India to help conserve ancient Prambanan temple in Indonesia, PM Modi to launch project tomorrow

Jakarta: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced that he, alongside Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, would launch a conservation project for the 1,000-year-old Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta.

In his departure statement, PM Modi said that he will visit the Prambanan Temple complex at Yogyakarta with President Prabowo Subianto and described the monument as "another remarkable testament" to deep cultural and civilisational ties that have connected India and Indonesia for over a thousand years.

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Addressing a joint press statement today after holding delegation-level talks with the Indonesian President at the Istana Merdeka in Jakarta, PM Modi said, "Tomorrow I will have the privilege of launching the conservation project for the Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta alongside President Prabowo."

"More than a thousand years old, the Prambanan Temple stands as a symbol of the shared cultural heritage of India and Indonesia," he said.

This conservation project is part of India's cultural diplomacy and Act East policy in Southeast Asia.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is partnering with Indonesian authorities for restoration and conservation of several smaller temples within the Prambanan complex.

Prambanan is among the largest temple complex near Yogyakarta, on the Indonesian island of Java. and contains the original structures that were built in the 9th century AD. The temples collapsed due to earthquake including the May 2006 Java earthquake, volcanic eruption and a shift of political power in the early 11th century, and they were rediscovered in the 17th century.

The Prambanan Temple itself is a complex consisting of 240 temples dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma.

Prambanan was designed as three concentric squares. In all there are 224 temples in the entire complex. The inner square contains 16 temples, the most significant being the 47 meters high central Siva temple flanked to the north by the Brahma temple and to the south by the Vishnu temple.

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As per the UNESCO, which has declared it a World Heritage site, the temple's stone reliefs are decorated with reliefs illustrating the Indonesian version of the Ramayana epic.

Prambanan Temple Compounds present the grandiose culture of Siva art as a masterpiece of the classical period in Indonesia, and the region.

Restoration works have been conducted since 1918, both in original traditional method of interlocking stone and modern methods using concrete to strengthen the temple structure, the world body said. The UNESCO World Heritage has been designated as Indonesia's National Cultural Property in 1998.

During full moon evenings in the months from May to October, the Ramayana ballet is performed in an open air theatre on the southern side of the temple.

Meanwhile PM Modi also declared the upcoming year as the 'Tagore-Dewantara Year of Cultural and Educational Diplomacy' to honour the shared legacy of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and Indonesia's first Education Minister, Dewantara.

PM Modi who is on a two-day visit to Indonesia on the invitation of President Subianto signed several memorandums of understanding and cooperation agreements, including in health and technology.

The leaders held a private meeting, followed by delegation level bilateral talks.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi was conferred with 'Bintang Adipurna of the Republic of Indonesia', Indonesia's highest civilian honour, which he dedicated to the "crores of Indians" and the historic bonds between the two nations.