Borobudur

7.6079°S, 110.2038°E.

Mahayana Buddhist stupa-temple in central Java, Indonesia, built approximately 750–850 CE under the Shailendra dynasty. The structure is a stepped pyramid measuring 123 by 123 metres at the base and rising 35 metres in nine stacked terraces — six square below, three circular above — capped by a central stupa. The terraces contain 504 Buddha statues and 2,672 narrative bas-relief panels covering 2,520 m² of carved surface; if walked clockwise in sequence, the panels narrate the Buddhist cosmology from the realms of desire (Kamadhatu, lower terraces) through form (Rupadhatu) to formlessness (Arupadhatu, circular terraces). The temple was abandoned around 1000 CE during a period of volcanic eruption and political upheaval, and rediscovered in 1814 under a meter of volcanic ash and jungle by British colonial governor Stamford Raffles.

The largest Buddhist monument on Earth was hidden beneath a meter of ash for eight centuries — and 2,672 carved panels were still in original order when it was uncovered.