Borobudur-Prambanan Temple Officially Becomes A World Place Of Worship, Minister Of Religion Yaqut Encourages Hindu-Buddhist People To Prepare Agenda

Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. (ANTARA/HO-Kemenag)

JAKARTA - Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas encourages Hindus and Buddhists in Indonesia to prepare a number of national and global religious agendas in line with the MoU on the use of Borobudur and Prambanan Temples as places of worship worldwide.

"Please prepare various agendas for the religious worship of Hindus and Buddhists in Indonesia and the world," said the Minister of Religion in a written statement received in Jakarta, Antara, Friday, February 11.

Previously, the Government officially declared Prambanan Temple in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Borobudur Temple, Pawon Temple and Mendut Temple in Central Java to become places of worship for Hindus and Buddhists from all over the world.

Marking the declaration, the Ministry of Religion, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, the Ministry of SOEs, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, as well as the DIY Provincial Government and Central Java Provincial Government held the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the utilization of the four temples.

According to Yaqut, this MoU will further strengthen the harmony and cooperation of all parties to jointly develop and utilize temples in the perspective of cultural spiritual values.

"Through this memorandum of understanding, all parties can identify roles and spaces that can be accessed by each," said the Minister of Religion.

According to him, the use of Prambanan and Borobudur Temples for religious activities is a real step in realizing the strategic program of super-priority tourist destinations launched by President Jokowi.

The development and utilization of the religious destinations of Prambanan and Borobudur Temples, he said, must be interpreted as one of the important aspects in the program to preserve the temple as a cultural heritage, a noble relic of the ancestors of the Indonesian nation which is also a world heritage.

"Prambanan Temple and Borobudur Temple actually have extraordinary advantages. Both in terms of spiritual value, culture, and natural beauty," he said.

The Minister of Religion is grateful that Prambanan and Borobudur Temples can already be used for religious activities for Hindus and Buddhists around the world, because they have been waiting for it beforehand.

In addition to showing how Indonesia has an extraordinary cultural diversity, this also shows that Indonesia respects all diversity, including the diversity of beliefs.

"This use is also a form of implementation of religious moderation and the government's determination to provide guarantees for religious people in carrying out their worship," said the Minister of Religion.

After the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, Hindus and Buddhists can hold and follow religious worship rituals at the two temples. Not only that, the Memorandum of Understanding also regulates the use of two other temples, namely Mendut Temple and Pawon Temple.