Prambanan Temple Stone Spread, Minister of Culture Opens Collaboration with India

JAKARTA - The restoration of the temple-temple of the concubines in the Prambanan Temple complex is still facing complicated work. The architectural stones scattered in the site area make the identification and reordering process impossible to do casually. In the midst of this challenge, the Minister of Culture Fadli Zon opened the opportunity for collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to strengthen the conservation of the area.

This emerged in a dialogue between Fadli Zon and the ASI restoration team at the Ministry of Culture office, Senayan, Jakarta, Monday, March 16. The meeting discussed the follow-up to cooperation in the conservation and restoration of the Prambanan Temple complex.

In his presentation, ASI Conservation and World Heritage ADG Janhwij Sharma explained that his agency, which was established in 1861, has a long experience in the conservation of historic monuments and the management of world heritage sites. In addition to working in India, ASI also provides technical support for restoration in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia.

From the initial field visit in the Prambanan area, the ASI team assessed that a number of temples still needed further conservation and restoration. The proposed method is anastylosis, namely reconstruction by utilizing the original stones found at the site. New stones are only used to a limited extent for structural needs.

However, the main challenge is not small. The architectural stone elements scattered in the site area make the process of identifying the origin of the stone from each temple complex. Therefore, the initial stage of the work will focus on a thorough documentation of the temple structure and a careful grouping of the stone typology.

To ensure the most effective method, the ASI team proposed a pilot project on one or two perwara temples first. The results of the initial phase will be the basis before the restoration is expanded to other structures.

Responding to the exposure, Fadli emphasized that Prambanan area should be seen as a wider cultural landscape, not standing alone. According to him, the area is closely related to Candi Sewu and Candi Plaosan which shows traces of Hindu-Buddhist acculturation in the archipelago.

"Prambanan Complex does not stand alone, but is part of a large cultural landscape along with Candi Sewu and Plaosan. Therefore, the conservation efforts we are doing are not only restoring the temple buildings, but also maintaining the entire cultural ecosystem in the area," said Fadli.

He also emphasized that the government is open to international cooperation to strengthen the preservation of cultural heritage sites, including utilizing digital technology and artificial intelligence to help identify and reconstruct the stone components of the temple. The government hopes that this exploration can be immediately followed up through technical documents and official cooperation mechanisms.