Word: java
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...giant stepped pyramid rises eerily out of the lush rice fields of central Java, like some forbidden city in a sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Bristling with statuary and turrets, the imposing edifice sits in stony silence in the gathering light of dawn. But this is not a Hollywood fantasy. It is Indonesia's Borobudur, the world's largest and probably most mysterious Buddhist monument, which will be rededicated this week as a national shrine and tourist attraction after being rescued from decades of neglect...
...some eight centuries, the site was overrun by tropical growth, shaken by quakes and lashed by monsoon rains. Still, when the British Lieutenant Governor of Java, Thomas Raffles, rediscovered the ruins in 1814, he was sufficiently impressed to order a cleanup of the stone pyramid. The Dutch, who regained Java from the British in 1816, continued the custodial work, which culminated in a major restoration after the turn of the century, but their well-meant efforts failed to stem continuing damage from tremors and poor drainage...
More important was ensuring the temple's structural integrity, continually threatened by Java's heavy rains. Under the leaning balustrades went reinforced concrete slabs. To prevent water from undermining the hill upon which Borobudur sits, the engineers installed hidden drain pipes to replace the gargoyle spouts provided by the ancients. Finally, gravel, tar, epoxy and lead were layered under the stones to protect them and the foundation from seepage. Says Indonesian Archaeologist Soekmono, 60, known among his countrymen as the Guardian of Borobudur: "The structure is engineered to last another 1,000 years...
...subjects about their pasts and often evokes poignant sketches of uprooted lives leading to inchoate yearnings. His prose evokes obscure places that few will ever see: a mountain pass in the shadow of the Himalayas, where Afghan nomads drive and tend then-flocks; a small village in central Java, "an enchanted, complete world...
...purposes of the novel, Bogarde has invented a large island called Paradise in the Java Sea, and a well-born young captain named Rooke, an actor in civilian life, who is sent there as a replacement. Rooke's first responses to the island are dismay and drunkenness, but duty and friendship draw him into the life of his regiment and the battered port city where it is stationed...