JAKARTA, INDONESIA, September 15, 2003: In the Indian Ocean, between the Cocos and Seychelles islands, an odd-looking outrigger vessel is retracing the ancient “cinnamon route” from Indonesia to East Africa, first navigated by Indonesian seafarers more than a millennium ago. The Borobudur Ship — a 72-foot-long wooden ship modeled after wall reliefs found on the 8th century Borobudur temple in Central Java — set sail on August 15 from Jakarta for a 4,000 mile sail to Madagascar. Computer access to the Internet, along with a satellite phone, radar and refrigeration, are some of the few modern nautical conveniences aboard the Borobudur, which otherwise has attempted to copy the sort of ship believed to have been state-of-the-art in Java about a century ago. The boat, designed by Australian Nick Burningham was modeled after five wall reliefs found on the Borobudur temple, a towering Buddhist complex, in Central Java. There is no evidence that the type of ship depicted at Borobudur is the kind that traveled between Indonesia and Madagascar in the first millennium. There is, however, plenty of historic evidence that some sort of Indonesian vessel made the journey. To follow the progress of the Borobudur’s journey, you can visit their official website here.
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