On the three upper terraces of the great temple of Borobudur (Indonesia) stand three symmetrical rings of stupas (bell-shaped shrines) with perforated walls, the whole encircling a single giant statue. Each of the small stupas enshrines a statue of the Buddha in a pose of eternal meditation. But down the centuries many statues have been damaged and even decapitated by vandals. The buddha in the foreground no longer has a stupa to protect it from the elements. One of the 1,460 bas-reliefs covering six kilometers of terrace walls on which unfolds the rich imagery of Buddhist cosmology. Encroaching mosses and lichens, erosion and shifting of stonework threaten to destroy the entire temple.