"He was impressed. The temple underwent restoration for 10 years by Indonesian experts with existing computer technology in 1973 by disassembling the entire temple stones before reinforcing the structure and reassembling the stones," Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology's Director General of Culture, Hilmar Farid, noted here on Friday.
Farid's statement was made after he accompanied the German president's visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was closed to the media.
He explained that Borobudur is an ancient masterpiece, as every stone that constitutes the Buddhist temple fits in with the neighbouring stones and proves that stones in the structure are not merely stacked.
"We also inform him that innovations for temple conservation continue to be conceived with local wisdom, such as by plants. He understands chemical substances' harmful effects (if used in the conservation effort). He also lauds efforts taken by the Borobudur Conservation Office," the director general remarked.
During his visit to the temple, Steinmeier ascended until the central dome at the temple's peak, he remarked, adding that the president enjoyed his visit.
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"He had visited Indonesia several times, but his visit to Borobudur was his first," he noted.
Farid said that the German president has also been introduced to a traditional sandal, called upanah, that must be worn before ascending the temple structure to conserve the temple's stones.
"Due to the limited time, he has no opportunity to open his shoe (and use the upanah), and he only brings the sandal as a souvenir. (By introducing the sandal), we have delivered the message that (the sandal) is one of our initiatives to preserve the temple," he remarked.
The German president also listened attentively to explanations delivered by the Borobudur Conservation Office officers about the temple relief, which narrates the life of Gautama Buddha, he added.
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Translator: Heru Suyitno, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
