India to Help Renovate and Revitalize Indonesia's Prambanan Temple Site

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Minister of Culture Fadli Zon said is willing to help renovate and revitalize Prambanan Temple in Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta. This agreement was conveyed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi when receiving a visit from President Prabowo Subianto which took place from 24 to 26 January 2025.

"They said they have experts and so on," said Fadli at Graha Utama, Ki Hajar Dewantara Building, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, South Jakarta, Tuesday, February 11, 2025.

Until now, Fadli said that some areas of Prambanan Temple are still in a messy condition and have not undergone complete restoration. The Ministry of Culture feels the need to expand the network of cooperation to develop historical sites in Indonesia, including with India.

Through this cooperation, Fadli said Indonesia can exchange knowledge with India. "They (India) also want to fund it because it is related to cultural affinity and others that they also do at Angkor Wat and so on," said Fadli.

Fadli hopes that Indonesian researchers can immediately communicate with India to discuss the restoration of parts of Prambanan Temple that have not been restored. He said that restoration has only been carried out on 30 large temples in Prambanan. "Many of the smaller ones have not been restored," said Fadli.

Before that, Fadli Zon had also agreed to collaborate on the exchange of cultural heritage objects with the Indian government by signing the Indonesia-India Cultural Exchange Program for the period 2025 to 2028.

Fadli and Indian Minister of Culture Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat signed the agreement in a series of celebrations for the 76th Republic Day of held in New Delhi, India. Fadli Zon was present accompanying President Prabowo Subianto who was the guest of honor at the event which took place on January 24 to 26, 2025.

With the establishment of this agreement, the two countries are committed to making efforts to repatriate cultural heritage objects or efforts to return cultural heritage abroad to their country of origin. This is in accordance with what is stated in the Kashi Cultural Pathway at the G20 Ministers of Culture Meeting in India in 2023.

Hanin Marwah contributed to this article.

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