Environment: Monumental Effort in Java

An international team helps salvage a Buddhist treasure

The 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....