John N. Miksic Livres

With vivid photography and insightful commentary, this travel pictorial shines a light on the Buddhist art and architecture of Borobudur. The glorious ninth–century Buddhist stupa of Borobudur—the largest Buddhist monument in the world—stands in the midst of the lush Kedu Plain of Central Java in Indonesia, where it is visited annually by over a million people. Borobudur contains more than a thousand exquisitely carved relief panels extending along its many terraces for a total distance of more than a kilometer. These are arranged so as to take the visitor on a spiritual journey to enlightenment, and one ascends the monument past scenes depicting the world of desire, the life story of Buddha, and the heroic deeds of other enlightened beings—finally arriving at the great circular terraces at the top of the structure that symbolizes the formless world of pure knowledge and perfection.

In addition to its fathomless jungles, immense forests, and lonely hillsides, the island of Sumatra possesses the monuments and traditions of some of the most ancient cultures of South-East Asia. Forgotten Kingdoms in Sumatra, first published in 1939, offers the only general overview available of what remains from the island's classical age. It describes the vanished civilizations whose ruins lie in the jungle, tells of the Hindu antiquities, the megaliths of Nias and Samosir, and prehistoric monuments, and relates the legends and folk-tales of the region. This book will provide much pleasurable reading for anyone interested in the history, people, and culture of Sumatra.