's Tourism Sector
The Borobudur is a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist temple, located in Magelang (Central Java). It was (most likely) built by the Sailendra dynasty who were adherents of Mahayana Buddhism. Not much later, and not far away from the location of the Borobudur, the Sanjaya dynasty built the Prambanan temple complex around 850 AD (Prambanan is the other icon of Indonesia's pre-Islamic history). The Sanjaya dynasty adhered to Hinduism. Both historical sites are evidence that in the Hindu-Buddhist period (prior to the arrival and domination of Islam and Western forces), political power moved away from Sumatra (particularly Srivijaya) to Central Java.
The Borobudur is known as the world's largest Buddhist temple (built on a surface area of 2,500 square meters), decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The relief panels form a story (journey, or better: walking pilgrimage) that brings the visitor across three divisions that symbolize the three "realms" of Buddhist cosmology (with several stages of enlightenment), namely Kamadhatu (the world of desires), Rupadhatu (the world of forms), and lastly Arupadhatu (the formless world).
Read more: Pre-Colonial Period of Indonesia
Although last year the Heritage and Cultural Diplomacy (part of Indonesia's Ministry of Education and Culture) said it wants to limit the number of visitors that are allowed to enter the Borobudur temple (due to rising pressure on the structure of the ancient building), the central government mentioned the Borobudur temple as one of its ten priority tourist destinations, implying it wants to boost visitor numbers (significantly) to this site (see table below).
10 Priority Tourist Destinations of the Indonesian Government:
| Destination | Tourists 2013 |
Tourist Target 2019 |
| Borobudur Central Java |
227,337 | 2,000,000 |
| Mandalika Lombok |
125,307 | 1,000,000 |
| Labuan Bajo Flores |
54,147 | 500,000 |
| Bromo-Tengger-Semeru East Java |
33,387 | 1,000,000 |
| Thousands Islands off the coast of Jakarta |
16,384 | 500,000 |
| Toba Lake North Sumatra |
10,680 | 1,000,000 |
| Wakatobi Sulawesi |
3,315 | 500,000 |
| Tanjung Lesu Banten |
1,739 | 1,000,000 |
| Morotai Halmahera, Maluku |
500 | 500,000 |
| Tanjung Kelayang Bangka Belitung |
451 | 500,000 |
Source: Investor Daily
National Geographic's Iconic Adventure Tourism Sites Ranking (2017):
| Site | Country |
| Machu Picchu | Peru |
| Petra | Jordan |
| Borobudur | Indonesia |
| Acropolis | Greece |
| Great Wall | China |
| Sigiriya | Sri Lanka |
| Plitvice Lakes National Park | Croatia |
| Mammoth Cave National Park | USA |
| Provence lavender route | France |
| Avenue of Baobabs | Madagascar |
Source: National Geographic
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Great! I've been there many times... beautiful place. Tip for tourists: go enjoy the sunrise from Punthuk Setumbu hill. If you're lucky (I mean if weather is good) you will see a beautiful sunrise (behind the Merapi mountain)... and the view includes Borobudur! But you need to wake up very early (about 3 am), walk up the Punthuk Setumbu hill in the dark (there are some steep stairs there), and compete with dozens (or hundreds) of fellow tourists to get a good spot on the top of the hill.... but it's all worth it though :)
Heritage and Cultural Diplomacy want to limit tourist at borobudur to 15 people at one time but gvernment want to grow it to 2 milion people by 2019 (that is 228 tourist per hour if temple is opened 24/7 whole year.... !?
www.indonesia-investments.com/news/todays-headlines/authorities-indonesia-to-limit-visitor-numbers-at-borobudur-temple/item7145