Tarpaulin Close Three Temples Anticipating Mount Merapi Ash Rain

The stupa of Borobudur Temple is closed by a tarpaulin in anticipation of the eruption of Merapi (ANTARA)

MAGELANG - The Borobudur Conservation Center (BKB) will soon close three temples in the Borobudur area, Magelang Regency, Central Java, with terpaulin. This is done to anticipate the ash rain if Mount Merapi erupts.

Head of the Borobudur Conservation Center Wiwit Kasiati in Magelang, Monday, said that the three temples that will be closed are Borobudur, Mendut and Pawon.

Wiwit said that the closure of Borobudur and Mendut temples had taken place some time ago, but the Pawon Temple had not yet started.

"Later Pawon Temple will also be closed. Now we are closing Mendut and Borobudur temples," he said as quoted by Antara, Monday, November 30.

According to Wiwit, the closing of the temple building is part of the anticipation when Mount Merapi erupts, because the experience in 2010 to clean the temple stones from the volcanic ash of Merapi requires enough time and energy.

"We don't want it to repeat itself like before, we don't want to close the temple for too long so we close it with terpaulin for a while as anticipation," he said.

Wiwit said that for Borobudur Temple, which was closed, the hallway and stupa floor were also closed, and the upper part of Mendut Temple had been closed.

"So the three temples already have their covers, all we need to do is cover them," said Wiwit.

However, he said, because of limited manpower and the condition was not an eruption emergency, it worked gradually.

"Not all employees have entered, because there are still WFH related to the COVID-19 pandemic, so we have not deployed all employees to close, unless an eruption occurs we inevitably have to move all employees to close," he said.